April 1, 2018 - 3 years 9 months - EASTER DAY

Easter was a busy and fun day!  So busy, it's getting is's own blog entry.

We started the day with a hike with Laura and her dog, Ricca.  During the hike, we ran into Mark, Laura's husband, and Kadito took a spin on his snow machine, helping Mark clear some down trees.

Towards the end of the hike, we explored a snow cave that Laura's teenaged daughters had built over the winter.  It was a little sunken and a tight fit.  Kadin wouldn't go in it until I did and then he loved it.

Kadito wouldn't leave the snow cave until Laura was coaxed to go in there with him.  She's a bit claustrophobic but didn't want to disappoint nor scare Kadito so in the cave she went and then they both crawed out.  Thanks Laura!

Back at the house, we pulled out the EasyBake Oven and made some M&M sugar cookies to bring to Mia's house for Easter.  They are teensy!

I actually didn't get a chance to put together Kadito's Easter basket this year, so I was happy that Abu Baiba had sent him one.  So was Kadito!!

Yet more candy at the Easter egg hunt at Mia's house.  They were mostly the little red and white mints… Thank you Mia!

After Easter, Kadito was a little candy monster, searching the house for hidden sweets to the point that I finally had to give them all away or eat them myself and completely rid the house of candy.  (At least until Halloween, I guess.)
When I told him no more sweets, he said, "Mi sabo (Me knows), me eat candy, me loco."  Ha!

March 16-31, 2018 - 3 years 8 months

Due to a last-minute realization that we were both going to the start of the Oosik ski race, I got to spend a few hours with Kadin in the middle of March (the 17th).  He was super excited to see me and we played on the giant snow mountain and had a wonderful time.

Here's the first snowman we ever built together!  He has hair on top of his head; Kadin's addition.

Sliding down the hill, over and over again, with Bucky chasing after us.  I felt like a river otter!  Weeeeee!

A few hours later, Kadin takes on a more contemplative look…

 And then, there were two more weeks of 

"beznjenica" 

which I just learned is Serbian for 

"a space or time without a loved one".

Kadin was back with me again on the 31st, just in time for Easter egg dyeing and pizza!  

After the eggs and pizza, we went out to the river to play in the snow with Bucky.  I love you Kadin.

Kadin would climb up the willow trunks and go "nnneeighhh!" like a horsey.

Even the walk back to our car was an adventure, as Kadito climbed up and traversed the snowplow ridge alongside Main Street, navegating steep hills and icy downclimbs.

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And these last two shots are candidates for a Historic Downtown Talkeetna Calendar, highlighting two of our local establishments with a classic style. 

 (I swear these are not posed… Kadito hates posing for the camera!!)

April 16 - May 3, 2017 - 2 years 9 months

Kadin loves helping me carry things out to the car.

Baby chicks at Mia's house!

Yummy birch sap - and this year, Kadin had his own tap where he could take a drink whenever he wanted.

So much mud!  Here, he lost his shoe for the first time… I think one of the videos is of him losing his shoe the second time. 

Lots of fun in the mud means a mini-bath in the bucket at home.  Which for Kadin, just means even more fun!

Kadin sat through his first movie - watching a bicycling documentary with Sky.  He would burst out laughing whenever the crowd laughed, even if he probably didn't get the joke.  Too cute.

Resting while I carted him home after a fun bike ride.  I think he is wearing a complete change of clothes after all the mud!

After a lot of pleading, I relented and gave Kadin a knife so he could help me cut up the zucchini.  Now if only he liked to EAT the zucchini…

Video #1: Kadin isn't sure he should try to cross a really big puddle, does it anyway.  At the end, when he runs back into the puddle, I (unfortunately) stopped the video just before he fell into the puddle!

Video #2:  Kadin is working super hard (with sound effects, to boot) and gets a bit frustrated when he finally loses his shoe to the mud.


Video #3: The short version of fun with a salad spinner...

April 1 - 15, 2017 - 2 years 9 months

A kid in a toy store!

All that excitement, including a new tractor, is exhausting!

Comparing candy with Soleil after the Easter egg hunt.

Kadin chose Tinkerbell as his stuffed toy gift at the Easter egg hunt - she can fly!  And her feet are fun to chew on! 

Playing with selfies with the computer's camera - and Kadin is showing off his Matchbox police car (that was mine when I was a little kid!)

March 23, 2016 - March 29, 2016 - 20 months and 2 weeks

We spent Easter Sunday through Tuesday at Byer's Lake, Cabin #3, which is about an hour north of Talkeetna.  So wonderful to leave 40ºF (4ºC) and rain in Talkeetna and enjoy an actual winter wonderland for a change.  It was around 25ºF (-4ºC) and snowing the entire time we were there.  

Super fun sledding, skiing, lounging in the cabin, and, of course, Kadin's first ever Easter egg hunt!

Kadin always seems so happy outside, playing and exploring the world.  Best cure ever for his fussiness! 

Six eggs and one orange.  Eggs dyed with blueberries (blue), tumeric (yellow), and paprika (didn't work so well). 

And he's off, empty basket in hand.  I just told him to go look for the eggs and he knew exactly what to do!

This was the first one he saw, and it sort of freaked him out.  They had a stare-down for a few seconds and then he slowly approached.  It does have a sort of evil look to it, completely unintentional. 

After conquering his fear of the evil snowman, Kadin tried to grab the egg but it proved a bit awkward with his fleece dog-booty mittens.

Mittens gone, Kadin easily picks up the eggs on the porch.

And another egg and choco/pb cup on the sled.

He was trying to give me his peanut butter/dark chocolate cup but once I opened it up for him, he understood and kept the rest for himself!

This Easter egg hunt was way too easy for him!

Yay!  Another one!

After he found all of the eggs, Kadin tried to figure out what was inside them.  He had only had scrambled and fried eggs up until now.  What a surprise! 

He really wasn't that excited to find a hard boiled egg inside.  It's like someone had already told him about the plastic ones with candy and money inside!  You have to watch the video...

These two hooligans (and Bucky) had to stay inside during the hunt.  I'd already caught Buck trying to sneak away with one of the eggs in his mouth.