Easter - A Very Late One

But better late than never, I say! Because we were gone for Easter, I stubbornly wanted to celebrate it anyway and made big plans for an Easter get-together three weeks late. Odd, I know, but that's my personality for you!

So today we had a few of our friends with families over for a potluck lunch and egg hunt. It turned out so well that we'll just have to do egg hunts for the kids more often (just kidding). But it was really great - we had tons and tons of empty plastic eggs that we filled with jelly beans, chocolates, and other tooth-rotters and we hid them all along a trail next to our house. We had eggs up in the trees, in the bushes, and under leaves. Isabella was confused at first, but once she caught on she kept saying "huevos! more huevos!". There were five little kids running around frantically seeking out those little colored eggs - it made me so happy. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy holidays with kids?

As for the food...my friends went all out - there was moussaka, coconut chicken korma, mini-cheesecakes, treacle spongecake with custard, lobster salad, and nettle and feta savory pastries - to name a few.

Growing

Potty Trained!

This news deserves a post of its own. Prior to our trip, Isabella potty trained. She had been without diapers for a week and I thought for sure we would experience some setbacks while on our trip, but she stayed true to the effort and has been potty trained since the last week of March! This week I plan on freeing up a whole drawer of her cloth diapers and packing them away until our next little one :).

Scandinavia

the traditional Swedish Dala horse

A belated Happy Easter to everyone! We are home, and a good thing we came back before the Icelandic volcano blew it's top, because it sent so much ash over European air space that all flights around here have been canceled for days now. (Yet despite this ash cloud we have had an absolutely beautiful weekend! Sunny!).

Our trip to Sweden and Norway was lovely - we especially enjoyed Stockholm.

Pedro got his Scandinavian snow after all

In Stockholm, we stayed at a really fun hotel owned by ABBA's Benny Anderssen - so the whole hotel was done in hilarious 70's retro. The rest of our trip included eating lots of fish (Isabella was very adventurous), shopping in cool Scandinavian design shops (mostly for project ideas!), and walking, walking, walking. Our train trip from city to city was absolutely gorgeous and the countryside was studded with charming red and white houses and many, many tree-lined lakes.

this little girl is a great traveler!

Next time we're in that area we will definitely rent a cabin or something so we can experience more of the rugged beauty there.

Current Doings

these are some happy faces!

We went to a little wedding this past weekend. I think this was actually the first wedding Isabella has been to as well. She was so well behaved the whole time, even inside the ancient church where the ceremony itself was held.

Hemingford Abbots village where the wedding was

how sweet - i might not have caught this had i not been straggling behind in 4" heels

my girl and me

barely 7a.m. and she's already prepped for the paparazzi - thanks Auntie Lisa

We are about to leave for Scandinavia from this Saturday. I have been rushing around packing, finishing up taxes, sewing up last-minute orders, cleaning, and everything else that happens around here. Pedro and I are really looking forward to traveling again and this year may just be shaping up to be full of it (I hope!).