Easter

So my Easter weekend included spending time with this crazy girl, it is quite rare to have a serious moment with Elise.

She showed off her AWESOME rock climbing skills at the park.  Before the rock climbing, we flew some kites, and when I say "we", I mean I.  Elise lost interest in her kite pretty fast.  Rachel and I were determined to get the kite up in the air, so even amid  some close calls with a dive bombing ladybug, eventually she made it up, and it was beautiful.

  

We dyed Easter eggs Saturday afternoon with the girls and then after the girls went to bed Rachel insisted that we all participate in making Ukrainian eggs.  My first objection was that I do not have a creative bone in my body.  My second objection was that I was sure I didn't have the patience that such a process would require.  But I couldn't say no.  So after staring at the egg for a good 30 minutes without a clue what to do, I looked at some sample pictures to combine a few ideas.  The process was actually pretty impressive.  You have to be very aware of what you want on your egg and in what color.  You melt wax in a kistky and then etch your design onto the egg.  But you must only etch in the order that you are dying the egg from lightest to darkest.  Once you have finished dying the egg you melt off the wax using a candle, and unveil your magical creation.  It turned out better than I thought and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  So who knows maybe next year I'll be at it again. MORE INFO

Before the Ukrainian eggs, my brother-in-law showed me how to setup a drip irrigation system for my sister's newly created planter boxes.  While it will probably be a long time before I'm worrying about plants, I loved learning something new.  

 Isis also got the chance to hang out with just Rachel and I.  

It was a nice weekend to get away.  Now here's to surviving the rest of the school year.