Just a little update about what in the world we're doing these days…
Egg Hunt Game Face
Yeah, I'm all over this mom.
Scoping out the competition, incognito
It's Go Time
The Cheering Section
Counting the Loot
First Year in the Big Kid Hunt
Mylie found the prize egg
Running to dump the basket... gotta make room for more
Retelling the tales
Remembering the glory
The Easter Bunny Came!
Dude. A Cars Puzzle!
Dhere's Summpin In Dhere!
Seriously. You wouldn't even believe it if I told you. Chocolate eggs.
Nick took the kids out for a little practice. Him on the camera, and them on the vehicle of their choosing. Here’s what resulted:
Are you sure about this, dad?
He’s down!
No wait, he’s up!
Race ya!
This is the most fun I’ve ever had… except for that time I got to jump in the mud.
We recently headed to downtown Portland for some Spring Festivities, which included an Easter Egg hung (of sorts) in the Pearl District. The trip nicely coincided with the arrival of my new camera that Nick got me for my birthday, and thusly, here are some of our favorite shots of the day.
Can I play in this dirt?
Mmmmmm. 'Nough Said.
Hide and Seek
The Paint Job
Captivated by the passing Street Car
Watching the action from the apartment window
Little Man Nolan has always had an affinity for water and all things dirt. An examination of some past posts provide examples. There was this one:
Nothing like a good mouthful of dirt
And the ever famous puddle jumper:
Come on in, the water's fine!
But Nolan recently got an opportunity to top them all. A few weeks ago we got to go to the Tulip Festival in Woodburn. Since winter is insisting on lasting FOREVER, it had been raining for weeks, and we were well aware that there would be mud. And I came prepared. Of course… I don’t think anything quite prepared me for what actually took place.
Upon arrival, he immediately discovered the duck races, leading of course to a total and complete soaking of his jacket.
We had to take a little ride around the farm on the cow train in order to dry off.
But then the real fun begins…
Testing the Waters
Mud Puddle Target Aquired
Ooooh, this is good stuff!
No turning back now...
Mud totally rocks!
Mylie was there too... just a bit more... cautious
This was the best picture pose we could come up with
With all the muck, I thought I needed at least one pretty picture
Lil' Rascals in search of more mud
Wanted to get a nice family shot... had to crop all the mud-stained clothes out of this one.
At this point, the mud has soaked through his pants into his diaper
And we top the adventure off with a nice face plant in a puddle
But wait, check out the lady pointing and laughing at him as he passed
The Walk of Shame back to the car... Mom refused to carry him!
And yes, in case you’re wondering, I did (amazingly) come prepared with a whole new set of clothes. I did not, however, have any rags or towels, and burned through almost a whole container of baby wipes trying to get him to a clean enough state for said clothes. It never fails to amaze me that this funny, mud-loving boy could actually be related to Mylie, who has to get up to wash her hands at least twice during most meals. Funny kids.
And the prize winning shot of the day:
The Gang
I turned 29 last month. It’s the end of an era, really. I never really pictured myself older than my twenties, so I’m holding on to this birthday for as long as I can. Actually, because I have a weird number fetish, I think 29 is a rather ugly number, and kind of wish I could have stayed at 28. But, as we have no control over such things, I had to move on.
My wonderful awesome spouse knew of my desire to remain 20-something, and so he planned a surprise party for me, with the theme of “Forever 29.” He did a wonderful job, and I really had no clue what he was up to. Truly, he is a really bad liar and I never expected him to be able to pull something like this off. He even got friends and family to write favorite memories of me which he put together into a little book. Much awesomeness. We had a wonderful mesh of family and friends come to enjoy the day with us, and more who participated long distance with their messages. It was so much fun!
Waiting For the Party to Start
Nick also made a large poster of me that was a collage of pictures of my growing up years all put together to make my portrait (and yes, he’s talented… but he had software to help in the process… he’s not that talented). On the bottom it had big words printed to say “Karli – Forever 29.” I’ll admit, it kind of creeped me out and seemed a little like memorial. So, I decided that even if it would be cool to be 20-something forever, I think I’ll be happy to move on, because one more birthday means one more year I have been blessed to spend with all of you wonderful people that are in my life. But I still might tell people I’m 29 for as long as I can pull it off 
P.S. Here is the mosaic using the program found at http://www.andreaplanet.com/andreamosaic/
Mosaic Poster