The Bun's Easter Weekend

I can't believe it's already Sunday night (Uh, so, I wrote this on Sunday. It is now Tuesday night, nearly midnight. It took a while from completion to publishing - no judgment!;) This three-day weekend flew by. What was nice is that it was all about my daughter this weekend.
On Friday, my day off (whooo!), we went for a morning walk with the pups. Then we spent the afternoon with her Nana getting all our hairdos done! The Bun was so good. She watched Nana get a color & cut, then me just get a plain cut and when my hair stylist turned to her and asked, "Would you like to get your hair cut, too?" The Bun replied, "Yes!" She sat oh so still as her hair was being trimmed.

 

(Bad Mama, I forgot to take a photo with Nana so we could have all three generations. But this is one of the things The Bun and I did while Nana got her hair done so we could stay busy. Next time!)

On Saturday, we went to an egg hunt hosted by a Mom from my old Mommy Group. I have to say that this the biggest reason I love Facebook. I'm able to stay connected with people I might otherwise lose touch with. My mommy group never meets anymore, I guess you could call it defunct, but I feel like we see each other all the time because we're able to keep in touch on FB.
It was so cute to see The Bun with this group because we all remember when we first met and our babes were literally weeks old. Last year, we have photos from their first ever egg hunt. Even though they were all over a year old, they didn't know what the heck was going on their first Easter. It was the first time they all were able to toddle about and actually participate in an egg hunt. (On their official first Easter, they all were only six or seven months old.) Last year was such a funny egg hunt because none of the kids knew what they were doing. But it was touching to see them up and about because, after all, we remember when they were fresh out of the oven.
This year, though - what a change! Sure, they still overlooked eggs that weren't really hidden but they were movin' and shakin'. What a difference a year makes! Rather than drinking from a bottle, being breastfed or eating pureed foods, these kids were eating snacks, drinking from juice boxes and were full fledged toddlers. My goodness. Of course, I took only a couple of photos on my phone which turned out bad. Wish I had a few to post:(
The next day was Easter. The Bun had a two social outings! In the morning, we met up with Jen, her hubby and her son, K. Although they just traveled literally across the globe just the day before, they met up with us on our side of the Bay for coffee and a play date. The kids were so cute. While they're still too young to play with each other, they enjoyed playing in each other's company. They were walking all around the two playgrounds, going down slides, swinging on the swings and just being really cute toddlers. It was a great chance to catch up with Jen. It seems like just a couple of years ago when we lived in the same neighborhood but it's been over 12! When we met, we were footloose and fancy free. Now we're both happily married, have awesome kids and pretty fantastic lives. My how we've grown up:) (Ugh, guilty again for not taking photos. I'm hoping that Jen's hubby captured some precious moments with his camera that he wouldn't mind sharing ;)
Around noon, we said our goodbyes because we both had family engagements to attend. I shook the sand off Ava (that's when you know it was a good time at the playground), put her in a wonderful Spring dress her Auntie Nene gave her and we were off in less than an hour for our next egg hunt!
Side note: I wish I had taken a photo of the cheesecake I made. I was quite proud of it. It was my first plain cheesecake and it was actually pretty!  And by "pretty", I mean it hardly had a crack. Not an easy thing to do with a cheesecake, let me tell you. In fact, changed my mind about decorating it with blueberries and fresh blueberry compote because I thought it was so nice. I decided that if people wanted it, they could spoon it on themselves. In addition to being pretty, it ended up tasting good. Phew! I was really worried because the recipe was for a PUMPKIN cheesecake. I had to switch it last minute because my aunt told me she had bought pumpkin pie already. I'm not an expert baker so I had no idea if removing the pumpkin portion (canned pumpkin and spices) would make it fall, too thick, watery, taste funny or whatever. I searched around for other recipes and just decided to add 2 tablespoons of flour as it was called in another recipe. But I kept everything else the same. Thankfully, it turned out A-OK.
Back to the egg hunt now:) The Bun had a splendid time! Her cousins, and her cousin's cousins, are all so sweet. Most were older than her but there were a few youngsters, too. What I love about these gatherings is that ALL the kids are sweet. Yes, ALL. Not a rotten one in the bunch. Not that I would post about that child if one existed but I just wouldn't write anything. ALL the kids are sweet and kind. The older ones look after the youngsters which I find so heartwarming. I love that my daughter can have a great time and that these kids include her. Often times with older kids, they'll just ignore the little ones. And I get it, they're busy and they want to play! I don't hold it against them at all. But when we go to these family gatherings, they bigger kids want to hold The Bun's hand, or help her with something, like put on her shoes or gather her things. It's just so sweet! She loves kids and her eyes light up when they include her, even if she's a lot slower or doesn't get everything they do. They remember to include her enough that she's happy. And I love that.
Thankfully, The Man was with us and he took his fancy photo machine and took some great photos:

The Bun in her Easter finery. (Piko gave a sniff test of approval.)

Because we have to have a shot of Pili if we have one of Piko.

The kids were lined up according to height so that the little ones had a fair chance of getting eggs. See what I mean? Such sweet big kids because I didn't hear a peep or complaint.

Mama realizing The Bun needed an assist.

These two were the littlest walkers
(We had a few smaller kiddos but the babies weren't at Walker or even Crawler status just yet:)

Look at them go go go.

Look at these smiles. So much fun.

These cheeks are made for kissin'. Don't you agree?

After a fun filled afternoon, we ended her weekend with a visit to Nana & Papa's house. With Papa's knee replacement surgery, they aren't up for any social gatherings. With The Man and me working full time jobs, it's hard to fit in quality time with them. So it was wonderful that we were able to visit, show them The Bun's Easter outfit and just talk.  The Bun loves her Nana & Papa and they love her so much.

The Bun had a fantastic weekend. And being the softie mama that I am, I'm so happy she was happy so it was a fantastic weekend for me too. I love my little family and am so appreciative of my outstanding husband, my amazingly sweet daughter, our two pups and our superb family and friends. My heart is so full.