G&G Bowen visit and Easter

There are three things I'd like to write about today: visiting my mom's parents, seeing the Easter bunny, and Easter itself. These are listed in chronological order, so let's get cracking.

My mom's parents have a home in St. George, which is only 2 hours away, so DJ and I planned a day trip to go see them. Deg was getting ready for a major presentation at work, so it was a good time to get out of his hair. DJ hasn't seen my grandparents since Christmas, but I wasn't worried about how he'd interact at all because this kid is most definitely Deg's son and has no idea what shy means. He walked in the door and took over the place! My grandma has a toddler musical instrument set and a knock-off Lego set, and DJ owned those. Grandma showed him how to drum and play the flute, and he was all over that. Then, he built us several "cars" (really, it was just a few blocks stuck together). Then, he grabbed the maracas, handed one to Grandpa, and invited him to play tennis. DJ's version of tennis is really golf, but when you're 21 months old, you get to call your game whatever you want to call it. Those two hit the ball around the living room with those maracas for a good 20 minutes! 

We decided to go get some lunch, and DJ fell asleep on the way, so we just let him sleep on the bench at Chili's while we waited an extraordinarily long time for our food, but he got a good nap and we had a great conversation, so everyone wins. We also tried to take DJ to a park, but there were legit dust devils because the wind was so crazy, and I literally got hit by a tumbleweed (those things are pokey!) as it rolled past. So we bagged that idea and ate ice cream. That kid had so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa and gave them so many hugs and kisses when it was time to go. They got a kick out of his crazy energy and nonstop talking, and I get to have this awesome memory of DJ playing with two of the most important people in my life. DJ slept the whole way home (he didn't even make it to the highway before he'd fallen asleep), so even the drive was good.

What kid isn't going to love Grandma and Grandpa when they give him his own ice cream?

The amount of hugs and snuggles that DJ plied my grandparents with was seriously adorable.

The next day, Deg flew to California for his meeting (hopefully more on that later), so DJ and I had a date night. I got him all gussied up in his fancy Easter outfit and took him over to the mall to see the Easter bunny. DJ was so excited, but the "funny" (bunny in DJ language) was headed to a carrot break, so we had to wait. However, because I committed to buying a picture online, we got to skip the long line and be the first to see the "funny" when he came back. DJ wanted to high five him and hug him and hang out with him... until I tried to put him down, and then the water works started. So yay, I got to be in the picture, too! Then DJ got mad when we had to leave the "funny" behind, which really was so tragic - poor kid! I made it up to him by taking him to Zupas for dinner, which is his favorite restaurant because of the soup and "shaubbies" (strawberries). 

DJ was busy entertaining himself (and everyone else in the mall) while we waited for the "funny."

DJ's face when the "funny" came back.

This picture is so bad, it's good. Poor DJ!

Deg was back by midnight, so we caught some zzz's, and started our Easter party the next day. We decided to let DJ do a little Easter egg hunt in the backyard, which because DJ is so little, meant I put the eggs out in plain sight and hoped he found them all. That weekend was also LDS conference weekend, so we watched a lot of church, which made for a spectacular weekend of spiritual guidance. The "funny" came to visit DJ and brought him some candy, a basketball hoop (he's been begging for one since his favorite 14 year old neighbor kid got one for Christmas) and a kitchen (he's been begging for one since his cousin got one for Christmas), so the kid hit the jackpot. We watched conference with a family we're friends with and then had Easter dinner with another family we're friends with. And, of course, there were Easter clothes. So many Easter clothes!

Looking for Easter eggs.

Mom, I found one!

The "funny" left DJ quite the stash!

Look at these cute Easter boys of mine! Yes, I made their bow ties. I wanted them to match. I also made them normal neckties because I knew there was no way Deg would put up with a bow tie and suspenders longer than it took to snap a picture.

I tried to snap a cute Easter selfie with DJ.