The Bunny Hath Risen!

Happy Easter, everybody.

I was going to make a Zombie Jesus joke here, but that'd probably offend a bunch of people, so instead let's check out the barrage of pics below to see how the Houghs celebrated this magical and most-recognized of pagan holidays-turned-Christian cornerstones.

Behold:

Wouldn't be an Easter without Paas.  Right, America?

 

I think it's safe to say that, besides the dye itself, every other Easter Egg decoration is little more than a poorly-conceived gimmick.  We've tried tie-dyed eggs, bedazzled eggs, stickers, and these bizarre shrinks-when-you-blow-drow-them plastic wraps (seen here) - it all sucks.

Showing off some of her new Easter threads, courtesy of Grandma and Papa John.

. . . and Alayna's.

More Easter care packages, this time from Papa and Nana. . .

F*** it, it's Easter.

When you politely ask our kids to pose nicely for a picture with their new shirts, this is what you get. 

Bubbles last a couple minutes in this house.  Then Abby spills the bottle and pouts.

Kris wanted to make some Easter-themed cupcakes this year - she got the idea from some chick she works with.

Easter Basket cupcakes.

Don't ask me what's all over this kid's face. . . 

. . . OR this kid's face.  Jesus, we have THOSE kids.

Ah. . . healthy, nutritional Peeps.

Finished product

The dependents' Easter Baskets, appropriately hidden in our bathroom shower.

Easter Egg hunt throughout the house (surprisingly enough, both kids slept in until 7am. . . which rarely happens)

We weren't going to buy a bunch of candy this year, 'cause the kids don't really eat it. . . so the kids ended up getting more eggs filled with quarters and spare change this year.

Once they had hunted down all the eggs we had hidden around the living room/play room, we directed them to the basket scavenger hunt - something we started doing three years ago, and the kids have a lot of fun with.  This year, since Alayna's reading, we were able to write out the clues instead of me drawing pictures of the clue's next location.  This was WAY easier.

(In case you ever wanted to see what the inside our refrigerator looks like.)

Kris' desk looks like someone tossed a hand-grenade on it and left the room.  (See that game on the screen? Sid Meier's classic Pirates  - graphics don't quite hold up, but it's still awesome for being ten years old.  I like playing it on Kris' large-screen desktop, opposed to my MacBook Pro.)

Yes, we wrote that. 

Oddly enough, both kids were more obsessed with what was in Watson's basket than in theirs.  Go figure. 

Like stated earlier, Alayna's been really into Lego Ninjago lately.  We threw a set in her basket along with a chapter book (a step up from the leveled-reader books, so she can grow into it and build up literacy.)

We did the same for Abby, except her latest obsession is Lego Friends. 

We decided that the girls would get a kick out of seeing an Easter basket of treats for Watson, so we went to that Purple Pooch dog boutique (that upscale dog store I've mentioned before that caters to affluent Hunters Creek soccer moms) and bought him a bunch of these frosted, gourmet dog biscuits.

After skipping a healthy breakfast and subsisting on jelly beans and chocolate, we sat the kids down at the kitchen table in order to assemble their new Lego sets. . .

. . . I can't begin to describe how awesome it is to have the kids finally into something badass like Legos.

- Brian

LEGOS!!!

You know, as a dad to two little girls, I've experienced my fair share of horrible, horrible bullshit.

From Disney Princesses to Disney Fairies, shitty TV shows to webisodes on Netflix, Barbies to My Little Ponies, dress-up outfits to sticker books, there isn't a whole lot of awesomeness in my house.  At least not by my standards.  Sure, once in awhile one of the kids will start getting into something that gives me a small glimmer of hope:  Alayna will occasionally ask to watch Star Wars or Indiana Jones, which leaves me with goosebumps, but those moments, alas, are sadly few and far between.

Indiana Jones just can't compete with Rainbow Dash or Barbie.

Lego Ninjago

We got Alayna this for next week's Easter Basket.

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, however, we've noted a change.  Alayna's always been somewhat into boys shows on Netflix.  She was on-and-off obsessed with the Power Rangers series (a few different shows, too) for nearly two years, and will watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles now and again.  This inclination towards boy shows led to her deciding to check out a show in her Netflix account called Lego Ninjago - a computer-animated series based on Lego ninjas.

Basically a show to sell toys.  Right out of the early 1980s marketing playbook.

Give this kid blonde hair and thirty lbs or so, and that was me.

Now, as you all probably know, I love me some Legos.  I grew up with them, I was obsessed with them, and - frankly - if you sat me down in front of a table with covered with Legos today, you could safely walk away with the understanding that'd I'd zone out and be there for several hours.

They're plastic heroin, and I was convinced that having two girls would forever prevent me from sharing this creative outlet with my offspring.

Not anymore.

The infamous Knights Castle set - I still have most of this.

Alayna's new obsession with this random Lego show prompted me to pull out my old sets from the ol' closet and break them out on the back patio table.  It was a huge hit - both kids took to it instantly.  The girls, of course, have Lego sets already - a few sets from Papa and Nana they received a few months back, along with a basic 'girl'-themed starter tub (or whatever the hell that's called) they got a year or two ago.

Neither kid really took to them at first, but now that there are Lego shows on Netflix, they're suddenly infatuated with the toys.

And this dad's not complaining in the slightest.  Not at all.

It sure beats the hell out of playing Barbies with the kids.

F***ing terrible.

Coincidentally, around the same time Alayna started watching Lego Ninjago, Abby started really getting into Lego Friends - a hugely-popular line of Lego sets aimed towards girls aged 6 - 12.  They, too, have a show on Netflix, but sadly there are only three episodes available.

This means that we're forced to watch the same three episodes over and over and over again.  Every Goddamn day.

The set we bought Abby for Easter.

Still, the silver lining here is that Abby has started playing with her Legos as well, and this opens up the door for Yours Truly to start buying Lego sets for birthdays, Christmases, Bar Mitzvahs, what have you.

I'm not sure how long they're going to be into Legos - with young kids, their obsessions are fleeting - but I'm going to ride this one out as long as I possibly can.

FOR GLORY!!!

- Brian