We had the whole family over for Easter and finally able to host an event at our house. Matt worked hard to get the backyard back to life after Winter. We have a lot of work to do on the patio and the lawn, but we got new patio furniture so we have places to sit and a fire to keep us warm.Otto woke up Easter morning to a basket filled with a few toys. Outside chalk, and a baby doll that he can give a bath and feed a fake bottle of milk. He is a daddy in training.
All of our parents, in-laws, nephew, and brother-in-law's brothers joined us for Easter Sunday. We planned a children's egg hunt for Otto and Micheal Jr. to participate. Eggs filled with candy and toys were placed all over the backyard. Then, we prepared an adult game where emoji eggs were filled with prizes and a few challenge cards. If the players accepted and completed the challenges, they got an emoji beach ball prize! If anyone attempted all the challenges, they could win a grand prize. Of course, Coltan and his brothers were game for anything! They had to wear lipstick for 20 minutes, say silly and embarrassing phrases, make a fake Eulogy for deceased imaginary pets, and compete for the grand prize. Since there was a tie, we had Coltan and Brennan square off in a game of Egg Roulette! They had to smash eggs on their heads hoping they wouldn't get the one that wasn't hard boiled. Poor Coltan got the mess of egg yoke on his head. It was such a blast!We continued with our usual daily life. Exercise every morning, spending time outside whenever the weather was decent. It was still a rare day that we could spend all day in sunshine without big winds or rain.
We prepared for another Story Time event. This was our most successful event yet! We had two times available to families and we had a big crowd come to the 11:00 event! Lots of little princes and princesses joined us for Thumbelina stories and songs. Then, we made jewelry. I think Holly at Discovery Kids helped me get the word out this time and it really made a difference.
Otto and I hopped on a plane to warmer weather. We took a week-long visit to Phoenix to see friends, family, and more family. We stayed at Rhonda and Sonny's house on the lake, which was relaxing. We got to spend plenty of time with our whole All Aboard family.I took Otto to the railroad park in Scottsdale, which started out as a great time. Unfortunately, we had an incident where Otto took his shoes off in the sand, and burned his feet pretty bad. I had to rush him to his doctor's office so they could put cream and wrap them up. It put a little set back in our playtime as he couldn't play in the pool or walk too much after that.
Photo on the train was taken just minutes before "the incident".
We got to see our besties, Sarah, Bailey and Nate. I love them so much.
I arranged a meet-up with Otto's birth father at a nearby park. His new wife was very nice and they had a great time getting to know Otto. Otto got to spend time bonding with his half brother, Cole. Cole and Otto share a birthday 2 years apart! What an amazing thing! I couldn't believe it! They were all so nice and we can't wait to visit often so we can see them again.
It is so great to be able to go to Arizona and let Otto keep connection with his cousins and his birth family. They mean so much to us and we are lucky to have so many loved ones offer their home to us so we can come back often.It's a good thing we enjoyed 90 degree weather and sunshine while we were in the beautiful Sonoran desert, because we weren't back in Utah a few days and it snowed! I know it won't be the last time before Summer, but COME ON!
