An Early 2012 Easter at Grandpa and Gramma Debbie's!!

We're getting caught up, folks! I'm only a month behind....in SamTime, that's actually not too bad, right?

Right?

So yeah...as is typical, I had a nice deluxe Easter holiday...one back in Connecticut, with my Dad's side  of the family, and one back home with Mom's side...let's get right to it!

Dad managed to time our trip to Connecticut a little while before Easter so that we didn't hit a lot of traffic, which was a nice way to get up to see the family...when we arrived we got to see everyone!

Auntie Steph and Braelynn were there, and so were Aunt Amy, Uncle Steve (who took several days off of work to hang out with Dad and I) and Nicholas. We were all at Grandma Debbie and Grandpa's together and it was super nice.

Everyone was really nice and got me a ton of Easter presents! Look at that cool Easter egg bag!? Neat, right? Not only did I get some delicious candy (some of which were hidden within some brightly colored plastic eggs to up the fun factor) but some neat little presents as well!

Gramma Debbie helped me open my Easter basket which had even more special treats in it. I can't even tell you how excited I was. Everything is blurry because when you give me a bunch of stuff wrapped in plastic, I go kind of crazy. It's just so much fun crinkly goodness!

Once I had torn through everything, I unwound by playing with Braelynn and Nicholas....they have some great toys, and are lots of fun! They are also great at sharing!

Later after we got a bit more comfortable, Braelynn, Nicholas and I ran around the house in our underthings for a little while, and then we played on the bed for a bit, wrestling and jumping around. We knew that it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt, and sure enough Braelynn and I clunked heads, and the fun and joy ended with both of us in tears. Eh, we had fun while it lasted, and we all knew it was going to end that way, right? :-) Good times...

Later, after we had all calmed down, the family engaged in the age-old tradition of dyeing Easter eggs. Apparently you hard boil some eggs and put them into colored water so that it changes the color of the eggs.

Gramma Mindy even joined us for our first Easter egg dyeing...she helped me a lot!

If you want, you could draw on the eggs with a special crayon that you can't see until you put the eggs in the dyeing solution. It was pretty cool!

Everyone pitched in, although I actually got pretty bored after doing my first two eggs. Ironically, once I ran off the adults had more fun than the kids dyeing eggs. It had been so many years since they had done it, that they just dove right in and had a blast! Adults sure are silly sometimes!

Here is a random sampling of the eggs...Dad, even though he hadn't dyed eggs in more than a couple decades, still went ahead and drew the symbol of his favorite band "Faith No More" on his egg. What a geek. Everyone made lovely eggs, and the color palette sure was something to behold!

Throughout the weekend, we had a lot more fun activities planned! We had a nice little low-key faux Easter dinner...it's always fun to eat with my cousins!

....and before bedtime, Gramma Debbie helped me out with my somersault skills! She is a great somersault helper!

Before Dad and I went home, the weather perked up a bit, and we got to play outside. I brought my bat and ball just for the occasion!

I also discovered that in addition to his little kid-sized Dyson vacuum (Not pictured) Nicholas has a kid-sized lawn-mower....VERY cool stuff.

He was nice enough to let me play with it, and I got right to work!

Yet another fun-filled holiday weekend! Good times were had by all, and I looked very forward to doing it again in a few days back home!!

My Big Boy Bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Following along with the theme of my last posting, there has been a bit more construction here in the past month or so...I am speaking, of course, of the Grand Transition! My move from my crib of over three years into a brand new big boy bed! It was a big deal around here! Mom and Dad decided to let me take the lead on this, and waited until I started talking about making the move before they did it, and sure enough, I expressed an interest, and they made it happen!

Gramma Debbie chipped in and bought me my bed, which I picked out all by myself! We went out to IKEA, and I looked at all the options, and picked the one I found to be the most complimentary to our apartment, in addition to matching my personality...we shopped for all the parts, and I helped!

Well, sort of...

I even helped them put it in the car, which was loads of fun! (I also climbed around a bit when the mattress formed a little bunker in the back seat...which was more fun!)

Once we got home, we had to store the bed for a few days...once it was time to build, I helped Dad carry the boxes from the living room to my bedroom...

I really enjoy helping out so much! The below picture shows the slats that build the foundation under the mattress...we had actually forgotten this piece initially, which necessitated a return to the store...it was all good though, since it meant we got to eat lunch there again!

Of course, no construction job is complete without my trusty toolbox!

Dad and I compared hammers, and once we did "Cheers", we were ready to go!

 He gave me the instructions (Which I refer to as "the map") and let me get started on the basic framing...
 

 He and I had some tight maneuvering to pull off, since the room wasn't really made for two beds, but we did it!

 Once the bed started coming together, it was really exciting to see it starting to look like the finished product I saw in the store!!

 Hm...now where is my wrench? Ah! On the floor next to the flashlight...Obviously!  Where else would it be!?

