Bunnies bring fun things, Easter 2015

Easter morning started with yummy cinnamon roll French Toast casserole, hash browns and fruit. One might assume that it started with and Easter egg hunt, but no, it took our kids about 3 hours before they realized the Easter Bunny made a stop at our house. (They kind of do the same thing at Christmas...weird.)

 Joey needed some assistance to see what was up high.

Our super smart Easter Bunny, collected all of the bunnies from previous visits and lined them all up, then added a few chocolate bunnies too! (Side Note: Megan and Joey were super excited and didn't noticed the lack of Easter baskets.)

 

Normally, we spend Easter in Ann Arbor with family, but this year dates lined up funny and my parents were actually home for Easter verses on a cruise. So after breakfast we went over to my parents house to continue the fun.

 When we arrived, we quickly noticed that the Easter Bunny arrived too! He left a note on the front door!

 Megan was on a mission to find her eggs! This one was just out of reach and she was doing the best she could to stretch to reach it...she must have used "the force" because it just dropped into her hand!

 Joey was doing a great job finding his eggs.

 I guess the Easter Bunny got the memo that Joey loves the Bulldogs and hid a few eggs in/near hockey stuff.

 Whoa! Look at all of her eggs!

 Time to open those pretty little eggs up...

...only to find puzzle pieces inside! The Easter Bunny made them work! It took a while to put the puzzle together (as of 3 weeks later, we are still missing a few eggs/puzzle pieces!) Luckily, Megan is a smarty, MacSmarty Pants, and she figured out the clue even with a few pieces missing.

 

Run, run, run to the room of craft fun.

 

Look and you will see a basket from me.

 



I have a great video of her solving the puzzle, then racing to her basket...but apparently it was too big and I can't post it. But she was very excited and Joey was very tired after climbing so many stairs to find their baskets.

 Super cute and meaningful basket filled with things, not candy.

 Joey found his basket too!

 Joey showing off his new game of Right, Left, Center, while Megan was sorting through all of the colors of loom bands in her basket.

 Another fun Easter gift, was a Red Wings bobble head! (you know our kids like hockey right!?!)

 Love this kid...I love that simple gifts in an Easter basket mean a lot to her. She was truly excited for each and every item.

 Joey cherished his Easter basket too. He LOVED that he got a few new decks of hockey cards.

Another super fun thing Megan got was a dice game called Tenzi We instantly became obsessed with this game! Even Grandma-great got in on the action and won on her 3rd attempt!

Joey loved playing too...but he didn't following the rules exactly. Silly boy.

The Schutte Shuffle...yeah, it's a thing!

Way back in October 2014, we signed Joey up for ice skating lessons with the AC synchronized skating team. I read on a flyer 3 year olds were welcome, so it was official, Joey was learning to skate!

 Joey is about to step on the ice for the first time without Mark or me on the ice with him. At first he really wasn't sure what "skating lessons" meant, but after a quick explanation in the lobby, he was more than ready to get on the ice.

1st lesson

All of the "coaches" (as Joey called them) were really great with the kids! Joey has the same instructor every week, so I think that helped him because he always saw a familiar face. And, just like we do for our hockey boy after games, Joey's coach got fruit gummies after every practice.

 During the 1st lesson, Joey stayed close to the instructors and wasn't really up to the same level that other kids in his group were. He was easily the youngest kid on the ice...by a year!

 Hmm...first lesson and he is already picking his spot in the crease. (Pretty sure, he is going to be a goalie.)

 Slowly trying to learn to get up off the ice.

 Just a little high five for encouragement.

This video was from his 2nd lesson...not too bad.

He also figured out how to get up off of the ice by himself. Which in all fairness, was kind of hard for him...the way they teach the kids to get up makes sense BUT because Joey was so little his arms weren't long enough to be in the correct position. He figured it out though.

 Again...this is the spot he immediately went to during an open skate following his lesson.

 Confession: This event was one of the main reasons we put Joey in skating lessons so young. We knew that after the AC hockey game at 5th/3rd Field, we knew they were going to let fans skate on the ice with the players. I really wanted Joey to be able to skate by himself. Seeing Joey skate up to his favorite goalie (shocker, he loves a goalie) was 100% worth it!!!

 Seeing a lot of the college hockey guys skate with Megan and Joey was a perfect way to end this "once in a lifetime" day...so many great memories!

So here is it...Joey's famous "Schutte Shuffle." Not too bad for a 3 1/2 year old!

One last picture at the arena before the ice was removed. Now we have a Summer of roller blading and driveway hockey for both of these two and maybe, just maybe, we will have 2 kids in hockey gear in the Fall.