Hoppy Days are Here Again...

I can't help it.

Every Easter, I have to take a picture of Vivi in rabbit years.  It's like a weird sickness.

This year, I made Russ get in on the act, too.  Because pink is really his color.

This year, Vivi was very into the whole, "YOU'RE a bunny!" game.

Despite the fact that she was clearly wearing ears, she insisted that only Russ was a bunny.  But wait...what's this?

Pointing at Mommy?

Of course I was wearing bunny ears.  The fact that there is no photographic evidence of such things is one of the advantages of running the camera.

Basket of Joy

This year was the first year we introduced the Easter Bunny.  Does this seem odd to you?  Maybe we're jerks.  I don't know.  Some people seemed shocked when I admitted that Vivi hadn't been gumming chocolate bunny ears in the cradle.  At any rate, she was more confused than anything else, having no real frame of reference.

"I'm sorry, we're going to...what?"

"Interesting concept.  Spring-time Santa.  I have an idea!"

"Let's bribe him!"

She tossed carrots into the basket and assumed everything would go off to plot.

And sure enough....

The Easter Bunny came, and he even left a note!

Vivi was thrilled.

Since the Easter Bunny is apparently hip to the fact that we don't really give Vivi candy, he brought some really cool stuff for her to enjoy.

Inspecting her new Bunny Socks through her new, much-requested Princess Sunglasses (not kidding, yall.  She hounded me for weeks about Princess Sunglasses, and I nearly wept when..um..the Easter Bunny *ahem* finally found them for her).

And, because the Easter Bunny is cool, an Easter tradition...

...a Cadbury Egg!  And she was very glad.

Just the Facts, Mom

Eons ago, Aunt Kate presented Vivi with a book entitled "Ooga Booga Dinosaurs."  It's a very cute little book, and, being dino-based, is very popular in our home.  However, a recent reading DID raise some concerns about the...um...very factual nature of Vivi's dino knowledge.

In the book, Bert and Ernie race around with a baby dino, trying to "save" it from the big dino who is chasing them.  In a rather unoriginal plot twist, the big dino turns out to be the baby dino's mommy.  In the picture below, they are "safe" up on a tall rock, but the Mommy Dino is very upset. 

Vivi pointed out, "Look, the Mommy Dino is crying"

Thinking we would have a sweet little mother-daughter moment, I answered, "Yes, she is.  Do you think it is because she misses her baby?"

Vivi looked at me, and a very solemn voice answered, "No.  It's because she wants some meat."

Fail.

Drama Queen...

We also spent a lot of time in the dress-up area of the museum, despite my mutterings that it had nothing to do with super heros and that Darth Vader was upstairs (whom, to be fair, is also not a super hero).  Vivi ignored the folk in costume in favor of putting on her own...

...AND BEING FABULOUS.

She immediately found a fireman's hat and turned it to the side so it became a Scarlet O'Hara-esque floppy brimmed hat.  She then ignored me for a good 20 minutes as she danced around the stage and sang.

Mostly by herself.

She made lots of faces at me, suggesting that I was perhaps not in proper character.

Either that or there was whiskey hidden behind the stage curtain.  I don't know.

I see an Oscar in this one's future...

A Day of Eddie

Eddie and Parker also attended Super Hero Day with us.  Unfortunately, Parker is a Children's Museum PRO, and scampered off to his favorite areas almost immediately.  Eddie and Vivi, however, had never been there before, and were quite interested in looking at the same things.

They also seem to share a love of driving.

Driving a tractor.

Driving a spaceship.

(this part was so unbelievably cool I wanted to climb up there with them)

Driving an airplane (life-sized, yo!)

Driving a train (which Vivi actually refused to let Eddie drive, forcing him to ride in the back while yelling "No Way, Jose!" until I reminded her that Eddie needed a turn, too).

And, perhaps my favorite...

...riding on ducks.  Because I caution you--if there had been adult sized ducks, I would have been right there with them.

Super Hero Day!

This past Saturday, Vivi and I went to a very special event at the Lincoln Children's Museum--SUPER HERO DAY.  Now.  I goofed a bit here.  I found about this magicalness a bit late in the game, and so Vivi was one of a very few children not wearing a Super Hero outift. Next year.

There were, however, a very, very large number of adults on hand dressed as Super Heros, making the dreams of a lot of little people come true.  Batman, Superman, Spiderman, The Green Lantern, and the Incredibles were on hand, just to name a few.  I don't remember the last time I saw that may excited little kids.  Which is why I love the Children's Museum.

Well, that and the fact that I was able to get this shot:

Yes folks, that's right.  That's a picture of my child blithely riding a pony while a Storm Trooper sneaks up on her.  And I encouraged him, bless his white plastic heart.

Although when he tapped her on her shoulder, it was even better.

Some may argue the "Super Hero" aspect of an Intergalactic Storm Trooper.  Not me.  He quite, quite made my day.

And Now, for the Main Event...

Swimming!  We did a LOT of swimming!

Swimming with Mommy...

Swimming with Daddy...

...exploring the activity tower...

...exploring the splash pad...

(this held A LOT of fascination)

...and, Vivi's very most favorite activity of the weekend...

...going down the water slide!  She would have gone down all day if we had let her.

And at the end of the trip?

A very quiet car ride home.  The next time you're looking for something to do in Iowa, I totally recommend Kings Pointe.  We're already thinking of perhaps a cousin trip this summer, when the giant Outdoor Water Park will also be open!  Stay tuned, blog world...