Bounce into Spring

We went to a big base kids party this past weekend. Matthew got to color a card for Scott, decorate a cookie and listen to a kids band that came for the event. There were lots of inflatable bounce houses and Matthew had fun playing on them. He really liked climbing up this very very big one...

And then sliding down. He looks so small on this big slide. Our boy's growing up...(tear)

And Anna tried out this tiny bounce room. She thought it was a bad idea, so her first bounce house experience was a short one. Maybe next time Anna. :)

An email to Daddy

This weekend Matthew went and sat by the computer and told me he would like to write an email. So I helped him type an email to his dad, who is in Afghanistan right now. He thought up what to write and I typed it. I helped a little with the opening and closing, but he did most of it. It made me smile. Here's his email to Daddy:

Daddy,
Matthew Guptill
Daddy Guptill
I miss you.
I saw a big goose.
I love you.
I went on a walk with Grandma.
There is a panda and a tiny panda.
I wore my shi shi dog shirt and it got wet
Daddy is love you.
I go to a walk
Daddy go on a walk.
Bye Bye

Love, Matthew

Feeding the Geese

We went on an outing to feed the ducks and geese at a nearby farm. We didn't see many ducks, but a lot of geese and gulls came to eat our bread.

Anna was trying to see the geese in the little pond.

Matthew would take a bite of bread for himself every so often.

We walked over to the big windmill on the farm.

And played "Pooh Sticks" at the little stream.

Dropping in some sticks

This grumpy goose chased us around most of the time. Maybe he was the proprietor.

An almost in bloom tree

The goose followed us to our car and honked at us while we were leaving. A "good riddance" kind of honk. He also chased our car out of the parking lot. Not so friendly. Maybe it was a she goose with a nest. Here she is by her windmill...glad to be rid of us.

Easter Day!

Here's Anna and Matthew after church in their Easter clothes.

I had grand plans to take them out to one of the daffodil fields in the area that is all in bloom and get a picture, but it ended up being freezing cold today - in the 30s - so we ditched that idea. Here they are in the warm living room.

On Easter morning Matthew checks out his Easter basket goodies.

Anna and her basket. I think she just wanted what Matthew had.

Matthew got a toy cell phone in his Easter basket. He loves phones, so he was really excited about it and carried around everywhere he could.

Taking an important call over breakfast.

I don't dress Anna up that much. Because of the cold weather I've been dressing her in jammies all the time. So today was a special treat. She got to wear an Easter dress! I think she was ok with it, and she looked so pretty!

Another one from the post-church photo shoot I attempted. It's hard enough to get them both looking at me, so I was happy with what I got. :) Happy Easter everyone!

Easter Party

My parents took the kids to the ward Easter party (the day before Easter) and gave me the morning off. So nice. I hardly knew what to do with myself. Here are some pictures from the party.

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids. Anna was a big hit at the party. Everyone wanted to hold her.

Matthew had fun too. He came home and told me about the muffins he got to eat!

Matthew and Grandpa look for Easter eggs at the party. It was a rainy morning, but they still ventured outside for a quick egg hunt.

The primary kids wrote Easter cards to the missionaries. The only missionary out from my parents ward right now is my brother Dave, who is on a mission in San Diego. So Matthew made him a card. Happy Easter Dave! I hope you like scribbling.

He may have had some help. :)

And here's Anna hanging out with her little friend, Sam. Sam is cool 'cause he can crawl really fast and pull up on things. Anna is quite fascinated by him. I think he is giving her ideas.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today was the Easter Egg Hunt at the local library. It was a relatively warm day in RI (mid 50s) so they got to have the hunt outdoors! Although Matthew had to compete with the older preschoolers for eggs, he held his own and was able to find lots of eggs to put in his basket. He even got a picture with Humpty Dumpty!

Here's Matthew showing off his cool bumblebee basket (from Michael's). He was very excited once he saw what was inside the eggs (candy!!) and had a great time.
And in case you were worried that Anna got left out of the fun, she got to play inside the library with Grandma and have ALL the toys to herself while the older kids hunted for eggs. And later she tried, unsuccessfully, to bully a couple of five year olds out of some jelly beans. We all had a good time.

One Last Visit

Scott was able to come see us one last time before he heads overseas. He's been in training in the states for a while. We didn't think he could come, but it worked out that he could come see us for a day and a half, and it happened to be on my birthday!! It was great.

I picked Scott up at the airport by myself and then drove back to my parents house to see the kids. Matthew was taken a little by surprise when Scott came in, but as soon as he saw his daddy, he scrambled down from the chair and ran over, squealing, "Daddy! Daddy!!" It was priceless.

Anna, who has just started with a little bit of separation anxiety, was really funny around Scott. She would smile and coo at him until he looked over at her, then she would hide her face in my shirt. She was really happy to have him hold her though, and kept giving him "kisses" by pushing her forehead up into his face. It was so cute to see that she remembered him (even though it's only been a month) and that she loves him.

It was a very short trip (about a day and a half) and a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster (is he coming? is he not?), but still so worth it. We love you Daddy (and Scott)!!

Almost Crawling

Anna is almost crawling. I'm excited for her to become mobile, even though I know we will have no peace thereafter. She is so busy already! Here's a longish video of her adventures in "almost crawling."

Rainy Day Walk

While Anna napped, Matthew and I had some fun in the rain

It was pretty misty

Matthew was so excited to be out in the rain

Not sure I had the right footwear

We found some spring flowers pushing through the ground...could it be that warmer days are just around the corner?

Matthew finds a puddle and, in a non-rainy moment, sees his reflection!
Then he splashed in it!

We had fun shaking the raindrops off of tree branches and getting raindrops to drip onto our fingers

And we watched a particular worm for quite a while - really fascinating stuff.

It's amazing how much fun a rainy day can be!

Easter Faire

Matthew poses as a bunny at the Easter Faire

Matthew and I went to an Easter party on base this weekend. Anna stayed home with Grandma. It was a great little event. Matthew got to meet the Easter Bunny, play on the big bouncy slides and bounce houses and hunt for Easter eggs.

We got to meet the Easter Bunny right off the bat.

We spent a lot of time playing in the big bounce slides and houses they had.

We decorated a little foam airplane.

And decorated bunny shaped cookies.

Here is Matthew on his Easter egg hunt. He was really excited to find some eggs. And he got to wear these cute paper bunny ears too!

Ikea

My mom and the kids and I went to Ikea on Friday. We had the best time. I love that place! We let Matthew walk through the store and he had fun sitting on the different chairs, opening the drawers and cabinets and climbing on the beds. When we got to the kids area he went a little nuts (sensory overload?) so he had to ride in the stroller after that. We still had fun.

Anna held the watering can for us.

Matthew really liked this funny chair, designed for playing video games. Matthew called the controller a "little computer." At least he doesn't know what that is, yet. :) He looks like a natural. Uh oh! To see another pic of Matthew at Ikea go HERE.