Longwood Gardens April 2014

We had visitors this weekend - Janet & Vinnie came to town to visit for a few days and we wanted to show them Longwood Gardens at tulip time.  Going to Longwood with two little boys under age 4 doesn't necessarily lead to the most relaxing experience, but we had fun and the boys enjoyed running around and burning off a lot of energy.  Here the boys are with Nana:

Another one.  Getting everyone to look good in a picture is nearly impossible:

But Eric & Nana looked great in this one:

Brothers:

Having fun:

Burning off that energy by running everywhere:

Sitting down to look at the water:

Rare family photo:

Shoulder ride:

Nice one of Nana, Papa and the boys:

Probably my favorite shot of the day. The hydrangea and lilies were amazing, as was Eric as the model:

Evan's turn:

Some of the outtakes from the hydrangea shoot.  Couldn't get a good one of the two boys together:

 

Brian with the boys:

Nana & Papa:

My favorite photo of Evan from today - his most natural smile:

Hanging upside down at the tulips:

And one of me with my baby boy:

We had a great weekend and were happy to have the company!

Easter 2014

Easter 2014 was a lot of fun.  Both boys were very exciting and had been talking about the Easter bunny visiting for a few weeks now.  Evan was especially excited as he had really been hoping the Easter bunny would bring him the toy plane he had been talking about for months:

 

And the Easter bunny did not disappoint.  Ripslinger was waiting for Evan in his basket!

Egg hunting time:

Mouth full of candy:

And Evan just couldn't put down the trains:

Evan helping his brother find the eggs:

 Did I mention he loved the planes?

Onto some pictures outside:

Evan loves to give kisses.  Look at how sweet they are holding hands too:

Happy boys . . . only because there was a there was candy at the end of this photo shoot if they cooperated:

Our happy boy:

It feels like it was just yesterday when Evan wore this outfit to Easter (Easter 2012):

Evan actually enjoying himself while getting his picture taken:

There was no one at home to take our picture on Easter morning at my mom's.  So we tried ourselves with the timer.  But I couldn't get the lighting right - no flash and it was too dark or with flash and it was too bright.  Oh well - we tried!

Later on in the day, Evan was into climbing trees:

 

Another attempt at a family shot: 

Tis the season to get outside to take pictures.  I am loving this weather!

Another First - Easter Eggs

This morning we had another Easter first - dying Easter eggs.  They had no idea what to expect, but once we got into it, they loved it.  Here are some shots of the action:

One egg in each color:

Being very careful: 

 And we actually got a smile!

Eric wanted to get his eggs out himself too:

Concentration face:

Finished product.  Not bad for first timers.  We still need to put some stickers on them but they are drying now.  

Both boys are looking forward to Easter tomorrow.  Happy Easter!

First Easter Egg Hunt

It took almost 4 years before we got our boys to an Easter Egg hunt.  But we finally made it to one this year and the boys had a great time.  The little kid egg hunt (ages 2-5) was so overcrowded that we put the boys in the 6-9 age group instead.  It was absolutely the most beautiful day and more appreciated because of the long winter we've just finished up.  

Mr Personality doesn't mind posing for the camera:

Onto the eggs:

Evan was loving it:

As was Eric:

 

Lots of eggs in Evan's basket:

And lots of eggs for Eric too:

Hopefully it won't take another 4 years to get to another egg hunt.