Spring Break in Pebble Beach

I have been on Spring Break all this week!

Earlier this week the girls & I went to Pebble Beach with my parents and sisters.
We planned this trip several months ago & I almost didn't go so that I could pack our house instead, but I figured that can wait, right?
We headed down to Carmel on Monday morning & stopped in Monterey for lunch.
We walked around Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey after lunch.
It was a beautiful day & we were so glad the rain from Easter was gone!

Kate loved all the boats!

Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey is nice and quaint.
It is filled with fun little shops, restaurants & candy shops!

Speaking of candy stores, we went to an awesome candy shop on Cannery Row.
Look at all that Salt Water Taffy! Yum!

This was Kate's first time in a candy store and she was going crazy!
She was like a kid in a candy store! haha!

I let her pick out whatever candy she wanted & let her fill up her little basket!
Claire got in on the candy action also.

Claire was hysterical, she kept hoarding all the candy by the handfuls.

Kate wanted to pay for her candy "all by herself"

That little bag of candy cost me $11.25 - doh!
Oh well, she had fun (and I have eaten most of the candy!)

Then it was time to head to Pebble Beach house.
We brought Kate's bike & she had fun riding around the backyard.

Claire had fun watching Kate ride around.

Seriously...I love her big brown eyes!

Kate posing with Auntie El:

Bots & Kate:

After dinner, we all took a walk down to the beach to look at the sunset:
Claire wanted to be a big girl & walk like the rest of us.
On our walk, we saw some deer on the Pebble Beach golf course!

Claire getting a hand from Jimmy:
Claire & Auntie Bots:
The deer were still there on our way back.
This picture looks like Africa to me (minus the Pacific Ocean in the background...)

I love this picture of Claire!

Sisters:
The next morning, we hung around the house & let the girls play in the backyard in their pj's.

I especially like Claire's outfit. Have I mentioned she is obsessed with hoodies?
She wants to wear a hoodie 24-7 & gets REALLY mad when you take it off her.
After lunch & naps we headed down to the beach to play.

Claire LOVED the beach.

She just ran and ran and ran around on the sand.

We had to keep a close eye on her because she wanted to run into the water.

This girl has no fear!
This girl on the other hand, didn't like the sand getting in her shoes.
So, she just sat at the bench for a little bit & watched Claire run around.
Taking a break after all that running:
I love her cute little profile:
Kate finally decided that running around on the beach IS fun & Kate took off her precious pink shoes (if you have seen Kate the past 2 months, you know about her pink shoes...more on that later!!)

Running barefoot on the beach IS fun!

Sisters:

Jason & Beck:
Claire leading us in stretches on the beach:
Happy gap-tooth Kate:

We had to drag Claire off the beach, she would have stayed there all afternoon:

The last night & a beautiful sunset at Pebble Beach:
Whenever I travel with the girls, I never know how they are going to sleep.
They aren't the best sleepers when we travel. The first night of Pebble Beach, they did great & they both slept through the night. The second night was another story....I didn't go to bed until 12:30. At 2:00 am Claire woke up. I tried getting her to go back down to sleep, but every time I set her down, she would cry & scream. I didn't want to disturb everyone else in the house, so at 2:30, I brought her back to the room Kate & I were sharing. Well, that proceeded to wake Kate up. I couldn't get either of them to fall back asleep. They were both in great moods, but they would rather play than sleep. They were giggling & running around the room. I was EXHAUSTED because I had only slept for an hour & a half. At 5 am they were both still awake (yes, you read that right 5 am) and Kate asked for breakfast. It was then that I decided to pack up our stuff & just drive home. We were leaving that day anyways, but I decided that I would just leave a few hours earlier than planned so that all of us could get some sleep.
I got the girls breakfast, packed up the car & started my hour and a half drive home by 6am. I left a note on the kitchen counter letting everyone know where we were :)
It wasn't they way I wanted to end our fun time in Pebble Beach, but such is life with 2 little girls who refuse to sleep when we travel!

Easter Weekend 2010

Here is a Re-Cap of our Easter weekend.

In true Larson fashion, we had several Easter celebrations/activities to attend!

To kick off the Easter Weekend, we dyed Easter Eggs at Kevin's parents house.
Claire loved it, although she was into everything, so we had to regulate her egg dyeing.

These two are serious about their egg dyeing.
Can you say look alikes?

Kate dyeing her eggs (from 2 view points)

Some of our finished eggs:

Then, on Saturday morning, we had our neighborhood Egg Hunt.
As soon as we walked up, all our neighbors chastised us & gave us a hard time for moving.
We will truly miss this community.

