We had a fantastic weekend. It started with a trip to a local park that was home to plenty of ducks, koi, and TURTLES! we actually went there so that I could do a photo shoot of my coworker's grandson (check out my photo blog for pics!). While I took pictures, Gus walked around the pond with the kids. Maya drank her bottle, and Nikos had a fabulous time admiring all the wildlife. A good time was had by all!
After I wrapped up the shoot, we had a quick lunch at a fast-food restaurant, then started the drive up to my parents' house. The plan was to celebrate my birthday, spend the night there, and then drive to Gus' parents' house for Easter. When we arrived at my parents' house, Maya had decided that she was done napping, but Nikos was transferred to his bed there and continued to sleep for another hour or so. Once everyone was awake, we decided to walk down to the park. My parents live in a planned community, and the park down the street was hosting an Easter event-- an egg hunt, horseshoes, meet the Easter Bunny-- that sort of thing. We figured we'd check it out, at least. I had very low expectations, since Nikos isn't a big fan of Santa!
At any rate, we'd been walking for a whopping minute when Nikos stopped dead in his tracks and yelled, "THERE'S A RACE CAR IN THERE!!!" He was pointing inside my parents' next-door-neighbor's garage where, sure enough, a race car was parked. I guess their neighbor races these cars out on the Pala Indian Reservation. Anyway, the guy happened to be in his garage at the time, and he invited Nikos in to sit in the car. I am 99% sure that this was the highlight of his entire weekend. That kid LOVES cars. LOVES them! He is still talking about driving the race car!
We eventually made it to the park. Nikos, who was riding on Grandpa's shoulders, instantly tried to turn my dad's head like a steering wheel when he laid eyes on the Easter Bunny. He desperately wanted to escape! So he went and played at the playground while we took Maya over to see the Easter Bunny. She was fine until she sat on his lap... And, well, the picture tells the rest of that story...
The next morning, after Maya's first nap, we made the hour-long drive from my parents' house to Gus' parents' house. The kids were both wide awake, and it went really smoothly. Once we got there, we spent most of the afternoon admiring the lamb slowly spinning on the spit out front or dealing with various kid-issues (bottles, naps, diapers, etc.). Gus' old buddy, Min, happened to be in town, so he stopped by and visited for a bit (he was the Best Man at our wedding). He hadn't met Maya yet, and it had been ages since he met Nikos, so that was a lot of fun! Maya, for her part, had a lot of fun examining Yiayia's various Easter decorations. :)
Later, while Nikos napped, Maya relaxed outside with us while the lamb cooked. She wouldn't go near the lamb, maybe because of the smoke? I don't know. 
Anyway, I had fun playing with my camera. And I got this picture, which is probably in my Top Ten favorite photos of all time... Even though Gus wanted me to crop him out!!
And... not two minutes after I took that photo, the ground began to shake and roll pretty severely. It was an earthquake! Magnitude 7.2, centered in Mexico. A BIG one!!! We were fine, obviously. Nikos woke up from his nap, but there were no other lasting effects. I was slightly concerned about our house, seeing as it was much closer to the epicenter, but everything was exactly as we had left it. Thank you, awesome building codes!
Anyhow, we drove home at bedtime, and both kids quickly conked out in their carseats. It was a fun, but busy, weekend, and it feels good to be home--and on Spring Break! Hooray!! :)
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