Wednesday
Caroline did an Easter egg hunt at school:

Thursday

Bennett doing an Easter egg hunt:

Friday

Daycare was closed for Good Friday, so we took the kids to the Hopkins Turf Tots. This has become an annual tradition, and they still enjoy it just as much as they did the year before. 

We ran into former daycare buddies Alex and Natalie. The kids all know each other and like playing together so it was a nice surprise:

After naps we went to the library:

Saturday

We woke up early and went to Trader Joe's for an Easter Egg hunt. Last year we arrived a few minutes late and missed everything. This year, they organized the hunt a little differently, so that certain ages could gather eggs in certain aisles, making it more fair for the little kids. They had 3,500 eggs spread out on the floor, so I don't think they needed to worry about little kids not getting an egg, but it worked out really well! Caroline was in the 1-3 aisle, and I'm sure it was the most civil. Most kids needed urging from parents to pick up an egg, and then needed additional encouragement to get another. 

After the hunt, we headed back to New London to celebrate with the Swenson side. For the first time ever, we let the kids watch a video in the car. We rigged the iPad, so that it was hanging from the seat in front, and plugged in headphones. It was glorious. For the first time, in a LONG time, there was silence in the car. Bennett really enjoyed it, and Caroline fell asleep, as usual. It is a rare occasion when she doesn't fall asleep in the car, for a ride more than 20 minutes.

Grandpa and Grandma had an egg hunt set up, which the kids loved:

Sunday
Easter, we actually made it to church, for the first time since Christmas. Our track record is TERRIBLE, but we made it! Caroline was a huge fan of her tutu dress. She has yet to meet a tutu she doesn't love. Bennett, as expected, hated wearing pants and a button up shirt. The non-comfy pants weren't as horrible as the shirt though. The shirt was THE WORST.

Monday
Letter of the day was H, so they made huh-huh-huh-hippos:

Hat day for Caroline:

Tuesday

Bennett made a tattoo during small group:

Bennett's class had an outdoor picnic. We didn't get notification ahead of time that they were going to eat outside, so imagine my surprise when I saw the photo and email saying they had a spaghetti picnic. Spaghetti! I don't think I could manage eating spaghetti outside as an adult, much less a 4 year old. But Bennett said it was a good time.

Wednesday

Making Ants on a Log:

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

We decided to get pastries at Rustica and go on a family walk near Lake Calhoun. Joel needed to check out a potential job site, so what better way to do it than to take everyone, dogs included, for a walk. Everything went well, until we stopped at a playground to eat pastries. Bennett needed to pee, and there wasn't a restroom nearby. He and Joel left to do that. I'm not sure what happened but eventually they came back. Naturally, Caroline needed to pee next, so Joel ended up running her about a half mile back to Whole Foods. She was able to hold it long enough to go on the toilet! Good job, Caroline. Bennett and I walked the dogs back to Whole Foods to meet them. Bennett actually walked, because Joel took the stroller, but this is rare for Bennett as he prefers to ride in the stroller when it is available. But we each took a dog, and had a really enjoyable walk.

Caroline insisted on Daddy joining them for a picture, but then refused to pose:

Sunday Caroline and I were picked up by Grandma and Grandpa. We didn't have much going on. Joel was going to do yard work, and Caroline really really wanted to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Caroline enjoying a cupcake after a nap. Of course she only ate half of the frosting and nothing else.

Monday

Bennett's letter of the week was G. I like that daycare is really focusing on the letters and the sounds they make. It was a noticeable shift in curriculum and definitely effected Bennett positively. He is constantly sounding out words. "Buh-buh-buh-Bennett. Bennett starts with B. What does lion start with? Luh-luh-luh-lion... L?" Or sometimes he'll ask us what letter a word starts with, and we'll have him try to figure it out. It is exciting to me to see this change in the way he thinks about words, and how it all seems like a game to him. He likes to figure out the mystery of what letter words start with, but doesn't realize he's setting a foundation to reading. Very exciting!

Tuesday

Wednesday Caroline had an appointment with the ENT. A week or so prior, she had an ear infection that ruptured. Since then, we saw the mysterious left ear tub sitting near the ear drum. This is the tub that we were told fell out, but into the ear drum over a year ago. We were told that it probably wouldn't cause an issue, and that chances are it'd never need to be removed, but in a small percentage of cases, it can cause hearing damage. Ugh. But I believe with the most recent rupture, the tube came out when all the gunk came out. Either way, it was a relief to see it was out and Dr. Rimmel confirmed that it was out. He said there was a hole in the ear drum, as was normal with a tube falling out or a rupture, and we needed to make an appointment to do another hearing test in a few months. He wasn't overly concerned about the ear infections Caroline had been having in the past month, as long as she was manageable. I asked about swimming lessons, and more and more, I'm beginning to think that any water in her ears causes them to get infected. I've noticed she gets infections a few days after washing her hair. Rimmel said that she could do lessons but if she got ear infections days after, that she'd need to wear ear plugs for lessons. I'm 100% sure this is the case with Caroline, so I'm not sure what we'll do for lessons yet, however this means that we'll need take precautions for baths as well. Yuck.

Thursday

Celebrating a friend's birthday:

Saturday

We ran errands and did yard work. It wasn't a particularly exciting day, but Caroline was feeling especially sassy in her outfit.

She has really taken to the nook recently. I think it would've been easier for her if she would've taken it up as a baby, or at least sucked her thumb like I did.