Rolling

*I'm guest posting for Nicole over at Flip Flops and Combat Boots today! Be sure to check it out.*

One of my all-time favorite holiday traditions is rolling Easter eggs with the Grafs. It's a family tradition dating back many generations to our ancestors in Wales. I grew up thinking this was an entirely normal activity for everyone, but have since been informed that it is not. Although, a brief Google search just confirmed that its English roots are still going strong, and that the White House has hosted an annual Easter egg roll for 134 years and counting. (So, there.) That said, I'm pretty sure that our version of egg rolling is pretty unique no matter what tradition you stack it up against.

We start off by dyeing and decorating hard boiled eggs just like any regular person. And then the fun begins. We hike into a pre-selected location with a nice, dirt hill and then get to work on an intricate track for the eggs. This year, Matt, Christian and Matthew stepped up as the head engineers of the project and created quite the masterpiece! After the first curve, the egg crossed a bridge which it then funneled back underneath. It then wound up for the big jump over a water hazard, after which it shot underneath a tunnel and then up and back a boomerang. Once it came down the boomerang ramp, the egg turned and zigzagged through a mini-half pipe and into a bowl below. At that point, it was stacked into a dirt egg crate where it awaited transportation to the top of the hill to start the journey down the track all over again.

The location

Hanging out during construction. Jake got a kick out of stomping on tin foil.

The completed track!

Narrating the track on camera

The bridge-into-funnel

The jump

The boomerang ramp

The final zigzag, finish line, and waiting area

The little kids made their own straightaway track for the grand finale.

The egg rolling party lasts for a couple hours, and at the end, whoever's egg is the most intact is declared the winner. To top it off this time around, we then promptly destroyed that egg and the remainders of any other eggs with some good, old-fashioned batting practice.

And that, my friends, is how you roll Easter eggs.

While we were gone

It's no secret that long-distance relationships make you good at goodbyes. So while I know I'll miss Matt when we're apart, we're both perfectly fine with short separations. But suddenly, throw a baby into the mix and it's a whole new ballgame. I felt all sorts of guilty taking Jakey away from Matt for seven whole days! Thank goodness for Skype keeping my baby in touch with his daddy throughout the week.

Jake got so excited every time he saw Matt on the computer screen and tried his best to grab and eat his daddy's face, to no avail. So when Matt walked in the door just after bathtime one night, Jake was thrilled!

Although, Jake seemed a bit unsure if this daddy was really real, or just more of that computer screen business. He checked the best way he knew how -- by eating Matt's nose. Jake was quite pleased when it worked! That little guy loves his daddy.

"Are you real?"

"Yes, you are!"

 "It's my dad!"

I mentioned earlier that this pre-Jon's-wedding trip ended up much differently than I had planned. It was originally meant to be filled with play time and lunch dates with friends that I never get to see since trips to Utah are normally so packed with family things. But then just a few days before our flight, my Grandpa Smith was rushed to the ER and hospitalized. And nine hours after my arrival, he was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer and given just a few months to live. Needless to say, this trip ended up being very much centered around family and I am so grateful for that. I don't think it was a coincidence that Jake and I were there when we were needed most. I got to help at home and spend time with my Grandpa, and Jake got to be the bright spot for everyone.

Jake and I visited my Grandpa every day, except the one when he was finally released from the hospital and sent to a rehabilitation center (since he wasn't yet well enough to return to his assisted living home) and was too busy for visitors. That night, when my mom took her shift by his bedside, he asked her where his little grandson was. I'm so glad that Jake was able to establish a relationship with his Great-Grandpa and be a source of happiness for him during a hard time.

Our stay also coincided with my Grandma Smith's birthday, which meant we got to party with my Smith cousins that I don't see nearly enough.

Jake also got to catch one of Kaleb's basketball games, hang out with his aunts and uncles, and cuddle up with both sets of grandparents.

More pictures of the trip:

At last, it was time for our little Cub to head home. My backseat buddy was a gem and slept for most of the drive to California.

So long until the next wedding event, Utah.

Boarding at the 'Bird

One of Matt's best friends got married in Idaho last weekend so Jake and I flew out to Utah a week early to play. The trip turned out quite a bit differently than I planned (more on that later), but I still managed to sneak in a little bit of play time. My not-so-little brother Christian took me up to Snowbird for a mini-snowboarding session on a beautiful Saturday morning. It was so much fun just hanging out with him, and the fact that I (finally!) learned how to carve was just icing on the cake. My brother should really be a snowboard instructor. Thanks again for the lesson, Kiken!

Utah is so pretty.