Four Years of Marital Bliss

Four years ago today, Glenn and I started our life together, and so far, it has been a pretty good one, so we decided to celebrate. The traditional gift for the fourth anniversary is flowers, so I was not surprised when a bouquet of stargazer lilies landed on my doorstep. I got a little creative in my "floral" gift for Glenn, and planned a picnic to the Lilly House gardens and baked flower cookies too.

I spent all day in the kitchen baking cookies. But I had a super helper in Hazel.

Hazel kept saying, "Daddy be so happy we make him cookies!"

These were some pretty serious cookies. (And I also made some chocolate rosettes for good measure.)

We had so much fun getting out in the fresh air and being silly!

We decided not to get a babysitter, because we thought the girls might like to celebrate with us. We were right.

Glenn and Hazel chased the ball for a little bit in the garden where we had our picnic.

Elise really enjoyed her first picnic.

She even got to gum a piece of dinner roll, which was a different experience for her.

A little girl and a dandelion . . . Classic.

Sisterly love. . .

Sometimes sisterly love lets go. . .

After the picnic, we explored the gardens.

Together.

Independence.

And Glenn and I took the opportunity to play with our camera and take some photos of the flowers.

Glenn took this one.

I took this one.

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was upon us. Saturday was dark and stormy, but that did nothing to dampen the mood. In fact, it just gave Hazel an excuse to wear her rain boots.

Saturday morning, the McCain clan joined the Pattersons at the Ulen Country Club for a quick brunch and an Easter Egg hunt. While we ate, a certain rabbit wandered through the dining room and introduced himself to Hazel. She was a bit surprised by his size, but quickly warmed up to him. Due to the rain, the egg hunt was moved inside, but none of the hunters seemed to mind the change in venue.

That is one big bunny!

Hazel decided to join the 3-4 year old group so she could hunt alongside Audrey.

Elise considered leaving the group to go hunt with the 2 and under crowd, but decided that she would just hang out with Aunt Annie instead.

The hunt is on!


That Easter bunny hid eggs everywhere!

Hazel's basket, affectionately known as "The Collector."

Not too shabby for moving up an age group!

In fact, I would classify this as "quite a haul."

On Sunday, Megan and the girls went back up to Lebanon, this time to see cousin Laura get baptized. During this time, Glenn went to the airport and picked up Grammy, and everyone met back at the Club for a delicious Easter brunch. Afterwards, we returned home, and to everyone's surprise, the Easter Bunny had stopped by!

Hazel got a fancy new tricycle and a princess helmet!

Lisey got a ball popper. Fortunately, Hazel (and her helmet) were there to show her how everything works.

Oh, did we mention that the new trike has a basket that is the perfect size for Pink Baby?

Apparently the Easter Bunny shops at Vermont Confectionery. Lisey likey.

It's a Long Way to Tipperary...

But not so far to downtown Indianapolis, which is where the girls and I were headed this morning for the Indianapolis St. Patrick's Day parade. We were dressed in our Irish best and were excited to spend some time out in the sunlight. So welcome spring, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Looking sweet in Shamrocks.

We stopped at the Monument and checked out the fountain on our way to the parade route.

Waiting for the parade to start.

We're all excited!

The parade started off with the motorcycle cops -- always our favorites.

Can't have an Irish parade without bagpipes.

Can't have an Indianapolis parade without Blue.

Come to think of it, you can't have an Indianapolis parade without a race car driver either.

Here's hoping your St. Patrick's Day was as green and happy as ours was.

A Few Firsts

Here in the McCain household, we have experienced a few firsts in the last few days. Here is the photographic proof.

Elise had her first meal of strained peas. (I learned my lesson from Hazel, and mixed it with rice cereal to tone down the flavor a bit.)

The delivery...

Hmmm... This is different.

But I think I like it.

Elise has also learned to sit up pretty well on her own. Some of you may recognize this video. We took one just like it of Hazel when she was this age. You'll notice, though, that while Hazel was watching Jeopardy, Elise is watching Dora the Explorer. Slight programming change since Hazel has taken control of the remote control.

Our Mini-Vacation to Great Wolf Lodge

I have to apologize for the lack of posts lately. We get a little down during the winter, after Christmas and go into hibernation mode, just trying to get through to warmer weather. This February was particularly difficult given the snow-storms which just kept coming. Not to mention all the busy weekends we had going on. The first weekend in February, we watched the Colts battle the Saints in the Superbowl; the following weekend Glenn and I drove down to Louisville to see the Titanic Exhibit at the Science Center; and the weekend after that, Aunt Sarah and Cousin Mac flew out to surprise me for my 30th birthday. So, needless to say, we were ready for a little break by the time this weekend rolled around.

Sunday morning, we woke up early and headed to Cincinnati to visit the Newport Aquarium. Hazel was up late the night before, so she was a little bit cranky, and not really into seeing the fish, but she did enjoy watching the penguins waddling around.

Hazel was not at all interested in petting the Horseshoe Crab.

But she was interested in climbing these giant frogs in the Frog Bog.

The big excitement came after our visit to the Aquarium when we headed to Mason, OH (my hometown) and checked into the Great Wolf Lodge. Hazel couldn't wait to get into her swimsuit and go to the water park.

The indoor water park was super cool! Lots of things for the whole family to do.

Hazel had lots of fun playing in the water, but she wasn't particularly interested in the toddler slides or getting splashed.

Everybody got in on the swimming action, even Elise.

But Hazel is tired of standing around... Let's get in the water!

Hazel's favorite attraction was climbing across these floating tree stumps and lily pads.

Daddy helped hold them steady while Hazel made her way across.

Hazel must have climbed across this pool about 75 times.

Elise wasn't particularly interested in getting splashed either, but she really loved swimming with Momma. She would kick her feet until she wore herself out.