Monday, April 25, 2011

An Easter with a Happy Ending

Okay, so the title is a bit provocative and technically there was no “happy ending” but here’s how it all went down.
We decided to do a fun family Easter all day.  Start at 9AM with me driving Connor over to Abuelita’s (Grandmother in Spanish) house in the golf cart.  I dropped Connor off and raced back home to hide eggs, hang the piñata, and make a note for the Easter bunny to give C.  Nita followed with Josephine in her cute little Easter dress.  We all had a nice discussion and a good breakfast.  I then drove Connor around the neighborhood while Nita and the moms got in position.  Connor saw the bunny, picked up the note and we read it to him.  He then got his basket headed outside and started hunting.
Last year with the Italians, Connor had his first egg hunt.  He didn’t understand the concept of hoarding yet.  He found one egg, opened it and lo and behold, raisins!!  So he sat down, opened the box and happily ate his new find.  Meanwhile the other kids were collecting eggs and making sure no one got more than they did.  Some of the moms forced the kids to give Connor a few more eggs, much to their chagrin.  Anyway, Connor has a similar stance on egg hunting.  He didn’t put all the eggs in the basket and then find out later what he got, he opened each egg one by one holding up the new booty to show us and dropping it on the ground if he didn’t approve. 
Now it was piñata time.  He was so excited and I gave him the stick to start beating the cardboard and paper mache car for its contents.  He gave it a few whacks and as I took the stick to demonstrate proper beating technique when I realized we were never going to puncture the beast.  Ever! So I ripped it open and Connor basically crawled inside and started pulling out toys and candy.  It reminded me of the scene in Parenthood when Steve Martin eventually had to open it with a chainsaw.  Anyway, Connor ran around and had a great time.  The moms drank mimosas.  Josie drank from the tap and we all had a fun time on a nice day. 
After naps it was time to go to grandmother’s house for Easter dinner.  Now Nita’s mom sprang quite a surprise.  She normally gives gifts that have something to do with the arts or museums…. Today she pulled out three boxes of tracks and Five Thomas Train engines with four trucks to pull!  Connor went nuts.  It gave us plenty of time to get dinner ready and again enjoy the time.  After a delicious meal, Mary Helen pulled out the last surprise.  This Easter was also our seventh wedding anniversary.  So in honor of our big day, she pulls out a quadruple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, icing, filling, shavings, and I think the spoons were chocolate.  Again, Connor went NUTS!  Connor loves sugar like his momma likes sugar.  And he had way more than he should have and way too late in the day.  We tried to let him run it off a little after dinner, but it was time to pack up, go home, read stories, and get him in bed.
On the way home we saw a really long train on Mopac (the actual Missouri Pacific line, not the road) and that’s all Connor could talk about.  We get home and he’s still telling us about engines, trucks, and cabooses (please God let the sugar wear off soon).  Finally we get him in bed. 
Currently we are in the process of getting Josie to sleep upstairs in her room.  We are very close to our bed being a two-seater again. It has been a three-seater for about five months.  So as Nita went to go put Josie down, that’s when the discovery was made.  Connor had taken off his pajama pants and his diaper, was jumping up and down in the crib, and was, we’ll say kind of trying to put his diaper back on.  The video monitor we have in his room didn’t do it justice I’m told.  Nita said she couldn’t stop laughing and we weren’t exactly sure what he was trying to accomplish, we’re guessing he’s a bit young for the happy ending, and there was no wet or poop.  In any case, we got him dressed again, and he told us of the train with the cars and trucks again.  Finally he drifted off to sleep about an hour after his normal bed time.  Miraculously Josie slept upstairs by herself until 5:30AM.  I wonder if the chocolate milk through the tap of course might have had the opposite effect on her.  We can only guess. 
New rule.  No chocolate or sugar for Connor after 6PM. 

No comments:

Post a Comment