Inside/Outside

Inside

Easter jimjams made from vintage flannel sheets using a tried-and-true nightie pattern from this book.

Outside

Fairy parasols made on our trip to the park using twigs, fallen leaves and a few silly dance moves.

Park

There's a park in the centre of my old home town. It does springtime beautifully and autumn even better. It's famous for its duckpond and the swing sets. Many a childhood afternoon was spent playing there. It was the site of weekend picnics, of festivals and festivities and, like most of my peers, the location of one of my early forays into under-age drinking (on a Saturday morning, no less!). I wonder how many of those teenagers have returned with their own children years later to watch them hover precariously on the edge of the pond, frolic in autumn leaves, pluck marigolds from the manicured garden beds, get drenched at the fountain and maybe lay a sloppy one on a cute boy beneath a big old pine tree.

Easter Hunt

Well, our Easter was lovely. We had three days and nights at my sister's house. There was perhaps a little too much chocolate and the requisite negotiations over how many and when and "Not until you finish your dinner..." Cousins played together beautifully. One big girl cracked the "no training wheels" thing. We caught up with Queensland friends who we rarely see these days, home for the holidays and making the trip back for us doubly worthwhile. And it was the first of many mini-trips I've had with my girls that hasn't left me shaking with exhaustion. Even the driving was a delight. Oh, my.

13/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013" via Che and Fidel.

Caught through the flyscreen tucking into some Easter eggs...

Lola: She comes home from school and spends the rest of the afternoon accidentally calling me by her teacher's name. I can only imagine how many times she says it during the day for it to stick so firmly. Patient teacher.

Pearl: On the days she doesn't cry at preschool, she tells me how brave she was.

Stella: She made her own Easter bonnet, a pink thing with a ribbon stuck to it. She insisted on wearing it to bed.

We're off to spend a few days with our country cousins. Happy Easter! See you on the other side.

(PS Stuck On You gift voucher winners announced over here.)

Parade

We started work early this morning collecting autumn leaves and pretty flowers from the garden. Then we set to with a roll of tape and the hot glue gun. The result - the only forest queen at the Easter hat parade today.

(Highly recommended for that fresh, natural look.  Not so good if you plan to reuse the hat next year - after a day in the kindergarten class, it currently looks like a crown of dead weeds...)