The Nebraska Report: Golf

Ella can wax poetic about family and Passover and birthdays and cake and all that other stuff, but there's really only one thing I care about: golf.  Don't get me wrong, I had a great time with everyone, and I loved surprising Gramma Lea for her birthday, but for me, Coopy, my heart is somewhere between the tee box and the pin.  All I have to say is that it's a good thing Gramma Lea and Papa live on a golf course, and it's an even better thing that it was nice enough for me and Daddy to sneak away and play a little bit.

I'm getting pretty good too.  Watch out Tiger, I'm comin' for you!

The Nebraska Report: Lincoln and birthdays

Wednesday was our Gramma Lea's 80th birthday, and Mommy, Daddy, Gramma Betti and Papa (along with all the other coconspirators in the family) decided it would be a good idea for us to surprise her in Lincoln for the big day.  It was a great surprise!  It's been a long time since we've seen Gramma Lea and Papa, and an even longer time since we've seen most of Gramma Betti's sisters and their families.  It was good to catch up and show off.  First when Gramma Lea and her daughters went out to lunch, we went to lunch with Papa...just me, Coopy and Mommy.  It was awesome!  I got to do some coloring,

and lunch gave Coopy and Papa a chance to catch up and bond.

Once everyone got back from lunch, it was time to show off and play.  Coopy tickled everyone!  Papa, Gramma Lea, Gramma Betti, Aunt Soni...everybody!

I was pretty tired from coloring, so I just hung out in a rocking chair.

I had to keep my energy up for all the family coming over and all the partying we'd do...and for the CAKE!!!  Cake is the best part of a birthday you see.  And even though it's Passover, and regular cake isn't necessarily kosher, Gramma Betti said we got a "special dispensation" because of Gramma Lea's birthday.  And boy oh boy are we glad...the cake was DELICIOUS!

It helped that we got to eat it surrounded by our family, and that we were celebrating all the March birthdays: Gramma Lea's, Gracie's, and our twin cousins Molly and Casey.  Happy birthday everyone!  We love you!

The Nebraska Report: Passover, presents and cousins

Me and Coopy have spent the last few days in Nebraska for Passover and some family birthdays.  It was a pretty fun trip.  We got to do lots of playing with Gramma, Pops and our cousins, and we got to visit the big big office a lot!  We got to town on Sunday, and Monday we had a ton of getting ready to do for our seder that night.  First I had to have Mommy paint my nails,

then we had to help Gramma make the desserts.  And by help, we clearly mean taste test the frosting.

It's a good thing Gramma likes frosting as much as we do...she didn't mind our "help" as much that way. :-)

Once all the preparations were done, it was time for seder.  But first, Gracie and I had to play together a bit.

The seder was pretty good.  Gramma and Uncle Arnie (with help from Maggie and Aunt Julie) did a great job on the food, and Pops (with help again from Maggie) was a great leader.  Me and Coopy were pretty into the story...mostly because Gramma picked out super fun haggadahs.

Once the seder was over, it was time to play and jump on Pops for a while.

And then we had to help Gracie open her birthday presents.  It's her 2nd birthday tomorrow you see.

We too tired for more playing after all that excitement, so it's a good thing that Aunt Julie brought Maggie and Gracie back over to play with us on Tuesday.  We took some fun pictures, and played lots.

Before we knew it, it was Wednesday and time for us to head to Lincoln to surprise Gramma Lea for her 80th birthday!  Stay tuned... ;-)

Happy birthday Gramma Polly

Not only was today Gramma's birthday, but it was also the day of our Passover program at school  It was awesome!  Daddy and Mommy and Gramma came, and we had so much fun showing off!  First, Coopy played Plague Parachute and bounced frogs around.

We even got to take some home,

and I showed mine to Gramma.

Then it was time to make Matzah pizza!  Clearly, as the best chef in the family, I was the most into it.

The program at school was pretty fun, but Gramma's birthday got even better when she came over for dinner tonight and we got cake.

Clearly, cake of any kind (because we also loved Liz's cupcakes) is the best way to celebrate a birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMA POLLY!

Soccer star

I'm not quite ready to commit to only one sport.  So far I'm going to play golf, baseball, hoops, hockey, and football.  But I'm not against adding soccer to my list.

Happy Birthday Liz

We like to celebrate birthdays with cupcakes.

Lots and lots of cupcakes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIZ!

Hamentaschen cookies

Even though Purim was a couple of weeks ago, we've been obsessed with Hamentaschen cookies.  And since Hamentaschen is a "tricky one" (sometimes, when I don't really want to try to say a hard word, I just say it's a tricky one...that usually gets me out of it) we decided it would be easier to call them "Hashen cookies."  Well anyway, Mommy finally got the recipe and we finally got to make them!  First I may have accidentally (on purpose) spilled some sugar, so Coopy and I had to pick it up.

Once it was all cleaned up, it was time to mix and roll out the dough.

Then, while we were waiting for the Hashen cookies to bake, I may have rubbed flour all over my face.

I think it's a pretty good look, don't you?  Our cookies turned out ok, but we'll have to practice before next Purim!

Snow day

Mommy woke us up this morning by telling us that we didn't have school today because it was our very first snow day.  At first we were a little confused.  I mean, usually when we don't have school it's because we're sick.  I made sure to have Mommy take my temperature, just to be sure that wasn't the reason.

Once I was sure I wasn't sick, and Mommy explained that a snow day meant it was a free day off from school because there was too much snow outside, (wouldn't it have been easier if she'd just explained that from the beginning instead of trying to get us excited about some obscure thing we toddlers don't know anything about?!), we got down to deciding what to do to make the day special.  First I decided to wear an extra special outfit,

and then I decided to give Mommy 5 minutes of me in pigtails.

I'm so extra adorable when I have piggies in my hair that I have to parcel out the cuteness so Mom doesn't explode from loving me so much.  Once Coopy showed off his super cute snow day outfit too,

it was time for me to melt Daddy's heart before he left by showing him that when I really want to be adorable and loving, I can turn it on.

Just so you know, the big kiss when combined with a "love you" often results in getting anything I want.  Anyway, once all the cuteness was taken care of, Coopy and I got down to our day.  I spent much of it looking at my outfit.

A girl's gotta look stylish you know.  Coopy spent the day driving around the house.

After a full day, we did some swimming in the tub.

After that, it was time for Coop to blow Mommy some kisses while I listened to a little ZBB on Daddy's iPad before bed.

I'd say it was a pretty good first snow day.  I wonder when we'll have another.