In addition to the secret door, the beach porch furniture is a timeless fun spot for the littles. During our last trip I realized how often I've photographed them with the white adirondack backdrop. Kind of punctuates the growing-up that makes me smile and sob uncontrollably all at the same time...

Great minds think alike

Big E discovering the "secret" door under the stairs at the beach house, circa April 2010 (20 months)

Little E, too, is drawn to the allure of toddler-sized compartments, circa April 2013 (15 months)

Can't blame them. I've crawled in there myself....

He is Risen!

Baskets were plundered. 

Bunnies thanked.

Dresses donned. 

Hair uncharacteristically tamed.

Resurrection celebrated. Yet another attempt at Easter family picture miserably failed.

Cousins reunited.

Food devoured.

Eggs hunted.

Family relished.

Day well spent.

Easter prelude

Easter weekend started off as a girls' weekend as Jay was at the Chump Race until Sunday. This noble event involves acquiring a car for $500 or less and (after some cheating safety modifications) racing it nonstop for up to 24 hours. Sounds like a blast, right? Right.

So the Golding girls held down the fort at home.
Appreciating nature. In our pjs, of course.

Enjoying a wild night out at the local pizza pub. At 4:30 in the afternoon. We party hard.

In the pre-Easter days, Elle routinely threatened her sister by warning, "If you don't stop that, the Easter Bunny is gonna hop right on past your house!"

We made clementine chicks for Elle's class Easter party. Unfortunately, the moisture of chillin' in the fridge overnight caused the center of the candy eyes to bleed so we discovered bloodshot zombie chicks in the morning (insert shrill 4-year-old scream here). Luckily we were able to perform 12 quick bilateral eye transplants and sweet innocent chicks were restored. Whew.

I told Elle she could have a slumber party with me since Jay was gone, which she thought was the. Best. Thing. Ever.

We went to an Easter Egg hunt at the fire station at 10am on Saturday morning. Except Elise was napping* and we were 2 minutes late. Seriously, we arrived at 10:02 to find kids reveling in the fruits of their egg-hunting labor. What kind of hunt starts ahead of schedule? Just as Elle's chin started to quiver, some awesome (punctual) friends saw her distress and offered to re-stage a hunt in a nearby open field. Their kids were totally cool donating their eggs for Hunt, the Sequel. Crisis averted.
*You know you get up too early when your kid's nap starts at 8:15am. 

We also attempted the obligatory Easter Bunny shot while at the fire station. Plagued by sun shining in our eyes, a shifty-eyed Bunny, and the crime scene tape in the background, this picture totally belongs in a Saturday Night Live skit or something. Classy.

Easter Eve included a cookout at Grampa and Mimi's house, complete with watermelon and more egg hunting.

And despite Elle's threats, the Easter bunny did not hop right on past our house. He left an egg trail leading down the stairs to the girls' baskets. And we slept soundly waiting to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior. 

Not me

I most certainly did not attempt to take my darling princesses to a Breakfast With the Princesses in Reidsville at 8am on the morning following a day/night of a personal bout with Vicious GI Virus. With Jay out of town. And me on call. That seems like an awfully ambitious task that is essentially guaranteed to not go well, and I am always superb at recognizing my limitations. I did not give in to the polite request adamant refusal of my eldest regarding wearing a base layer beneath her scantily clad, cleavage revealing Sleeping Beauty costume. I also did not spend 15 minutes unsuccessfully searching the van for the second sock that was yanked off and tossed into the Bermuda Triangle of the Sock World that is our minivan by my youngest en route to said breakfast. I did not erroneously think that we could rush from our relatively close parking space to the warmth of the restaurant interior on this 20 degree morning, and thus conclude that Elle's insistence on leaving her coat in the car was a reasonable plan of action. Similarly, I did not also find the half-barefooted infant to be acceptably attired. Upon discovering that there was in fact a rather long and ever-growing line at the door, I did not weigh the benefits of getting out of the line to go back for coats and invisible socks against the cost of abandoning key position in the queue. I did not (erroneously) think the line would move quickly. Elle did not shiver. She did not refuse my offer to wrap her up in my coat, insisting that despite teeth-chattering frozenness, she was in fact just fine. She did not continue to shiver for the entirety of our time in line.  Elise had a coat, but I was on the fence as to whether it would be better to wear it properly or wrap the little bare foot up in it. She did not continuously kick the bare foot out of the jacket-sock I had fashioned. I did not look like the world's most horrific mother with her unsocked infant halfheartedly wrapped in a jacket and her nearly bare-chested, uncoated 4 year old version of Sleeping Beauty amongst all the other parents with children in full coat/scarf/mittens/toboggan winter weather regalia. I am not convinced that I am now the subject of small town gossip. We did not manage to make it inside without frostbite and ended up having an lovely time. But if you overhear a similar story in the Reidsville Walmart, tell them that mom's name was Stephanie*

*Being an identical twin has its perks. 

What we've been up to, in pictures

We've provided for the needs of others.

Made important calls.

Enjoyed  Tolerated a snow day walk with Dad.

Made a sour face.

And a happy face.

And many When-Does-The-Everything-Goes-Into-Your-Mouth-Stage-End faces

We dabbled in the arts.

We were tacky for Spirit Week at school.

Well, one of us was unusually tacky. The other was really indistinguishable from a Typical Day.

We breakfasted with princesses.

My plea for a base layer beneath the princess costume was resolutely vetoed. Hence the cleavage-bearing Sleeping Beauty...

We had our ups

And downs

One of 3 gastrointestinally compromised Golding girls. With Jay out of town. And me on call. Yahtzee!

We watched snowflakes

And fought over the last of the mussels

Don't get between this baby and her shellfish

We made Valentine's treats

It was only a matter of time before I superglued my fingers together

And made Mommy's day

We stayed busy, but made time for the ones we love.

And I vow yet again to improve the sporadic blog updating...