Spring Has (Almost) Sprung

Funny Bunny and Silly Children

Today is the first (it was when I first started writing) third day of spring and it is cold.  Maybe not by northern standards, but since I am officially claiming North Carolina as my state, it's COLD.  This past Saturday, fortunately, we got a brief reprieve from the cooler weather.  What did our family do?  We packed the day as full of outings as possible because it is now clear the Groundhog lied.  Spring did not come early and we needed to come out of hibernation.  Our initial plans included a brief breakfast with the Easter Bunny and a hop on over to the Planetarium for Legopalooza, but we were having so much fun we added on to each event.

Easter Breakfast Art

In the morning we headed over to University Mall for Breakfast with the Easter Bunny.  Edmund and Evie both enjoyed having their pictures made with him.  Edmund also had fun coloring and doing a spring craft.  He was very proud of his finished works of art.  

While at breakfast, we were told there would be a magic show happening shortly on the opposite end of the mall.  After a short debate about whether or not to insert the show into the morning's plans, we decided to take the plunge.  It turned out to be quite the elaborate ordeal for a free show, and we were glad we stayed.  In case anyone is looking for a magician, his name was Jeff Jones, and he was fabulous with young kids.  At one point when the children were getting a little overeager to go toward the stage, he commanded them to "criss-cross applesauce."  Magically they all sat down.  This is a teacher's trick too, but I'd never seen it work so well before, so must be magic.  Edmund was very excited when mom was called up to the stage to help with a trick.  Evie was probably excited too, but the expression on her face was asking "what is going on here?"  At the end of the show the children were given adorable bunny bags with little magic tricks inside.  Edmund's bag included a whoopee cushion, and the "whoofee cushion" as he calls it, has been summoning much laughter around our house the past few days.

Lego Master at Work

Next it was off to Legopalooza.  At this event members of the North Carolina Lego Users Group create Lego structures over the course of the weekend.  Visitors can then "ooh and ahh" at the creations they come up with on the spot.  There were castle creations, a town, an amusement park type structure, and a scene from Ghost Busters.  The creations were really fun to see and it was amazing to see what could be done with Legos.  Edmund even tried his hand at making a few of his own Lego creations using the Legos provided for kids and kids at heart.  Steven and I realized that if we go to this event again next year we should go at the end of the weekend because the creations will be complete and even more awe inspireing.  Still it was amazing to see what the guys and gals of NC-LUG came up with.

What Pretty Flowers!

For a family with a 4 year old and an infant Legopalooza doesn't take long.  Edmund, and if you can believe it,  Evie don't have the patience required to build an elaborate structure yet, so we had time to kill before lunch.  As it was such a beautiful day we decided to wander around the Arboretum on UNC's campus.  I somehow always forget what a lovely spot it is to visit.  We got in a couple of springy pictures of the kids sitting among the flowers.  Others had the same idea, but they brought along a professional photographer, not an I-Phone.  Our stint here was short-lived because a hungry Edmund is a cranky Edmund.  Next time I'll have to remember to pack a picnic so we can enjoy this treasure of a place even longer.


 I'm glad we got to have such a fun family outing that included daddy.  Now that we know we'll be in North Carolina next year and that Steven will have a predictable schedule, we look forward to having more of these family outings.  For now we'll take what we can get, both in the weather and in the daddy departments.