The New House and Town ... and the Easter Egg Hunt

 VIEW ALL WEEK'S PHOTOS HERE <---

We thoroughly enjoyed the last few days that my mom was visiting with us. We cleaned and organized the house some more, and my children soaked up every minute of grandma-fun that they could. On they night before she left, we made a fire in the backyard and had s'mores for dessert (it was finally warm enough to do that!). The girls - mostly the oldest - cried as they went to bed, knowing that it meant good bye to "Grandma Cozy". She left with Adam to the JFK airport (La Guardia is a little closer, for future reference) at 4am, and it was just not the same without her after that. We are so grateful for her visit and all of her help!

I am oh-so-slowly orienting myself on these winding, narrow, name-changing, and tree-tunneled roads. I can find the elementary school, the library, the post office, and the recycling center all by myself (no GPS), and that is a pretty big deal. By the way, those locations pretty much sum up this little town. There is not much here. Just about everything is a town over, but we are surrounded by several other towns, and I have yet to figure out which ones are where and what the good destinations in each one are. Let the discovery begin. 

As it turns out, Good Friday is a holiday that merits canceling school in CT, so the girls and I had Friday all to ourselves. We decided to take advantage of the free passes that our library offers to nearby museums and zoos and such. We decided to try the Beardsly Zoo in Bridgeport, a city about 45 min from our house. I packed lunches, and off we went. The long drive was helped by a book on CD, also from the library - what a great place. The zoo was not huge, but just right. The girls loved every minute of the 3 hours that we spent there.

After that, I headed to Norwalk - where Adam often works - to get a membership to Costco and do some bulk shopping. This is important because we live relatively far from some of the big stores, so it makes it feel hardly worth shopping for things that come in small packages each week. Costco was a bit of a zoo. The kids loved all of the samples of food there. I'm pretty sure there were enough that they got a full meal out of it. The whole experience was complete with a tantrum from my youngest clinging to me as she was trying to wriggle out of the shopping cart, a race to the hidden and hard-to-get-to restrooms for another child, and an uncomfortable diaper change in the backseat of the car. Oh, the joys of mothering.

It was during that excursion that I learned we had been invited to dye Easter eggs at a friend's house - Awesome. We went there directly from the store. We had a great time visiting. The girls get along well with their two children, who are a couple of years older than my children. We had a BBQ and then proceeded to be muy creative with eggs, dye, and decorations. Good times all around!

On Saturday we decided to have an early Easter celebration in our yard. We put out the Easter baskets, hid candy-filled eggs in the massive yard, and got our cameras ready for inevitable cuteness. It was perfect, despite a nip in the air. The girls loved the treats, the search, the anticipation of finding and eating candy. The yard was picturesque and happiness was all around! Yea!

Later we decided to go to an animal shelter in the hopes of getting a couple of cats. Yes, I said cats, even though we are dog people, and I am allergic to cats. We were told that we should get cats if we live in this house to help keep the mouse population down. It is pointless to try to exterminate them as we live along 160 acres of natural reserve space (and we are uncomfortable with the extermination idea anyway). So cats, it seemed, were the answer. However, after spending time there, filling out paperwork, letting the children see and pet a number of animals, and letting my nose and throat begin to tickle, we were talked out of the whole thing. Because of my allergies, the cats would have to be outdoor cats (who would be let into the garage at night), but we were told that we would only be bringing the cats to an early death and providing a tasty lunch for a nearby coyote or fox in the woods. It made me worry about my almost 2 year old, to be honest. Yikes! ...Anyway, so now what? Any suggestions? We don't want a mouse infested house come the fall, but we don't want to endanger the lives of cats in our yard, and I don't want to be suffering from allergies all the time. Are there any solutions that we are not thinking about? Lions? 

After that we headed to the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium for a birthday party (of one of the same girls from the Easter egg dying). The party was so fun for the girls! They watched a shark IMAX movie, got a tour of the Aquarium, played games, ate pizza and ice cream cake, and got princess barbie-like party favors after a full 4 hours of party. Sheesh! I am concerned that the party expectations of  my girls got set a bit high right before their summer birthdays. We were told that going all out on birthdays is just what people do out here (just one of the things that will set us apart, I guess!) I will need to get creative. Ideas are welcome.

We came home to relax and have a family movie night. We cuddled up on our bed, set up the projector, popped popcorn, and watched the movie: Hop - a decidedly awful movie. The product placement was absurd, but the worst part - the most offensive - was that this children's movie would allow Playboy to be one of those placements. It was pathetic, in my opinion. Seriously? They are getting their logo out to the children in a cool and funny way - that is disturbing to me. Aside from that, the girls seemed to love it ... and it was a fun themed weekend!

May your Easter be a happy one, may Springtime bloom warm and sunny, and may all of your seasonal allergies be quick and mild, as I hope mine plan to be... AAACHOOOOO!