Easter Day

The Easter Bunny Came! The Easter Bunny Came!!!!! Zoe was ecstatic to see the Easter Bunny came last night and left her a basket full of goodies. She had just enough time to go through her basket before it was time to meet up with Jaylyn so we could deliver the Easter basket that Zoe made special for her BFF.

Just when I thought I was super cool for taking Zoe to do the egg hunt where we hike, Dana one up’d me this morning. She took us to one of her friends house/farm who not only has rabbits, chickens, ducks, and goats BUT, alpacas too! Yes, three adorable alpacas!

Zoe spent the morning walking, feeding, petting, kissing, and hugging all the animals she could get her hands/lips on. I got the biggest hoot out of watching my little farm girl work her magic. She has zero fear of animals and is so very compassionate. I enjoyed watching her interact with all the animals. She’s a pro and now wants to live on a farm – go figure!

All the way home, all Zoe could talk about was how awesome it was to be able to actually touch and love on all the animals. Usually she can only see these animals from behind a fence so, this was extra special. (Thanks D & Chris!!)

For Easter dinner we had Papaya- Avocado salad, twice baked potatoes, and carrots with dill butter, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, fresh bread, and what is a feast without a ‘fancy’ drink for Zoe? She had bubbly juice with star fruit. For dessert, homemade pound cake with fresh strawberries, and homemade whipped cream. Needless to say, we couldn’t move after this meal. It was delish and we had a good time making it.

We hope everyone had a fantastic Easter!

Happy Easter

Egg Hunt

We didn’t make it to see the Easter Bunny this year. Zoe didn’t much ask about seeing the bunny and I didn’t push it! Make no mistake, she wants him to ‘visit’ our house and leave her a ‘treat’ basket.

This afternoon, I totally made up for not going to the mall and standing in a huge long line to see the Easter Bunny. Yep, I asked Zoe if she wanted to do an Easter egg hunt? Not just any old egg hunt but, a hunt at one of our favorite hiking spots! Her eyes got really big and she said, “YES! YES! YES!” We grabbed some plastic eggs and a basket off we went.

We’ve had our share of April showers so, the grounds were wet, but we were prepared. We put on our rain boots and made the best of it. First up, I hid the eggs for Zoe to find. She found them all right away and was super proud of herself. When she was done finding her eggs, she wanted to hide them for me. Zoe made me turn around to ensure I wasn’t ‘cheating’. I heard her say, “Okay Mom – READY!” I walked back over and searched high and low for the eggs she hid. She did a good job!

Once the egg hunt was complete, we went for a nice hike. We saw a fawn hiding in a thicket watching us as we passed, a lot of beautiful wild flowers, and a zillion frogs, which I am not fond of in the least!

It was a perfect afternoon. It felt so awesome to be back on the hiking trails. Zoe was on Spring Break all last week in NC with her Nana so, I was ready for some quality time with my baby girl. What better place to enjoy some quality time than out on the trails?

To end a simply perfect day.. Homemade ice cream cone with a purple peep!

Adoption Weekend

This weekend was a very special weekend, it was Zoe's adoption weekend. It's hard to believe she is already six. We try to plan her special weekend around things she wants to do. I know this is going to be hard to believe but, she wanted to go to New York to see Madagascar (in real life) at Radio City Music Hall. Zoe absolutely loves everything about New York City. She loves the hustle and bustle to the public transit, to the shopping… She loves it all! Saturday we spent the whole day in the city. We hit her favorite spots, M&M store, Lego store, Hershey store, and Build a Bear. We also made our way over to the Empire State Building. I think her being up so high in the sky freaked her out a little but she had so much fun. The weather was awful so the view wasn't great but the thought of her being in an elevator, 86 floors high above the cabs and street was extremely cool. It rained off and on all day but that didn't stop us, we walked around all day. No cabs and no subways. By 7pm we were spent and ready for bed. We could barley make it through dinner because we were all so tired. It was a pretty quiet evening, we were pooped! When we got back to the hotel, Zoe made a pallet on the floor and read books to her baby and her newest build a bear friend, Sally. I remember I used to do that when I was younger too. It blows my mind now much Zoe is like me. Don't get me wrong, she has Shelli in her too but wow, do I see me in her. She read to her babies until her little eyes couldn’t stay open another second. Sunday morning, Zoe was up before the sun. She was anxious to start the day. She looked out the window and saw the sun shining and NO RAIN in sight. It was time to head out and see what we could get into. First stop of the day was for me! Several months ago on the food network, they had a show on pancakes, and it featured restaurants known for amazing pancakes (with maple butter syrup). The restaurant that won was in NYC, so I thought to myself, the next time I was in the city I wanted to try to eat there. We hailed a cab to Clinton Street Bakery. www.clintonstreetbaking.com The wait time 1 hour 15 minuets, and this was before the place even OPENED! People were lined up outside. It was crazy! We waited, and waited, and waited. When I finally heard, “LORI”, I jumped up and was like, “HERE! I’M HERE!, WE ARE HERE! HERE!”. They sat us and we ordered right away. When the food came it was worth every second we waited. WOW!!! I would go back a millions times – and wait! After breakfast, which was now almost lunch, we had to get ready for Madagascar. On the way over, we stopped at St. Patrick's Cathedral, which we always do with every visit to the city. Zoe of course ran right over and lit a candle for Uncle Jose. When we finally got to Radio City Music Hall, I was in awe as much as Z was. I had never been there so, it was the first time for both of us. It was amazing. We got our lemur glasses, found our seat, and then just looked around and took it all in. The show was very cute and Zoe danced the whole time. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much. Though out the trip, we had so many great talks about her adoption and no matter how many times we tell her the story, I always get choked up. It was by far the best day in my (our) entire life. I could never begin to verbalize how lucky I feel to be Zoe’s mommy. It was a very special weekend for the most special girl in our entire world!

