Happy Easter 2014

If I'm honest, I haven't been looking too forward to Easter this year.   We always had such fun Easter celebrations in our backyard in Coronado.   Friends, food, egg-hunting, and sunshine were had by all.   I knew Easter in Stuttgart would be much different.   And it was.   But it was different in a good way.   We ended up having such a fun and memorable weekend and I'm so thankful.   Here are the highlights:

On Friday, Susannah and I baked the desserts we were bringing to Easter Sunday lunch. 

My little helper unwrapped all of these Hershey kisses for the brownies. 

On Saturday, we dyed eggs.  

Susannah loved it and was very patient with the whole process.

Her favorite part was probably the stickers.

Showing off her favorite egg.

We rose bright and early on Easter morning to see what the Easter Bunny had brought us. 

Check out that Easter morning hair!

Our first peep of the season.

Bunny left some foot prints. 

Easter smiles.

Like mother, like daughter.....this child loves peeps!

She was so excited to wear her new Easter dress.   Thanks Grammy!!

Silly faces.

Sweet faces.

She gave us at least one silly photo for every sweet one.

This year's Mommy-Daughter picture. 

She is really lacking in the personality department, isn't she?

So much better than last year because Mommy is back-brace free!!

Susannah and her handsome Daddy.

I have no idea why the light was so different 30 seconds after the pics of Susannah and me. 

Super cool.

After church, we headed over to a friend's place for egg-hunting and lunch.   Susannah was elated to see that they had two new hamsters.  

The obligatory family shot.    Good looking group, right??   ;)

Susannah LOVED hunting eggs this year...she of the flowing gown.

Showing off one of her finds.

This was the first year she really got the process and she was so fun to watch.

She really liked the jelly beans that were inside the plastic eggs too.

Thanks to the Eschenroeder's for hosting us for such a fun Easter lunch!  

We hope that all of you had a Happy Easter weekend full of eggs, food, and family.   And most importantly, one full of the hope that the resurrection affords each of us every single day.  

Playa Blanca: Mallory Family Vacation 2014

Well, once again, I apologize for the long dry-spell between posts.   We had a good excuse though.  Our big family vacation was last week on the Canarias Island of Lanzarote.   It was sunny and warm and beautiful.....exactly what we had hoped for and more.   Aunt Nancy met us for the first half of the week which made the trip even more special.   Here are some of the photos:

This was the view of the sea that we enjoyed as we walked from our villa to the beach.  

Flamingo beach.   This was the closest and calmest of all the beaches in Playa Blanca.  Perfect for young children.

We were so happy to  be at the sea, we hit the beach at 9am our first day.   It was pretty chilly, but that didn't stop Susannah.

Beach girl at heart.

She loved the sand.

Filling up her bucket with water was her favorite activity.  

Daddy borrowed her hat for a little while.

It was cold, but so beautiful that you just had to go play in it.

 

We really miss the ocean!

Our villa had a private pool which was so nice.    Peter spent some time trying to teach Susannah to swim. 

The view from our back porch.

One of Peter's favorite parts of vacation.....grilling!

Cooking up some fresh fish and veggies.

This is where we enjoyed all of our meals at the villa.   Not too shabby.

Out for an after-dinner stroll.

Which involved ice-cream, of course.

And a ride or two.....

More pool fun.

Practicing her kicking.

Susannah's lunch one day.....cheese pizza in the shape of a bunny.

Another day, another hole to dig in the sand.

Aunt Nancy kept Susannah one night so Peter and I could go out for some Sangria and Tapas.   It was delicious.

Susannah and Aunt Nancy had just as much fun playing dress up at the villa.

Our view from dinner.   The boat behind me was a high speed ferry that takes people to the nearby island of Fuerteventura.

Aunt Nancy helped Susannah practice her swimming too.

Susannah LOVES her Aunt Nancy.

Playa Blanca boasts one of the world's most beautiful beaches.   It is called Papagayo Beach and is actually a national park.   Getting there requires a 15 minute drive over dirt and gravel roads.  This is the parking lot.

And after you park, you have to navigate your way down a pretty treacherous little incline.

It was totally worth the effort though.

We picked the warmest day of our trip for this beach and it was perfect. The water was chilly, but perfect for swimming.

Susannah loved collecting the rocks.

Big smiles

After a few hours of refreshing swims and lots of playing in the sand, we were ready to get out of the desert sun.  

It was sad to say goodbye to this view though.

Susannah took a couple of rocks as souvenirs.  

A visit with Aunt Nancy wouldn't be complete without pink fingers and toes!

Aunt Nancy babysat one other morning so that Peter and I could climb "Montana Roja", the volcano that was near our villa.  

It was so beautiful.

The mountains and the sea together were just breathtaking.

It is hard to make out in these photos, but down inside the crater, people had written messages with big rocks.  

It was fun reading them, but we weren't motivated enough to go down and create a big "Peter + Whitney = Love"   Maybe next time.  ;)

We walked all the way around the crater and each view was better than the last.

It was a great way to spend a morning.

We spent Aunt Nancy's last afternoon at Marina Rubicon, which is a big marina with shops and restaurants all along a nice boardwalk.   Susannah liked feeding the fish her pretzel sticks. 

And the adults liked the delicious Paella we had for lunch.  

More swim practice.

And more beach fun at Playa Flamingo.

These pictures are so funny to me.

It was her idea for me to take pictures of her jumping.  

This was our obligatory "good-bye to the beach" photo shoot on our last day.

Susannah took this picture.   Not bad, right?   And no, Peter and I are not one of those couples that color-coordinate on vacation.   Complete accident, I promise.

Since our flight wasn't until late afternoon, we spent our remaining hours exploring the big volcano, which included an impromptu camel ride.  

We happened to notice the camels as we drove by and decided to stop to check it out. 

10 minutes later, we were on a camel, riding through the National Park. 

Susannah loved it.

She giggled the whole time and proudly took pictures of the adventure with her to school today. 

It was really cool, especially since we didn't even plan it.



We drove up into a little village and found the perfect place for lunch.  It was a community center facility that only served the menu of the day.   It was delicious, cheap, and afforded a great view.

And a huge open space for Susannah to run some energy off before our four hour flight back to Germany. 

Now we are back and resettled into our routine.   Stuttgart seemed to turn green while we were away, so now we are happy to be back and ready to enjoy Germany's beautiful spring weather.   The beer gardens are finally open again and all the restaurants have set up their outdoor terraces.   Let the springtime in Europe begin!