Happy Easter

Nate left for Greece late Saturday night and missed the visit from the Easter Bunny (and his chance to act as Daddy Taxman on any goodies left for his daughter).

Mr. Bunny brought Rox a chocolate Humpty Dumpty this year. Crack ol' Humpty open and out spill his guts (M&M's). Here's a pic of her trying to get the carnage started:

She managed to scrape some of the chocolate off before I took it away from her and broke him open to reveal his delicious entrails (and to give her a couple of manageably-sized pieces).

Later that day we went over to Shaun and Ann's for an Easter lunch and egg hunt. They're not big on Easter baskets here, so she filled her paper bag with as many eggs as she (we) could find before the big girls got them all.

Doing her best impersonation of an Easter egg with her stripey pants.

The rest of the day was filled with Wii golf and sneaking strawberry patty cakes. Shaun and Ann (Nate's boss and his wife) and their family are moving back to California next month. Good for them, sad for us to lose our good friends, so we'll try to soak up as much of them as we can before they depart!

Easter side note (and a picture of our "landscaper")

My sister sent an Easter care package that arrived today (Wednesday). It was opened by the Australian quarantine folks, which probably delayed its arrival. I wonder what they saw in the X-ray that made them open it up:

Thanks for the treats! I was forced to eat all of the jelly beans immediately.

Did they think there was straw (prohibited) in the box only to find fluorescent pink and green ? Maybe they saw eggs (also prohibited) and discovered they were only plastic and filled with yummy jelly beans and Reese's eggs. Or do you think they just saw the boxes of Peeps and just wondered what the hell they were and opened up the box to have a look?

And now for something completely different!

Some of you (those who have seen our yard) know that we have really crummy gardeners. The first month we were here, they sprayed Round-Up on everything instead of mowing. When they showed up six weeks later, Nate spoke to them and asked them not to spray Round-Up on every living thing. The guy explained that our landlord is cheap and if we wanted improved service from them, then we should complain to the landlord. Whatever.

They showed up this afternoon just as Roxy was settling in for her nap. I snapped a picture of the guy Nate spoke to back in January and I think he's wearing the same outfit he had on back then.

Using the weed whacker to mow the lawn.

Easter Weekend

A couple of hot cross buns.
Every bakery in town has been advertising their buns for weeks. I bought a couple at our local bakery on Thursday just as they were closing and they gave me a half dozen for free! We ate them all weekend - very yummy! Sweet buns with raisins.

We were invited by our friends (Nate's boss and his wife) to attend an Easter brunch potluck at their friends' house (a lovely couple with two young daughters). We hung out under the house.

This is the American half of our host couple. He couldn't be a nicer guy and he embraces the "loud American" stereotype. Here he is hanging Easter eggs from the clothes line with duct tape. It took the kids a while to find them!

Easter egg hunt!

An entomologist's work is never done! Nate and his boss Shaun inspect a demolished termite mound.

If you can't make it out, it says, "Look at the grasshopper".

The gigantic pecan tree in the backyard. What do you do with yard full of pecans?

You make pecan pie, of course!

Afterwards, we retired to our friends' house for a Mexican feast! Tortilla chips, salsa, fajitas and beer. We also played some Nintendo Wii, but I stopped taking pictures so you're just going to have to imagine it.

Nate spent a lot of the weekend working on a big grant proposal and has been working pretty hard at his job. His bike commute, workload and a baby-that-doesn't-know-she's-supposed-to-sleep-in-on-the-weekend are starting to take their toll. (Don't feel too sorry for him, though - he stayed up late to watch Round 3 of the Masters on Sunday.) On the bright side, we're getting into a predictable routine with the bub and it's making life a lot easier.

More from the "Shhh! Daddy's Sleeping" series.

Roxy turned four months old this weekend, too! As a present, I took her to get her shots. What better gift than protection from measles, mumps and rubella?

Four month old baby rides face out in the carrier!