Making A Splash

Needless to say, we are getting pretty restless for warmer weather. It's still cold most days so our time outdoors is limited. We still have many more weeks before we can enjoy a swimming pool outside, although all of the pools in Wyoming are inside anyway.

Samuel loves the water so we decided to have a Family Fun Day at the base Aquatics Center. It's literally across the street from our house, but since its windy and cool, we still had to drive. Ugh!

I can't help thinking about Texas on days like these. It's nearly 80 degrees there in the Spring. I sure hope our next assignment is further south. I'm so over these looooooooong winters!

The baby pool at the Aquatics Center is a great size with more than enough room for all of us to get in a move around. They even had a collection of bath/pool toys for the kids to play with.







He loves to float with Daddy's help. He even announced what he was doing, "FLOAT!"



The balls were his favorite toy, until he found the watering can. Then we took turns watering each other so we could grow.











Even though we were indoors, Samuel started to get cold. We let him dip his feet in the hot tub but he said it was, "too hot!" After a quick trip down the froggy slide in the big pool, we headed home. The indoor pool will have to do for a couple more months, but at least we have such a great facility nearby!

Wordless Wednesday: Special Delivery

Eggs-tra Special Easter

Easter at our house started off with a few fun surprises. First, I decided to make carrot-raisin muffins - from scratch. This is quite a big deal since I am a notorious box-baker. Second, the Easter Bunny broke into our house overnight and left Samuel a basket of goodies. That sneaky little rabbit didn't make a peep, but he did leave a few! ;-)

Samuel's basket had only a little candy in it. There was also a huge Brobee pillow (from his favorite show, Yo Gabba Gabba), two Sesame Street books about spring and Easter, a Little Golden Book about Bible heroes, and a blue stuffed bunny. Nana & Grandpa's gift, a set of stuffed lambs, was also out for him to see.









He really took to the lambs and carried them around for a while.







He also enjoyed the Sesame Street stickers that came with his Easter card from Mom & Dad.



My muffins were a hit! I made them extra healthy (or extra lame as Allen said) with hardly any sugar so I was glad they tasted so great.



Unfortunately, Sam Sr. and Sam Jr. had to head back to Albuquerque mid-morning so they weren't able to enjoy our Easter feast or festivities. They even missed the 2nd Annual Graham Family Indoor Egg Hunt.



The eggs were filled with some of Samuel's favorite snacks including yogurt pretzels and raisins, dried fruit, honey wheat pretzels, marshmallows and graham cracker sticks (also deemed lame by Allen). Once Samuel realized that these eggs contained delicious delicacies he stopped frequently to indulge.











Overall, he was a great egg-hunter and only needed occasional hints.











Next, we sat down to a big ham dinner which also included green beans with bacon, scalloped yukon gold and sweet potatoes, and fresh pineapple.





To round out our day of celebration, we dyed hard-boiled eggs. We let Samuel handle all the tough decisions like what color each egg should be, how it should be painted and where the stickers should be placed.











Except for on the one that Daddy "helped" decorate.



Daddy decided to decorate more than just eggs.







I feel that he fulfilled his creative vision and in the end we had 5 egg (and 1 baby) masterpieces.



The eggs looked good enough to eat, literally!





We may have engaged in some of the more "secular" traditions of the holiday but we never forgot the true reason for celebration - He is risen! So at the end of the day we shared some books with Samuel about Jesus and the meaning of Easter. We also read the Easter story from his beginner Bible. It was a beautiful day!

The Thrill of the Hunt

We had a very special surprise this weekend when Sam Jr. and Sam Sr. decided to drive up to Cheyenne to celebrate Easter. It's always fun to have the 4 Samuel Allen Graham's together!

The base community center was hosting their annual Easter Egg Hunt for children and we were excited to take Samuel now that he is old enough to actually "hunt" eggs. I took him last year too, but unless the eggs were within leaning distance he wasn't able to get to them. This year was much more fun.

When Grandpa first arrived Samuel had to show him all of his favorite toys.



At the egg hunt Samuel could hardly wait to get behind the ropes! We even had to pull him back a few times when he snuck under.







Family photo time!









He loved his jelly bean pinwheel and was trying very hard to blow and make it spin.





He did a great job picking up eggs and putting them in his robot basket, until he realized that there were prizes inside. Then he wanted to open them all up right away!









His favorite prize was the stickers and he made sure everyone saw them.





Once his basket was full he helped fill his friend Charlotte's.





Next we headed outside for a visit with the Easter bunny, treats and the bounce house.






At home we opened all of the eggs. Inside one there was a car - even better than the stickers! Another had bubbles which was also a thrill.










Here he is playing peek-a-boo by hiding his eyes behind eggs.



Such a happy little guy!