Every year, at the neighborhood Egg Hunt, the Easter Bunny arrives to kick off the Egg Hunt.
Kate was actually estactic & excited to see the Easter Bunny.
(Obviously, she hasn't been too scarred from THIS)

Lining up & getting ready to collect eggs:
And, they're off!

Searching for eggs:

Claire got 2 eggs & Kate got 5 eggs. They aren't the most aggressive egg hunters...

Kate posing for a picture mid Egg Hunt:
One of our neighbors brought their pet bunny. Both girls were more into the bunny than the eggs:

After the neighborhood Egg Hunt, we headed to Kevin's parents for another Egg Hunt.
We need to give our girls lessons in Egg hunting. They would find an egg, sit down, open it to see what was inside & then eat the candy. They just weren't interested in collecting a lot of eggs.

The girls & some of their cousins:

Then on Easter Sunday, we headed to church.
I helped in Kate's classroom so I missed the service, but Kevin said it was great.
While we were at church, the Easter Bunny arrived at our house:

The girls get the same thing every year in their Easter baskets (swim suit, swim suit cover up, a pair of pajama's & a new sun dress and of course Reeces's eggs. Best.Easter.Candy.Ever!)

This year they also got some new headbands, a coloring book and these personalized dolls with their names on them & a bible verse
( I chose the Bible verse that we read at each of their dedications)

{click to enlarge}

The girls were so excited to see that the Easter Bunny came while we were at church
***I had their Easter Baskets assembled the night before, but when we get home from church, I run inside put the baskets out while Kevin is unloading the girls from the car when we get home from church. We can get away with this...for now!)

Kate digging into her loot (love the dress she is holding up..it is from Target's Libery of London line. LOVE it all!!)

Claire collecting eggs on during our mini inside Egg Hunt (it rained all day on Easter!)

Checking out each other's baskets:

My attempt at an Easter picture:
(Kate was going to have NOTHING to do with it)

I tried again by the fireplace, but they were too obsessed with the eggs & baskets.

Kevin finally made them smile, but my camera was on the wrong setting, so Kate is out of focus & Claire's feet are blurry. Oh well, this was the best one. *sigh*

These were not originally their Easter outfits.
A few months ago, I got them some really cute sundresses & sandals.
But, since we got a cold front & it was 50 degrees & raining, we went with different outfits.
I guess I will save their actual Easter dresses for Mother's Day.

The rest of our Easter was spent with my family & our family friends at our Easter: Resurrected Party .
And, can you believe it....I didn't take ANY pictures while we were there!!
I was having too much fun hanging out, eating & socializing that I didn't even take my camera out of the bag!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter celebrating that "He is Risen!"
I am on Spring Break recovering from a busy holiday weekend & gearing up to move this weekend!

Empty Tomb Easter Cookies

Need a quick, easy and last minute Easter activity to do with your kids that is actually meaningful?
Here is a fun one that I read about a few years ago & couldn't wait to do it with Kate.
We made these last Sunday (on Palm Sunday) but it is really meant to be done the night before Easter Sunday.

Empty Tomb Easter Cookies
Here is what you need:

1 Cup of Pecans
1 Cup of Sugar
1 tsp. Vinegar
3 Egg Whites
Zipper Bag
Wooden spoon
Wax Paper
Pinch of Salt
Tape
Bible

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Place pecans in zipper bag and beat them with the wooden spoon to break them into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested that He was beaten by the Roman Soldiers.

Read John 19: 1-3 and smell the vinegar.

Put 1 tsp. Vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink.

Kate asked me where all the pictures are in my Bible. haha!

Read John 19: 28-30. Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life.

Read John 10: 10-11. Sprinkle a little salt, taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.

Read Luke 23: 27. Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is the Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.

Read Psalm 34: 8 and John 3: 16. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.

12-15 minutes is a long time for a 3 year old to wait...Kate had fun with the tape while we were waiting.

After the 12-15 minutes, your mixture should look like this:

Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

Read Isaiah 1: 18 and John 3:1-3. Fold broken nuts into mixture.

Stir:

(Don't let your kid taste the mixture...raw eggs! Oops!)

Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus body laid.

Read Matthew 27: 57-60. Put cookie sheet in the oven:

Close the door and turn the oven off. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain the Jesus’ tomb was sealed.

Read Matthew 27: 65-66. Go to Bed!! Explain that we may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight just as Jesus followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read John 16: 20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.

Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow!!! On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Read Matthew 28: 1-9. Christ has risen, hallelujah!

I think this is going to be a new Easter tradition for us!

Happy Good Friday (& Happy Spring Break to me!)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend with family & friends celebrating all that Christ has done for us!