I made it!

Tonight was Zoe’s last night of swim class. I’ve only been able to make it to one out of the 8 weeks she has been in the class. I never make it home in time from work to attend—it’s the story of my life! Tonight however, I was basically running red lights and stop signs to get to her last class. This wasn’t just any class this was the class that parents got to watch the kids show case all they have learned over the past several weeks -- poolside! Usually you have to wait in a waiting area but, not today! I was sitting poolside, on the floor, legs crossed Indian style, soaked from the kids splashing but, I didn’t care, I was in all my glory watching my baby girl (and her buddies) show off all their swimming abilities. There were only three kids in Zoe’s class so she got lots of one on one time with the teacher. Towards the end of class, I looked over and Zoe was doing cannon balls into the pool. At that very second, my long day was yet again perfect! Sure, I got there a little late but I made it and couldn’t have been happier to see my little girl swimming around that huge pool. I’m so proud of my polliwog. She did fantastic!

Eggs and Carrots

This morning, bright and early, we headed over to J’s to dye Easter eggs. The girls could barley sit still in anticipation of coloring the eggs. They both sat as patiently as they could in their matching bunny t-shirts while everything was getting set up. You would have thought it took hours for the color fizz pellets to dissolve the way Zoe and Jaylyn were carrying on. “Are they ready yet?”, “Mom, now?”, “NOWWWWW?” I took over a dozen eggs and Dana had about a dozen and a half. Zoe’s egg decoration choice this year was Star Wars (go figure!) and Jaylyn did the whole princess theme. All of the eggs came out beautifully! While Dana was supervising the egg dying, I ran into the kitchen and boiled up some water for what is my most favorite way to do eggs in the whole wide world…. The shrink wrap way… You know, the ones that are ‘plastic’ and you put over the egg and dip into boiling water. They are the kind I did as a child and have always been my favorite. Mine had farm animals on them and boy, were they cute! I was like one of the kids, “Look at mine! Look at mine!” The girls of course loved them and helped me color them. By the time all the eggs were done, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Neither of my little monsters had dye on their shirts, their pants, or on the floor. How was that possible? WOW! Their hands were another story but that is all apart of dying eggs! Overall, the girls had a great time. We came home, Zoe crawled into bed with me, and we took a nap!

After nap…. We got up still in a ‘crafty’ mood. So, we decided to make ‘Carrot Patch Cookies’ which I saw in one of my parenting magazines. It was simple, fun, and adorable.

Ingredients: Orange Mike and Ike candies Green gummy candy (we used Rips licorice pieces, which are flat) Nabisco Biscos sugar wafer cookies (I used sugar free) Chocolate frosting Chocolate wafer cookie crumbs (I used chocolate gold fish) Instructions: 1. To make each carrot, cut a slit in one end of a Mike and Ike candy with a sharp knife (an adult's job). Cut a small triangle from the green gummy candy (if needed, roll it flat), then fringe the base to form leaves. Tuck the triangle into the slit of the Mike and Ike and pinch it closed. 2. For each carrot planter, place a wafer cookie base on a flat surface. Form the longer walls from two whole cookies and cut a third one to fit the shorter ends. Attach the pieces with frosting. 3. To fill four planters, combine 2 tablespoons frosting with 2 tablespoons cookie crumbs. Fill each box with the mixture, then press three candy carrots inside. If needed, add more of the frosting mixture to hold the carrots in place.