Happy Ooster (Can I have more candy?)

James somehow got it into his head that Easter was pronounced Ooster. He also quickly figured out that Ooster and candy go together, and the beach.... that's right, we spent Easter weekend in Florida with Joe and Darcee. It was exhausting, but well worth the ten hour drive, at least on the way down. On the way back up, I was starting to think flying wasn't such a bad idea.
We left Steve behind, but I had help from my sister Callie and her roommate Julia who were both a huge help entertaining and feeding three whining kids strapped into their chairs. In reality it seemed a very short trip compared to the sixty hours we spent in the car in January (at least to me).
We had a great time overall- saw a ton of stuff during three short days, and got plenty of warm sun to help us through this unusually cold and cloudy Chattanooga spring. And Easter day really was a celebration with more than just candy.

Friday Callie and Julia spent at Disney World- I wasn't in the mood for that undertaking with my kids just yet. So Joe and Darce showed us around Orlando a bit. We went to a wonderful park in a very upscale part of Orlando. The kids had a blast chasing squirrels and climbing trees. I enjoyed looking at the huge variety of exotic flowers and trees on display.


This was a palm tree growing out of some kind of cedar I think.






This was one tree the kids did not try to climb.


James is going through a stage right now.....

That night we were decorating eggs and we had an egg blowing contest. This, we discovered, is kind of a disgusting process made much harder if laughing hysterically.



Saturday was beach day. It was windy and warm and very very sandy, but also very fun. We built castles and after some tentative toe dipping, James loved splashing in the surf. Etienne allowed the waves to wash over his feet a bit but that was all.






Easter morning we woke up to this beautifully decorated table, our egg blowing efforts well worth the trouble.


I realized today that I hadn't really gotten a photo of the kids all dressed up, but when there aren't any fluffy Easter dresses involved, it doesn't seem as fun. Church was wonderful, as well as the long feast afterwards. Then we cleaned up, napped a little bit and drove uptown for a walk on the water.


Looking at the "big bugs", otherwise known as turtles-







At the end of the day I found James in bed, like this-



I guess we wore him out.
Thanks Joe and Darcee!