Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

Our first Easter in New York, brought the kids to the sad realisation that they would not be with all their cousins and friends for egg dying and hunting. We stamped some invitations and a invited a few friends over for an Easter party on Saturday before Easter. It was cold and rainy, but we still had fun. The girls and mommy stuffed eggs with candy, toys and of course quarters (Gibson family tradition). Daddy and mommy hid the eggs on the main level of the house prior to the friends arrival. They hunted eggs, dyed eggs and had snacks.

Below is Tessa with her very best friend Dristin.


Dagny proudly proclaims that this is the perfect shade of green for an Easter Egg.



What creativity shown by Tessa through many techniques of dying, hand painting and adding color with a sponge.

Happy Easter 2009! April 12, 2009. The Easter bunny was too kind to the Lytle Ladies. Although the weather was chilly and rainy, the egg and present hunting was fantastic in the house. The family spent the day watching the DVDs given to the girls from the Easter bunny, eating a great brunch and then a traditional Turkey and Ham dinner. The best part was staying in our pajamas all day!

Hooray - spring has finally arrived to the Hudson Valley! Sunny and temperatures in the 70's. We sure missed eating outside! On April 19, we went to Bear Mountain State Park (6 miles from our house towards West Point). We had a picnic by the lake and then went to the zoo overlooking the Hudson River. There were even bears at the Bear Mountain Zoo - they are truly the locals here. The zoo has trails through the trees with great views of the Hudson.

The zoo has several little museums on the property. The girls were "recruited" to join the continental army. They passed all the tests to join - they can see, hear and have five fingers (they were not that picky back then - of course their was no pay, food or uniforms for joining) - they were just not 14 though. They still learned to fire a musket. They were given a replica button to show they were in the NY regiment of the Continental Army. Hopefully they do not get called to serve any time soon - their musket skills could use some work. Plus they are pretty whiney when they have to sleep on the ground and do not eat regularly.

Joel and Gwen at the zoo, with the Hudson and Bear Mountain bridge in the background.

Dagny and Tessa are in 4-H. The last week of March was the public presentations for 4-H. Dagny did an amazing power point presentation on Italy (her school teacher is of Italian decent). She spoke in front of a judge using her power point about Italy. She received an "Excellent" rating, blue ribbon, and certificate for the great job she did.

Tessa is a Cloverbud (5-7 year olds in 4-H). Her presentation was called a "Fun Talk" and not critiqued like Dagny's. She spoke to the judge about Giraffes. She showed pictures of the family at Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL feeding the giraffe. She also brought "Katie" the stuffed giraffe she got in Florida. The judge told her how great she did with remembering so many giraffe facts and speaking clearly and confidently. She received a rainbow colored ribbon and certificate for participation.