Here are Larkin's first official school pictures. Isn't it neat to think some day we'll have 18 of these to compare over the years, from now until high school?
In her Cub classroom pic, Larkin is on the left in the front row (in the yellow shirt). Her teachers are Sarah, Stephanie, and Poornima. The girl behind Larkin's left sholder (in the blue) is Ella, Larkin's friend. Doesn't Larkin's head look twice as big as Ella's?!
We hope that you all had a wonderful Easter! We had a fantastic time celebrating with my family in Hampton's. I thought I'd start out the post with a fun video of Larkin finding an Easter egg and a cute close-up picture of her during meal-time. If you enlarge the photo of her, you can see just how blue Larkin's eyes really are (just like both of her grandmas)!
We flew into NYC...we took Larkin on her first flight - Midwest Airlines - and she did great (phew)! After meeting up with my family there for a couple of days, we headed out to the Hampton's. I was really sick with a sinus infection and it was good to have those days to lay low and recover. We did head out briefly though so Larkin could swing on a swing in Central Park. She (and the other 100 kids there) had a fun time! We also enjoyed a family Italian dinner at Sambuca's. Here are a couple of pics from our time in the city.
(Below, l-r): Greg, Luke, Dana, Gavin, Grandpa Bud
Check out the dress-up session the boys had! Gavin is sooo into superheroes, and even more so into the "bad guys". In this pic, Brian is "young Obi-Wan", Greg is "old Obi-Wan" (yes, those are adult-sized costumes!), and Gavin is Batman. So cute!
We all had a blast decorating eggs. Gavin did most of the hard work and he even took egg color requests! Larkin watched from a safe distance away. Nonetheless, we stripped the kids down to their skivvies!
Larkin loved getting to meet and play with her cousins, Gavin and Luke. She learned so much from them and really started showing more independence after this long weekend. It was fun to watch her watch them and want to do everything just like they did! Luke wasn't feeling very well much of the weekend, so Larkin spent a bit more time with Gavin. She was totally enamored with Gavin... as you can see from one of the pics below, she's practically trying to crawl onto his lap! Gavin (who's 5) loved Larkin too (hence the kiss). He was so gentle and caring with her. He even took a bath with her for fun! (I know that the pic of them in the bath will embarass them terribly in 15 years, but oh well, I think it's adorable)!
Here's Larkin, on Easter morning and during the weekend, getting a lot of love from her family... Grandpa Bud, Grandma Cook, Auntie Danawesome (aka Dana), and adorable cousins Luke and Gavin.
As the video above attests to, Larkin had a blast searching for eggs. She really didn't know what she was doing, of course, but she saw bright colors strewn about and she went for 'em! She couldn't eat the candy inside, but the eggs sure did make for a good rattle. :) And, doesn't she look so cute in her pretty Easter dress?!
Here are a few pics of Larkin playing.... the kids did a lot of this over the weekend. Luke was so generous and let Larkin "drive" his police car and Gavin took Larkin for a ride in his spaceship (the box in the second pic). Dana and Greg have a fantastic playroom in their newly-finished basement and it got a lot of use!
I'll wrap up the post with a few family shots... what a great weekend it was! Happy Easter to everyone!
Check out this one cool chick! It took a little coaxing to get her to keep them on, but Larkin finally wore her sunglasses for the first time on our walk around the neighborhood. Doesn't she look so cute?!
Larkin was a little young to be taking part in the pony rides and face painting, but at the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt, Larkin did get a fantastic balloon. It was a chick with bunny ears and it really entertained her. We had a fun time and can't wait until next year's festivities!
My dear friend Sarah, who recently moved to NC, came back to KC for a visit and we were so glad to see her! Brian made a great quiche for lunch, Larkin was excited to get to play with Sarah, and I was glad we got to catch up in person. We miss you, Sarah! Here are a few pictures of our fun visit.