 I worked on the headboard, which features a dog and cat looking at each other...I like animals, and I also like the idea of two beings from different backgrounds getting together, if only on my head board....I'm worldly that way.

 I made sure the dog wasn't going anywhere...he is such a pretty blue, that it would simply be a shame to not have him around...

 Dad let me put the little metal pieces that held the corners together in, and hold them down while he tightened them. Even though building the bed took about twice as long with me helping, Dad is always great about letting me take part!

 I hammered them in afterwards, just to make sure they were nice and stable...I was gonna be sleeping here, after all! Didn't want to take any chances! Plus, I hoped that I would have some grownups sitting on the edge of the bed telling me stories, so I wanted to make sure it was safe and inviting all around!

 One last double check, and I think we might be ready for the slats and the mattress!!

 Ahhhh....celebrating a hard day's work with a little rest (And testing out the bed, of course...)

 Sooooo cozy...I love it!

 Then came the part I wasn't quite ready for...I told Daddy that was excited to get to have two beds in my room now...but he broke the news that we were taking apart the crib because I didn't need it anymore. It was a bittersweet moment: I was happy to be growing up and moving on to my big boy bed, but at the same time, it's difficult because the crib was such a big part of my life...I was sad, but took one last moment to do something I never could when the crib was fully assembled: Get in and out of there of my own free will.

In the weeks since my new bed was made, I have utilized my new found ability to  get out of bed whenever I want and visit Mom and Dad early in the morning...usually long before they are ready to get up. :-)

My New Toy Storage!

In getting caught up, I figured I'd put out a post on some fine construction work that Dad and I have been up to in the past month or so....in an effort to get my room looking a bit more presentable (and to have a bit more room to play in) Mom and Dad bought me a very cool storage unit from IKEA!

Of course, I helped Dad put it together...

I always get very excited at any opportunity to help Dad build or fix stuff, so I immediately grabbed my tool box, and started hammering away at the support pegs....then I grabbed my screw driver and helped to get the screws in place for the lower supports...

They're a bit tricky, so it took a little work, but Dad helped me with the final few turns of the screws by teaching me how to use the tiny allen wrench that they include in the box...for the record, since we have several pieces of IKEA furniture, we can now open an allen wrench store. Seriously...we have a lot of allen wrenches.

Luckily I am the perfect size to help Dad get into a bunch of places that he is simply too large to get into (Sorry Dad...it's not a crack at your weight, it's just a simple matter of size versus the space you want that size to fit into)

I climbed in and made sure all the shelving slots were level...

And voila! We slid the bins into their rightful spots, and things suddenly became a lot more organized, easier to find, and much neater in my room! It also allowed for a bit more storage space for my huge collection of stuffed animals!

Dad went on the computer and printed out some cool labels so we would know where stuff would go when we put it away after a solid day of playing...he also included pictures for those of us that aren't quite reading yet (Namely me) so that it would be easy for me to find my stuff, and to put it away!

I think it came out pretty well...don't you!?

Gramma Mindy & The Zoo!

Yikes! Where have I been for the last month!?!? Well....my official transcription engineer (My Dad) has been swamped at work and with a show he just finished last weekend, so he wasn't available for blog-writing duties....that's pretty much it! Let's continue where we left off, shall we? And then we'll dive into more recent fare!

For Gramma Mindy's second day during her last visit, we chose to visit one of our favorite places....The National Zoo!

As always, it was fun being back in the old neighborhood, and while a bit chillier, the weather continued to be nice. We walked around the zoo for awhile and got to see a lot of cool stuff, as always!

The zebras were out that day, and we got to watch them walk around for awhile...

Gramma Mindy showed me some of the informational panels that you could slide out on this little Panda thing....I just liked that you could pull out the panels, and let them slide shut. It was really cool.

Near the actual red pandas, I found this statue of a red panda, and became the best of friends with it IMMEDIATELY.

I pretended to get bitten by the statue, and then proceeded to have everyone in our little group pretend to get bitten (and then be medically assisted by me, of course...) Here is Mom getting ready to get bitten....

 And here is me mending her poor wounded finger....

 Next up was Gramma Mindy....he got her pretty good...

 But not to worry! I was right there to fix her up, good as new!

 Dad was spared by the red panda....for now!
 I was extremely sad when it was time to leave my new statue friend...I didn't know how I could possibly cope with having to leave and let other people take pictures with the statue...

 An acceptable substitute was found....in the actual red pandas that were ten feet away from the statue.

 As is typical,  we got to see the pandas at the zoo, but since it wasn't all that crowded, we got a good glimpse of them, and got to see them eating and playing, which is always nice!

 As it grew later (and I subsequently grew hungrier) I had a bit of a cranky moment, and went off to be by myself for a little while...I found a nice little place to hide behind the panda display, and after a bit of sulking, managed to come out and finish off the day...

We even managed to sneak in a little "hide and seek" time with Gramma Mindy...I am only slightly better at hiding than Gramma Mindy.....can you find us in the below picture?