First Easter

This morning the Easter Bunny brought a new outfit (and various other goodies) for Madeline (and parents). Madeline seemed more in touch with the gravity of Easter weekend than the gaiety of the holiday itself, though.

After some time at home including a hearty brunch, we walked to Wayland Square hoping to find ice cream. But all the local food purveyors were closed for the holiday, so we had to settle for Starbucks frappuccinos. On the way home, drinks in hand, we checked out the Blackstone Park Conservation District. This is a part of the city we've drastically underused in the past. Even though it's just a few blocks from our old apartment, we'd only ever skirted the exterior but had never realized that there's a network of trails and lovely woods-and-water views.

We first did a small loop at the southern end of the park.

Madeline's taken to grabbing the hem of her wrap rather than simply sticking out a finger or two as she used to d0. And here she's wearing her finest hat in honor of the holiday.

Rather than finish the loop and return to the street, we continued along a branch path, emerging a little later to check out an informative sign and flowering trees.

Then we continued along the elevated middle section of the park, whose paths afford the aforementioned view of the Seekonk River. The wooden fencing is to keep visitors away from the eroding slope; apparently the erosion is severe enough in some spots that the paths are fenced off completely. Note that in this picture, Madeline's clutching each hand with the other. Cute!

We didn't explore the northern part of the park but instead headed home because the weather was getting unexpectedly oppressive for April: mid-70s and humid. But this was perfect for less active outdoor pursuits. So we spread out a blanket in the yard, and Summer entertained Madeline while I planted some sugar snap peas and mixed greens.

Madeline was perhaps feeling overstimulated by all this outside time.

So when we went back inside, we tried for a nap. It didn't work too well: Madeline was wired.

Finally she ended up napping between us on the futon. When she was awake again and we'd finished dinner, we tried to do an Easter-outfit photo shoot. Most of the photos are either grumpy or blurry, but there were some smiles to be captured. Here's the best of the bunch.