After a great time last year at the Shriner's Circus, we could not wait for it to come to town again! Unfortunately, we were not going to be able to make it to any of the shows, so we settled on watching the clowns parade into town. We bought some dinner, pulled the car up to the curb and watched as the circus came to town!
Today was Tyler's friend, Olivia, and her brother, Derek's, birthday party. Also celebrating his birthday was Trent, Livie and Derek's cousin. Olivia will turn 4 in a few days and Derek will turn 2 shortly after that. Their party was at a great place, Kid's Stuff, in Springfield. We had been there a few times before and were really looking forward to our return trip. With so much to do, all the parents knew bedtime would be a piece of (birthday) cake tonight!
Tyler almost immediately gravitated towards the air hockey game. Not wanting Livie to be at a disadvantage, I gave her some pointers to beat Tyler "I Love all Hockey Games" Genovese.
The kids also tried their hands at some driving games. Kind of scary to watch in all honesty!
The BEST part of this place is the Laser Tag room.... After all the dads were finished with their games, we cleared the room for the 4 and under crowd. From left to right: Tyler, Kiki, party-goer, Olivia, and Trent.
Tyler absolutely loved the game Frank was trying his hand at... Jurassic Park. After anything hockey, anything dinosaurs goes! 
After we were done with the party at Kids Stuff, we headed back over to the Helberg's for a bonfire, cold drinks, and more fun. While Glen was starting the fire, they were waiting patiently with their marshmallow roasting sticks.
Tyler chose to take the marshmallow from the stick to his mouth without roasting! Some day he will really know what he is missing!
Not to be left out, Derek tried his hand at roasting a few. On Friday, we packed up the car and headed down to Long Island for Easter weekend. As always, the minute we arrived, Tyler and his cousins began their 48 hours of fun! It had been a long time since we had all been together, so the kids had a lot of catching up to do!
On Saturday, we headed over to Grandma and Papa's for Easter dinner. We ate yummy appetizers, delicious lasagna, and delectable desserts. The Easter bunny made a special trip to Grandma and Papa's house and the kids had a lot of fun looking for eggs. Unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs outside so the eggs were well hidden in the house.
As soon as they got the word, all three of them went to town...
In no time, the Florida room was wiped clean of eggs...
Tyler had to stop and take a break and regain his plan of attack...
Fortunately, Papa was there to give a few hints about those sneaky eggs! 
Let the sugar rush begin! 
Our family Easter picture! 
Frank and his Godson, Conor. We can't believe he will be 7 in a few weeks! Where does the time go? 
No matter where Tyler goes, he can sniff out a stick and find his way into a hockey game! Unfortunately, only one stick was found. However, these kids are so inventive that grandma's cane became the other "stick"! 
On Easter morning, the kids made their way downstairs to find their baskets of goodies awaiting them. Tyler quickly announced that "this was the best Easter ever and when I see the Easter Bunny, I will tell him"! He was very pleased with his Cat in the Hat that he has had his eye on! 
Skylar got a Fureal Dog from the Bunny. Aunt Laurette said that was as close to a dog as they would get in the house! She quickly announced that her name is Princess (very aptly named from the girl in the princess nightie!). 
The Easter Bunny brought Conor a Bendaroo kit. His first project was to spell out his name, Conor James, on the floor.
After the mom's and dad's had a cup of coffee, it was time for another egg hunt! Tyler and Skylar were even nice enough for me to snap a quick picture of the two cuties!
I think this shot says it all-- cooked after a long weekend, lots of family, food, and fun and plenty of eggs to last until next year! On this fine evening, I was a tad later coming home from work. Needless to say, it will NEVER happen again. This is what was for dinner on this fine spring night:
Waffles dipped in ketchup!
That's right, folks. No syrup, no butter, just ketchup. I am sure that this will be the top seller menu item at an IHop near you soon!Easter means a few things. Tonight in our house it meant pills of dye, vinegar, and eggs! That's right! We colored eggs tonight! After mess we created last year with the egg dye, I finally got smart and remembered the main ingredient to successful eye coloring. Newspaper!
Waiting so patiently for the first batch to grab their color....
....and mastering the art of multi egg dying!
Any thoughts on how to fix that mess? We scrubbed and scrubbed, but Tyler has blue fingers and I have blue finger nails!
The final product. I guess I went a little crazy with the amount of eggs I set aside to color! What fun, though!
A super-de-duper decorated egg! I think Jesus would approve of the Star Wars theme, don't you? Hope it was a great one, Aunt Laurette! Here is a message from your favorite nephew to you!
On Sunday we had the pleasure of gathering with friends at the Helberg's home. The kids play, the parents chat, and we all hang out and always a great time. During dinner the kids were all having a blast with their 4 year old humor. So many smiles!
The Helbergs have a Weimaraner, Scout. Behind costumed people, dogs are not Tyler's favorite. He does warm up to them after awhile. When we got home Sunday night, Tyler hit the sack. Hard. In the middle of the night he awoke a bit out of sorts. Frank got up to tend to him and asked him why he woke up. Tyler's response was "Scout is running in the room." Freaky, right?
On Saturday we traveled to Boston to visit the Children's Museum and have dinner. Tyler and I spent some time during the week looking at the website and talking about what he was most excited to see. He really couldn't decide between the Arthur exhibit and getting to see a wheelchair.... Luckily we were able to visit those must-sees and more!
Trying out Mr. Ratburn's desk in the Arthur exhibit. Future teacher, perhaps?
The light puzzle display... the concentration on his face was amazing! He had a great time making designs and pictures. 
Ah-ha! The wheelchair! Tyler tried it out, moved himself around and even tried to turn himself around--- not at all easy! He was able to grab things off a high shelf with the special tools, as well. It was quite a hard concept for someone as young as he is that some people can't run need this chair.... but he tried to understand!
On the Bobcat, working hard!
Peek-a-boo!
Frank trying out the hard hat and orange vest. What do you think, hockey coach or construction worker?
Look, it's Bob and Wendy! What do you think these two will build today? 
My two guys!
Tyler had a great time working in the Barber Shop. Gave me just what I asked for, high and tight! Always have to love a barber who listens!
Trying his hand in the beauty shop, as well. Frank was a good egg and served as Ty's model for awhile. Too bad the camera conked out right then (we'll get you next time, daddy)!
Hanging like the monkey he is!
Very similar to Wonderlab in Bloomington, there was a huge climber that extended up to the third floor of the museum. He has never ventured very far up the apparatus in the past. This time was very different! After navigating through the maze, Tyler was able to make it pretty high. Do you really want to know how high up he was? 
That's his little head all the way at the top! I took this shot from the first landing, not even the ground floor. Needless to say, my stomach was doing flip flops from that little height! We were so proud of his for making it all the way! While he was up there, he called down to us and said "Now how do I get down?"
