Have a Happy Easter! Here are some fun ways to spend the holiday.

Saturday, April 3

ALBANY

Old-fashioned Egg Roll - 10 a.m. to noon at Monteith Riverpark.
Hop Along the Bunny Trail Scavenger Hunt - 11 a.m.
Kids are entered to win a Frogs & Pollywogs Toys gift certificate
Info:541-928-2469 or Albany Downtown or Albany Parks & Recreation

Easter Egg Hunt - 11 a.m.
Kinder Park, 1326 Oak St. S.E., Albany
Info: 541-926-6666 or Boys & Girls Club of Albany

Easter and Spring Carnival - 1:30 p.m.
Cambridge Terrace Assisted Living, 2800 14th Ave. S.E., Albany
Decorate eggs, photos with Easter bunny, hunt for eggs, faces painting.
Giant cotton candy and grand prize drawing of a giant Easter basket.
Info: 541-928-9494.

Hop Into Spring with Mrs. Bunny - 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Heritage Mall, 1895 14th Ave. S.E., Albany
Crafts, stories, treats and a bunny hop. Pre-register with Albany Parks & Recreation
Info: 541-917-7777 or here.

Brownsville

Easter egg hunt - 1 p.m.
Pioneer Park, Brownsville
Info: 541-466-3464 or here

Corvallis

Easter egg hunt - 10 to 11 a.m.
Regent Court, 400 N.W. Elks Dr., Corvallis
Info: 541-758-8000

Sunday, April 4

Lebanon

Easter breakfast and egg hunt - 9:35 a.m.
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 434 E. Grant St.
Info: 541-258-6393

Easter egg hunt - 10 a.m.
Lebanon United Methodist Church, 1890 S. 2nd St.
Info: 541-451-1170.

Scio

Easter Celebration - 1 to 4 p.m.
Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary, 36831 Richardson Gap Rd.
Hunt for plastic eggs filled with treats to give the animals.
Info: 541-394-4486 or Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary

Are we missing any Easter Celebrations? Add comments so moms know about your exciting event.

Brought to you by Corvallis Sports Park

If you have a child that loves soccer and loves staying active, a birthday party at Corvallis Sports Park is perfect!

Three packages to choose from, just select one and CSP does the rest!

WORLD CUP PACKAGE

45 minutes on the Field
45 minutes in the Party Room
T-Shirt for for the B-Day Child
3 medium pizzas and 3 pitchers of pop
1/2 Sheet Cake from Safeway
Balloons and Decorations
Instructor to run all activities and host the party

Cost: $250.00 for up to 14 children
15-24 kids $280
Maximum: 24 kids

MLS PACKAGE

T-Shirt for the B-Day Child
45 minutes on the Field
45 minutes in the Party Room
3 pitchers of pop
1/2 Sheet Cake from Safeway OR 3 medium Pizzas
Balloons and Decorations
Instructor to run all activities and host the party

Cost: $220.00 for up to 14 children 15-24 kids $250
Maximum: 24 kids

CSP PACKAGE

45 minutes on the Field
45 minutes in the Party Room
T-Shirt for the birthday child.
Instructor to run all activities and host the party

Cost: $160.00 for up to 14 children
15-24 kids $190
Maximum: 24 kids
(You may bring in your own cake, ice cream, snack food, drinks and decorations, but no pizza or other meal food.)

*FULL payment is due at the time of reservation. A full refund will be given if we are notified 7 days prior to the event. *Cakes are 1/2 sheet from Safeway and Pizzas are Large from pizza hut

To find out times and dates for your party and to make a reservation please call 757-0776.

Join us for our last movie event at the Darkside before we fire up the BBQs for the summer First Mondays series!

Monday, April 5, 2010

5:00pm - 7:00pm 

FREE movies, popcorn and drinks - all courtesy of Chris Nordyke State Farm. Plus Rocket Queen Cupcakes!

TWO THEATERS
#1: Oscar nominated Wallace & Grommit's "A Matter of Loaf and Death" (5:30, 6:00, 6:30)
#2: Classic Looney Toons and other Oscar nominated kid-friendly animated shorts (continuously starting @ 5:00)

BENEFITING THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF CORVALLIS. We'll match dollar for dollar donations made to the Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis at the event.

