This is the fashionably late Easter post. Though this was Riley's second Easter, it was obviously the first one she was aware of. It was also the first time she had seen Nana and Papa since last July. Normally that would not be the case with such a long stretch between visits, but due to some unexpected circumstances which are almost completely behind us, that was unfortunately the case.
The visit started off much better than the last visit where the tears were flowing quickly since she was not familiar with them. This time that did not happen, thanks in part to her warming up a little more easily now, and also thanks in no small part to her Foofa doll from Nana. That definitely broke the ice and brought out a slight smile to start things off. Another sure-fire way for them to cozy up to her was watching Yo Gabba Gabba with her...often. She also picked up one new word that was certainly music to at least one set of ears: "Papa".
We had a rather stressful, but still fun, dinner out to Texas Roadhouse, whose rolls Riley absolutely loves. In fact we could probably put her on an all-Texas-Roadhouse-rolls diet and she'd be A-OK with that (come to think of it, I think I would be too if that were my diet). The stressfulness was not due to her fussing or screaming, but rather we were up against the clock with her bedtime routine, and she was just so wound up with wanting to stand up to see the people behind us, and just enjoying herself. Hard to blame a girl for enjoying a night out. :) On our way out, she promptly said "bye bye!" to any and everyone in her sight. 
We also took a quick trip over to the big-cat sanctuary located nearby. Not a big hit. Almost all of the tigers and lions were asleep, and the one lion who roared loudly seemed to stop just before we could ever get over to him. However she did say "hi kitty!" when the lion looked directly at the two of us once (always a nice feeling to be stared down by a lion). What most interested her though was not the lions or tigers or cougars...but a dog, of course. After the big cats she ran around for a bit with the other kids, and as usual tried to make a new friend. 
Easter itself went over great. Though a little cloudy and misting rain for a bit, it was still a nice day. She loved picking up all of the eggs and putting them in her basket that Mommy was holding for her. Later she realized there were Reese's Pieces in the eggs and proceeded to have each egg opened for her so that she could enjoy the chocolate and peanut butter goodness. She also had fun blowing bubbles with Mommy and Papa.
Unfortunately the next day she spiked a 104 degree temperature out of the blue, so we had to take a trip to the acute care clinic for kids to get her checked. After checking everything, including a very uncomfortable (and in hindsight very unnecessary) UTI test, we left the office with a lower temperature and no real cause of the problem. The next day brought a trip to her doctor just to be on the safe side since she was practically inconsolable for hours, but again he could find nothing wrong. So it was a mystery illness which went away as quickly as it came.After a great week and Easter weekend we said goodbye to Nana and Papa until their next visit hopefully this summer. After leaving to take them to the airport, I received a call from Melissa to say that after we left Riley went to the door to say "Bye dada...Bye Nana...Bye Papa". :) Next up: Memorial Day with Nana and Granddaddy, where Riley will get to meet her new little cousin and our niece, Madelaine, the recent addition to Uncle Greg and Aunt Jenny's household.
