Easter

It was Piper's first Easter and she loved it almost as much as Parker, who did pretty well at the Easter Egg Hunt...with a little help from Grandpa.

Easter 2008

As usual, we spent Easter in Tehachapi at Chris' Mother's place. This Parker a chance to run around with Josephine and Carli -- look for Easter Eggs, gorge themselves on chocolate, and jump on the trampoline. As for me and Chris...we'll we partook in the bounty that was the Easter meal -- ham, lasagna, scallop potatoes, ice cream, oh yeah, there was also salad. :o)

This year, Chris' Mom also got chick...four of them! First lesson on chickens...they poop. Everywhere. There's no warning. There's no stopping. It just happens. It reminded my of the chickens my sister had as kids -- Henry (who later became Henrietta when he laid an egg) and Wilber (who later became Wilma when he laid an egg). Lesson #2, it's really hard to figure out if chicks are boys or girls so pick a name that's flexible. We tried to get Parker to help name them but he seem more interested in eating chocolate and counting the change in Gram's change bowl. Silly Parker!

Since we were picking up the new car that morning, we opted out of bringing Frankie, which was too bad because I know he would have loved playing with Popcorn. Popcorn's a Labor-doodle but he looks nothing like either breed in my opinion. Rather, he seems to be some sort of Euro-hound that you'd find basking by a roaring hearth in a cold castle. Go figure.

So to sum it up...Easter 2008 for the Trillos = New Car Smell + Ham + Chocolate + Family.

New Car

Yup. The deed is done. I have a new car. In the end (after an aggravated Chris offered to take my car and get a new one if it truly doesn't meet my needs -- BONUS!), I decided to get the Honda CR-V. The mileage is a little less then my last car but of all the cars I saw, it was the only one I visualized us using -- specifically, the mid-section of the rear seat flipped down and Frankie sticking his head out as he chilled out in the back.

As for the actual car buying process...it's a good thing Chris has no aversion to uncomfortable situations because he was in there, going toe-to-toe, wheeling 'n' dealing. In the end, we got a pretty good price. Plus with the insurance settlement and the additional $$ I was willing to put down, the monthly payments will be less then what I had to make for my last car.

So, that said, let's see where we netted out:

NEEDS:
• Automatic -- CHECK!
• Cruise Control -- CHECK!

WANTS:
• Good Gas Mileage -- Not Bad...CHECK
• Seat 4 plus Dog -- CHECK!
• Tinted Windows -- CHECK!
• DVD Player -- NOPE! Looks like we'll have to use the old one a little longer.
• Light Exterior -- CHECK! It's light blue.
• Dark Interior -- Sort of...it's grey.
• Roof Rack -- NOPE! But Chris thinks we'll find something better for our needs elsewhere
• iPOD Ready -- YUP. Not the swank set-up I had in the Saturn but it'll do for now
• Bluetooth for Phone -- NOPE! This is probably the biggest disappointment. Can you believe it that Honda doesn't offer bluetooth in any of it's CR-Vs!

WOULD BE NICE:
• Navigation -- NOPE! Actually this was more of a ''Want'' for Chris but in the end, we'll have to go with an aftermarket variety...which we hear is the better move, anyway.
• AWD/4WD -- NOPE. I decided to forgo the AWD for the extra bit of mileage.
• Concealed Storage -- YUP!

DON'T WANT:
• Sunroof -- Couldn't avoid this. I guess it's standard with the model we chose.

All in all,we're happy with the decision all around. And now we get to take it out on it's first road trip...Trillo Easter Festivities in Tehachapi.

Easter

What does Easter mean to Parker?

Well, Easter bonnets, of course. And the best ones in his book are balloon bonnets.

And while you've got the balloons going, you can't forget the traditional Easter balloon fight, especially when it's 4 cousins against one uncle.You're going down, Uncle Gerry!

And in honor of the man of the hour...the Easter Bunny...ou've got to hop around, especially if you have a trampoline on hand. Just be careful of unexpected pile-ups, which could leaving you with the giggles.

Now you can't have Easter without flowers. All the cool kids are wearing them. Here take one. There's plenty to go around.

Kites are cool to flying on Easter. But if you ask Frankie, a brisk game of fetch is the most important thing to do on Easter…and the day after that…and the day after that. Actually, Frankie feels it's best to play fetch everyday.

Above all, though, hanging out with family is the thing Parker loves most about Easter.