RSVP ON FACEBOOK AND BE ENTERED TO WIN A RAD PRIZE. That's right, we're giving a prize just for RSVPing. Of course, only people that RSVP "yes" are eligible. And you have to actually come to the event to get the prize.

The third birthday party my daughter attended in the recent flurry of parties was at Kidspirit. I have to say - from my perspective, this was the BEST party. Why? It was our very first "drop-off" party...I didn't realize it, so when we arrived and the mom said "OK, you can come pick her back up at 3!" I was thrilled! My husband had taken my son, so I was left with a bonus hour and a half to do WHATEVER I WANTED!

The staff at Kidspirit totally took charge of the kids and took them through a bunch of games and activities in the gym, and then ended the party in a room where they opened presents and had cake and snacks. Although I can't speak for the details of the party since I didn't witness them, my daughter had a blast and was totally tuckered out when I picked her up.

Following up on her recent articles on brain development written for the past 2 issues, MOM Magazine's Healthy MOM, Dr. Ilana Dickson of Samaritan Pediatrics, shares a very interesting NPR article with us on how the brains of teenagers work. Check it out here:

The Teen Brain: It's Just Not Grown Up Yet

My nephew Cole had his 2nd birthday party at The Little Gym. There were about 14 kids there, and TLG instructors took all the kids through a series of songs, games and activities. From a planning perspective, my sister-in-law loved it because she handed over the guest list to TLG and they took care of every detail, including sending out invitations. The kids had SUCH a fun time.

Here they are singing the "welcome" song.

TLG has a table they set up with balloons so the kids could sing Happy Birthday and eat cupcakes.

After cupcakes, they set up some mats so Cole could sit up like he was on stage to open presents. He got the biggest kick out of being up there in front of everyone!

I loved how well planned the party was....these folks have obviously done a lot of these, so it flowed perfectly from one activity to the next. And it's nice to have the cupcake consumption to be balanced with some good ol' fashioned exercise!

I discovered an easy and addicting new snack recipe this weekend, while thumbing through a magazine featuring country singer Trisha Yearwood. She was sharing favorite family recipes from her cookbook.

Since I did not bring the recipe home with me, I was going from memory, so this is my version of the recipe. I'll do some homework and try to find the correct directions. Please forgive me if I forgot something, but they turned out entirely too good just like this.

Sweet and salty snacks
40 saltine crackers
1 stick of butter (half cup)
1 cup brown sugar
8 oz. chocolate chips

Directions:

Spread saltines on a cookie sheet. Melt butter and brown sugar in saucepan over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes.

Drizzle over crackers and place in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes, until bubbly. Remove from oven. Sprinke chocolate chips over hot mixture and spread as they melt. Cool and break into pieces.

I made the mistake of placing the pan back into the over to melt the chocolate, so it cooked a bit more. Don't do that. Just let the heat from the mapley goo melt the chocolate so you have a nice top layer. It didn't matter though, we devoured them in a matter of minutes and the kids loved them.

Oh, I should know better but I couldn't resist, and it is so addicting! The cool part is that it only takes four inexpensive ingredients that are almost guaranteed to be in your kitchen when that need for sweet and salty attacks.

Mia's good little friend Abby celebrated her 5th birthday at the Toy Factory's Play Factory.

The Play Factory is such an awesome space to have a party. Not only is it an amazing place with tons of toys, books, and crafts for kids to play with, but there is an entire "party" room with tables for cake, food, and presents. The staff at the Toy Factory is great - very friendly and helpful. My kids love it there, and this party was one of the best!

I think we chose the right months for our birthday party issue of the magazine. In the last 6 weeks, we have been invitied to 6 birthday parties, so we've been able to experience a lot of different kinds of parties at different places. Be on the look out over the next week as I post pictures and details of some of the different parties, and what we liked about them.

So I am now initiated into mom-hood of broken bones. Delaney broke her wrist at school playing "sharks and minnows." Today was the big day and she's now sporting a bright blue cast. So, I guess all I can say is that it wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be and thank goodness she's not left-handed. And now I can sign her cast. Talk to me in eight weeks!

The doctor was so great. We're lucky to have such a great pediatric group here. He kept her smiling, even with the prospect of eight weeks without softball or riding her pony. Thanks doc!