too much easter fun

ah, easter. a holiday about the resurrection of christ, marshmallow bunnies, cadbury creme eggs, and plastic eggs. ain't it great?

my kids are either too young or too old for easter egg hunts, although for some reason the kid was absolutely clamoring for the chance to look for eggs. she was probably picturing cash-filled eggs, like the kind my family used to hide when most of my cousins were still at the right age. i did go to target and pick up a bunch of fun stuff to make an easter goody bag for her - things like lip gloss, new mascara, reese's peanut butter eggs, a couple of magazines with her favorite boys in it (who else remembers tiger beat and bop magazines? i crack up whenever i see these now), and some cocoa-flavored peeps. i threw it all into a lime green gift bag with some shredded tissue paper and she was thrilled. yay!

i got the bean all dressed up in her colorful easter dress, and then we piled in the car and headed off to church. we got there just as the service was starting, but being easter, we got the very last 4 seats in the place. sheesh. we couldn't see a damn thing, but it was better than not getting a seat at all. and the bean was in quite a joyful mood - she giggled and squealed through the whole thing. cute, funny, but rather loud - you've heard how loud she can get. so i took her outside to squeal some more. we were glad she wasn't crying, but she was still loud as hell and although people were giggling and waving at her, i didn't want to piss anyone off.

afterwards, we let the kid pick our breakfast venue, and of all places, she chose ihop. hahahahaha! i love ihop, though. and luckily, there was one right down the street, so off we went.

the bean fell asleep the moment we started the car.

apparently, ihop was partnered with the new dr. seuss movie, horton hears a who. and what does this mean? well, a fun menu, of course! the kid had seen a commercial for it, so she already knew what she wanted. and because they were so outlandish-looking, i risked the hub's wrath and snapped pictures of everything. ha! check it out:

this is "beezlenut splash" - otherwise known as sprite with cubes of jello at the bottom. gross.


these are who-cakes. a stack of pancakes in varying sizes, topped with boysenberry and blueberry glazes, rainbow chips, and a bubble gum lollipop. and that lollipop was TINY. the picture made it look blow-pop size, but it was just a little teeny-tiny dum dum. and yeah - grosser than that beezlenut splash shit.

coke at last! whee!


the hub's strawberry-banana pancakes. after 45 days of no sweets, he was only able to eat half of these. but the bean got to try the sauce, of course.


my boring (but delish) german pancakes - lemony, buttery, crepe-y goodness.

i took a few more pictures as we waited for our check.

man, i love these legs.

after breakfast, we headed home, dropped off the hub, and headed over to a gathering for my aunt's birthday. it'd been quite a while since we'd seen everyone (like, uh, christmas) and it was fun to see them all and show off the bean.

we laughed at the size difference between her and my cousin's daughter (born a week before the bean). chubby vs. skinny. who wins? ;)


here she is with one of my other cousins (i have a zillion freaking cousins, y'all).

all too soon, it was time to leave and head back home to scoop up the hub and the desserts we had for easter dinner with his family. i'd made some of bakerella's fabulous oreo truffles, and had enough time to re-dip them in white chocolate. i'd already dipped them in pink-tinted candy the day before, but they weren't covered to my standards. and a tip, for those of you who may decide to try this: don't use two colors. the pink started to melt a little as i dipped them into the white candy, and while it wasn't ugly, it was a little off. ha! but they tasted fabulous.



we also brought french apple pie and cream cheese brownies. i didn't make these, but they were yummy anyway.

the kid and i had a little fun with the camera.

and our very un-easter-y dinner: kebabs! teriyaki chicken, shrimp, veggies. dee-lish-us.

the bean played with grandma - this kid loves to be upside-down. don't know why, but it sure makes her smile.

and she entertained us at the table. peek:


a-boo! the hair is comical.

whew! it was quite a long day. i think i saw more family this weekend than i have in the last six months. heh.