I’m ashamed to admit that the Easter Bunny nearly forgot to visit the Ishida house this year. Oh, he was prepared weeks in advance but nearly forgot to drop by on the night that mattered. At 11pm he hopped into the playroom (AND tidied it up), hid some eggs around the room and left behind a basket with some goodies.

Good thing Mrs Bunny was on the ball. When Thomas walked into the room and saw this, he laughed out loud and said “You can’t do that!”

It is a little creepy – and hilarious.

The plastic eggs were the highlight for Samuel. He still gets excited when he unexpectedly finds one on the floor.

The Portland Fire Department operates an historical firehouse for safety education. It’s a mini museum with fire fighter uniforms, hats and old equipment on display. Of course, given Thomas’ current obsession with all things Firefighter, we had to take him to experience the real thing. I tried to take him past the fire station near our house but shyness overtook him and he wouldn’t go near the fire engines in case we got into trouble.

The great thing about this fire house is that we could get up close and personal.

The highlight was the real fire engine experience where you get to ride in a fire engine complete with sound effects, video and the real shakes and shudders of a true engine. Very exciting!

Of course there was one little fear to overcome, but I finally managed to coax Thomas into sliding down the pole.

Samuel’s favourite part? Being thrown in the air by Daddy on the way back to the car.

Never get’s old.

Thomas is learning how to use chopsticks. He’s getting better but still needs a little help to actually get some of the food in his mouth.

And this one currently won’t eat anything unless he can feed it to himself.

If you try to spoon feed him, he’ll immediately pull the food out of his mouth again to inspect it properly. And it can be very messy when he’s eating apple sauce or pureed carrots.

He’s also very noisy and demanding when he gets hungry (aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!). It can become a little embarrassing in restaurants so we choose family-friendly, noisy locations.

Of course after a filling meal of sushi, it’s important to take a quick walk.

Or maybe a run.

The perfect Friday evening – no dishes, good food and everyone full and happy.

A few random photos from a Wednesday with my boys. For the past three and a half years (since Thomas was born) I have worked four 10 hour days. That one day off a week was for spending time with my babies – playing at home, going to the zoo or the park or even just doing the grocery shopping together.

I have really enjoyed my Wednesdays but sadly they are coming to an end. It’s just become too difficult to work the long days and look after my boys on a Wednesday that was becoming less and less of a day off, and more about checking email every hour or so just to keep things moving at work.

So in June I will be reverting to a regular 5 day schedule. The upside is that I will be home in time to eat dinner and give my children a bath without having to squeeze everything into a 30 minute window.

Here are just a few photos of a regular, hanging out at home, taking a walk to Starbucks, Wednesday.

I swear that I have no idea where he got the idea to “walk” his brother. We don’t even have a dog!

P.S. I was lucky to catch this on camera. Samuel strongly objected just a few minutes later in the form of loud screaming and writhing.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering why I am holding an apple? I only have four teeth and a tiny mouth so there’s no way I could possibly eat this thing.

You underestimate me.

See those bite marks? All mine.

There is no mountain… ahh food… that I can not conquer.

And I just dare you to try and take it away from me.

Kei is digging a great big hole in the backyard to grow a veggie garden. And of course Thomas is more than willing to help. He even has his own metal shovel.

This is quite the spectacle for the neighbour kids who can see through the beautiful chain link fence. Our neighbour and I were talking about how we really need a gate through that fence.

While Thomas dug the hole, Samuel prowled the backyard looking for fresh dirt to eat. It’s times like this when I reflect on how glad I am that we don’t have a dog.

It was all fun until Thomas dug up a pile of dirt and then proceeded to dump it on his brother’s head. Not that Samuel seemed to mind.

It was about the principle – so it was off to a three minute time out where Thomas reflected on his bad behaviour and then vowed never to do it again during a conversation with his daddy.

P.S. Like the paint job on the house? I swear we are planning to get it painted soon. Colour suggestions welcome.

And time out is just not a time out without an apology. Not that Samuel seemed to notice, but it was about the principle.