Happy Easter

Despite the nagging illnesses, we managed to have a nice Easter. Joshua and Sydney baked and frosted Sydney's first lamb cake. We made it to church and Sydney loved the Easter egg hunt which followed the service. She and Evelyn also did some hunting around our living room. Joshua baked a delicious ham and we enjoyed that with the lamb cake for Easter dinner.

Thumbs up for lamb cake

Sydney getting ready for church and trying on my Mary Jane crocs.

Family portrait which does not fully showcase Joshua's icecream cone tie which Sydney picked out.

Sydney looked adorable in her dress from her Great Aunt!

Evelyn was in charge of the eggs on the floor. She is standing and cruising but not walking yet. She was happy to go after the eggs, until she got caught on her dress and got frustrated!

finished product!

Activities and Ailments

We decided to test out our newly acquired 2nd hiking pack by hiking with both of the girls (and the dog!) in Minnewaska State Park. The first 2 1/2 hours of the hike were great...the last 1 1/2 hours were grueling. I tried to complain to Joshua by letting him know I was carrying a higher percentage of my body weight by carrying Evelyn but we did the math, and I only won by 1% (16 versus 17). Even though my argument fell flat, we have our work cut out for us as we get into shape for some summer hiking with the girls.

Gertrude's Nose

Evelyn and I are in this photo - can you find us?

A different day gearing up for a walk to Gardiner on the Rail Trail.

 

All of these pictures are not necessarily in order but we've done some things in the last couple of weeks. I went to a conference in Northern Virginia so Joshua and the girls visited Team Walsh in Baltimore. We went on a walk on the Rail Trail to enjoy some of the local scenery. We also did a hike in Minnewaska State Park called Gertrude's Nose. Otherwise, we have all been really, really sick. So much so that Evelyn has taken to mocking us with fake coughs. She has had a lot of practice. She even attempts to put her hand over her mouth since we are constantly reminding Sydney to cough into her arm. Hopefully spring will arrive and we will kick the illnesses which have been plaguing us for the last several weeks!

Team Walsh and the Pumba Playground

We had a nice visit from the Walshes at the end of Spring Break. Sydney and Madeline enjoyed the "Pumba Playground." The Town of Rosendale's playground has a rhino named Pumba so Sydney calls it the Pumba Playground. We visited as a family the next weekend.

The Bam Bam Era

Evelyn started removing her barrettes and chomping on them...so...the Bam Bam era has officially begun!

The side view!

Sydney's shamrock glasses! Below are some videos of Evelyn making some adorable sounds and faces.

Representing

Our friend Ashley gave us a very nice shower gift when Sydney was born with black and white photos of Sydney in the hospital. After an exhaustive search, we finally located the same frame so Evelyn could also be represented in our sun room/breezeway.

Sydney (from Ashley)

Evelyn

Evelyn on the left and Sydney on the right with the dolphin synchronicity poster in the middle.