In Her Easter Bonnet

Marina has been looking forward to Easter for over a week now. We've been pretty busy all week and we didn't even get our eggs dyed! Marina did enjoy the church service on Maundy Thursday this year, she'd never been before.

This was the first year I let Marina help me pick out her Easter dress. Surprisingly, we were able to agree on one fairly easily. We were even able to get a matching hat - that's a requirement every year.

Our Easter celebration began with the Easter Egg Hunt at church. It's not too difficult a task, the eggs are spread out on the church lawn and the kids collect as many as they can. Then they trade them for a bag of goodies. Marina decided she would pick up as many pink eggs as she could.

After the Egg Hunt we attended the Easter church service. It was long and included a baptism, but Marina did a good job paying attention. I allowed her to sit with her friends which helped, I'm sure. Her favorite part was when everyone was invited to put fresh flowers on a cross at the alter. She went up several times.

After church, Marina had fun looking for eggs at home. We didn't get around to dying our eggs, so the Easter Bunny was nice enough to hide plastic eggs at our house. Marina also located her baskets as well., She seemed more excited about the toys than the candy.

After the excitement settled down, we had a special dinner and watched a movie.

Princess Party

We waited to have all our family in town before celebrating Marina's birthday with them. We decided on a princess theme - her cake had 10 princesses on and around it. Marina decided to dress up in her Anna costume since Anna was not represented on the cake (neither was Elsa or Merida, but that didn't seem to bother her).

Marina had fun with her cousin Cameron and her uncles all evening. We had Italian food since she had requested "pasta." Of course, Marina's favorite part was opening presents. She was thrilled with the gift cards she got because she she gets to go shopping.

I had to remind her to thank everyone and say goodbye, she was too busy playing with her new toys!

Spring Flowers

We've had beautiful weather this week, so Marina and I decided to check out the spring flowers at the Botanic Gardens. Marina brought along two of her fairy dolls: Silvermist, the water fairy, and Rosetta, the flower fairy.

We started our day in the children's garden. Marina was thrilled with the spring blooms we saw. The wading stream was running, so Marina took off her shoes and tried it out. She said the water was cold, but that didn't stop her from climbing and playing. We looked at all the areas in the children's garden before heading over to the rest of the gardens.

We stopped for lunch and then headed for Marina's favorite garden - the tropical greenhouse. It felt like summer inside and the tropical flowers were beautiful. Marina also made sure we climbed up the treehouse for a bird's eye view.

Next we walked through the Japanese gardens and a quick visit to the tea house. Most of the other areas we went through still need a few more weeks before they bloom, so we agreed to come back again to see them.

Fish and Fun

Marina and I had trouble deciding what we wanted to do today. At the same time, we both thought about the Aquarium. Marina decided she did not want to wear her Ariel costume. Instead she chose an Ariel shirt and took her Ariel plush doll with her.

On our way in, Marina tripped and fell, skinning her knee pretty badly. So after we got our tickets, we found the first aid station. A very caring employee cleaned and bandaged up her knee. Marina even got a sticker that said "I love the Mystic Mermaids." Once she was cleaned up, she hobbled into the Aquarium.

The sea otters put on a show for us and it seemed like the fish were more active than usual. We missed the mermaid show, but we caught up with them at the meet and greet.

We went into the restaurant for lunch. While we were waiting for our food, we got to see the mermaids swim. March got to see them pretty close up. Once their show was over, our food arrived and we sat down to eat.

Lunch took longer than we expected, so we hurried into the area for the next mermaid show. It was already packed and Marina had a hard time just finding a place where she could see.

We wandered through the aquarium but it was so crowded we couldn't look at everything as we would have liked to. So we watched the 4D movies which bumped us around quite a bit. Then we headed home.

Play Day

Marina is on spring break this week, so we took today to have some fun together. We started the day with Marina's annual physical. While that doesn't sound like fun, she loves her doctor and we see her so rarely, that it's a bit of a treat. Marina took her Rapunzel plush doll with her because "she makes me calm." Her doctor was running way behind, so by the time she finally had her exam, it went very quickly. But it's always fun to catch up.

After her appointment, we had planned to see the movie, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, so once we left the doctor's office, we hurried to the theater. We arrived with a bit of time to spare. Once again, we went to the restaurant theater (it seems to be our favorite lately!) We were able to order lunch before the movie started, although it arrived a bit into it.

We really enjoyed our lunch and Marina thought the movie was great. Since it was snowy, I asked her if she'd like to go to the trampoline park for some exercise.We hadn't been there for a while, so Marina was excited.

After half an hour of jumping, she was already worn out. But she made some new friends and kept running and jumping for two hours. The father of one of the girls she met started taking videos and Marina had a blast with that!

On our way home, we picked up the new Tinkerbell movie, The Pirate Fairy. Marina watched it immediately and declared it "Awesome!"

Disney Magic on Ice

It has become a tradition for Marina and I to attend Disney on Ice shows when they come to town. This time, I splurged and got us tickets in the second row. Marina was pretty excited when I told her.

Marina was disappointed to hear that the characters from Frozen would not be featured in this show. She considered dressing as Anna anyway, but ultimately chose to wear her Jasmine costume to the show today.

We arrived early and picked up a snack before heading to our seats. They were on risers set up in front of the ice, with only a walkway separating us. The view was amazing.

Marina was pleased that the story of Aladdin came early in the show. We also saw performances based on Finding Nemo, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, and the It's a Small World ride. At intermission, Marina was fascinated with the zambonis. I explained to her how they resurface the ice.

As the finale began, many of the children from our section gathered in the walkway next to the ice. I told Marina she could join them. Toward the end, the characters began to greet the children. Marina shook hands with Ariel and Mr. and Mrs. Incredible. Then when Mickey Mouse made his entrance, he headed right for Marina and shook hands with her first.

When the show was over, Marina returned to our seats smiling ear to ear. She said she wished she'd gotten to meet Jasmine, but overall she was happy about the experience.

Spa Party

Marina had a tough time deciding what kind of birthday party she wanted this year. We discussed options at the Aquarium, swimming pool, the American Girl store and craft store. Finally, she decide on a spa party at her favorite hair salon.

We arrived at the salon for the party a bit early. I didn’t have a whole lot of set up to do, so we were ready with plenty of time. Marina’s friends arrived shortly after that. The girls started by adding jewels to flip flops, then each headed over to the couch where they got a pedicure, two at a time. Marina picked a deep purple nail polish with purple sparkles over it. It looked very pretty!

Next, they each got a manicure. They all got different combinations and enjoyed showing off their nails to each other. While they waited for each other, they watched Aladdin, which was showing on the TV.  After Aladdin ended, they put on Beauty and the Beast.

Once their nails were dry, the girls gave themselves facials. I was impressed at how much brighter their skin was after the facials. The party time was nearly over at that point, so we had to hurry through cupcakes and presents while many of the parents watched. The girls all seemed to have had fun. One of the girls even called it "Awesome!"