happy easter elenora!

i awoke this morning to elenora's sweet face and wildly curly hair about an inch from my cheek.  "can i open my present now?" she asked.  (i had left her new easter dress wrapped up in tissue paper outside of her bedroom door for her to find.)  

after a breakfast of strawberry pancakes, melon, and lots of VT maple syrup, we headed off to park street church.  elenora was so good during church, and it was so sweet to hear her singing along.

after church we met up with momby and r., and j. and h. and gracie at a buffet brunch.  the easter bunny was there too.  this is about as close as ella was willing to sit.

we all love taking turns holding sweet little grace, who was so good all during brunch.

j. and i purchased this sweet dress in woodstock at a boutique.

here's ella's car dance on the way home:

woodstock getaway

j. and i headed up to vt yesterday for an overnight getaway.  what a luxurious trip. 

we ate at simon pearce on friday night after spending an hour walking around the town and then another hour at the inn's fitness center and indoor pool and sauna.  the food at simon pearce was amazing--pork pate, cod with leaks and potatoes, and strawberry angel cake... 

when we got back to the inn from simon pearce, the parking lots were full, so j. ran in to ask where we should park.  "we have valet parking, so you can just give us the keys and we'll park it for you."  awesome.

and our room was gorgeous.  we woke up this morning to april snow covering the few crocuses that had already decided to chance it.  so we ate a hearty breakfast at the inn and then spent several hours at the fitness center playing indoor tennis, swimming, sitting in the hot tub and sauna, drinking tea, and working out.  then we headed to the cabot tasting center in quechee to sample all of the amazing cabot cheeses there and to buy some maple syrup.  to finish off the trip, we headed back to the inn for dinner before heading back home.  i hope we can continue to go there every year.  it's so relaxing.

what does god look like? (and underwear)

at dinner last night, elenora was looking out the window and said "i can see god." "you can?" i asked.  "there's his hair in the sky," she said.  "i don't know if god has hair," i said.  "god is bald," elenora replied.  "i don't know. i've never seen god," i said.  elenora, bowing her head and clasping her hands together, prayed: "dear god, please come out of the sky and show us your hair."

today i leave for an overnight with j. in woodstock, vt.  so when i got out of the shower this morning i pulled on my purple lacy underwear.  elenora, who is always in the bathroom ("no privacy for mothers" i always say) in the mornings while i get ready for work, exclaimed, "oh, mommy. your underwear is too short for your bottom."

ahem.  "it's the style," i say.

gracie visits

h. brought grace over to visit for the second time, and i had such a lovely time holding her.  i am so happy i get to live so close.

of course, it was interesting figuring out how to still be able to do things for elenora while holding gracie.  if i ever have another one, i guess that's what it will be like.

train to salem

t. had a great idea to take the girls to salem for the patriot's day holiday.  rose is elenora's best friend at school, and the first friend she ever made completely separately from me.  these 2 just clicked right away last fall, and it's been the 2 of them ever since.  t. and i have really hit it off, too, and we have great conversations about god and religion and kids, etc.

this was elenora's second train ride ever.  it was a fun trip, and they were so sweet together.

here they are looking at a real estate booklet that rose picked up at the train station.  rose is saying "you can move into this house, and i will move into that one."

they were pretty excited to find a witch in salem (even if it was a manikin), since j. had given elenora a hint that people in salem like to dress up like witches.

we all had lunch in a restaurant in town that was thankfully big enough for 2 silly girls who wanted to run up and down the room by the end of the meal.

newburyport play with nathan

we took a trip to newburyport to play with nathan and catch up with m.  it was such a warm, gorgeous day, so she and i walked the kids downtown and got them ice cream.  then we let them play in the little alley playground.  they are very sweet together.

visit to s.c.

ella and i traveled down on april fools day to visit mom and dad in s.c.  we left our house in a snow storm and arrived before noon in a green, spring day.

for friday and saturday, we mostly just walked to the park and relaxed.  ahhhhh.

we even helped my folks do some gardening and yard work.

my mom's neighborhood threw a huge easter egg hunt and party on saturday afternoon.

elenora wasn't sure about this easter bunny, but they had a huge white rabbit that ella wasn't shy about holding.

sunday afternoon my grandma b. arrived.  it was so warm out that we were able to eat (and grill) some amazing meals out on the patio.

monday morning my mom held another easter egg hunt with elenora outside after coloring with sidewalk chalks that grandma brought for ella.

here's another year of being able to take a 4 generation picture.