::egg hunt::

On Saturday we had a big easter egg hunt with a bunch of our friends. I'm happy to say that not only do we have enough yard that we could host this year, but the weather cooperated beautifully. It was sunny and lovely and a great time.

I made lots and lots of sugar cookies for the get together. Max was really helpful this time and put the sprinkles on very carefully and well. I think they turned out pretty cute.

We scheduled it for in between conference sessions. Sessions are at such weird times out here--starting at noon and then again at 4. So everybody came as soon as they were done with the first session at 2.
When everybody arrived I sent the dads out to hide the eggs that everybody had brought. When I walked out to see how things were going I was very amused to see the trampoline looking like a shoe and sock store.

The kids were having a total blast on it.
It was fun to see all the colored eggs dotting the yard, and the dads hiding the eggs.





Needless to say, the kids were super excited and raring to go.

Ready, set, go!!








Once all the eggs were found (which really didn't take as long as it should've, considering how many we had!) the kids sat down to count their spoils, to feast and trade.
I think they were having a good time, what do you think?


While the kids were busy the grownups chatted and snacked and hung out. It was perfect.



We had a great time. It's nice that we have good friends we can be with on holidays like this, when we're especially prone to miss our parents and brothers and sisters, and little ones are missing their cousins. It's like we're a big adoptive family out here, and it's great.
We'll miss everybody when we go and when they go. But for now, there's always Rex in pink bunny ears. That makes everything ok.

::easter saturday::

On saturday Kris woke up early and went fishing. He didn't catch anything and he fell in a really dirty stinky river, but he didn't let it ruin his weekend.
When he got back we decorated eggs with crayons and markers.



Max was very serious about it and for some reason very motivated to get all the eggs done as quickly as possible. By special request Kris had to make a Bill Nye the Science Guy egg as well as a Guitar Hero egg. Don't ask me about the last one, he's never gotten to play it!

I love eggs decorated by little boys because they always remind me of Cammon.

Cracked and black or brown or blue. And kind of yucky and smeary. I think Max's were quite good and traditional.

After that we headed over to our friends the Nielsons to have an egg hunt. Sadly, very sadly, it was cold and really rainy. So our plans for an outdoor egg hunt were foiled. But the Nielsons have a big basement, so we had the hunt down there. It was too dark for pictures, but I did get a few good ones of egg dying before the hunt.







And some bad pictures of me eating bunny food.

I'm honestly not sure which of those photos is worse. Should we take a vote?

The kids got huge hauls of eggs, considering that everybody brought some stuffed eggs and there were only four kids old enough to hunt! It was really fun.



After this we went and had a delicious burger for dinner. I was really full. Really really full. It was a good day.

::Easter Fun::

We started our easter festivities early, on saturday. We got together with friends for an easter lunch and egg hunt. My friend Carie hosted the get together. Lunch was nice. We had ham sandwiches made with our yummy homemade bread.

Carie's husband was gone on a business trip, so my dad spent a little time with their baby, Eliot.

Eliot wasn't so sure about it at first, he wouldn't eat any food dad gave him. But he warmed up pretty quickly.
After lunch a couple of dads went out to hide a good amount of eggs.

It was a perfect set up for an egg hunt for those four years old and younger.

We let the kids out and they were very excited for the hunt.

Eliot hung out with my dad.



Carie took the great picture above.

It was extra fun this year because Max is finally starting to understand stuff like this. He did a great job hunting for eggs. Last year he was starting to get it, but still wasn't quite there. He's getting to be so much fun nowadays!

Look how happy he is. Yay.

Isobel did a very good job finding eggs too.


Check out their loot.



We went inside to empty out eggs and the kids started chowing down. It seemed like they had a great time. It was so fun to do this for them. I got a little inkling of how fun it must've been for my parents to set up our huge easter egg hunt every year. Well, fun and also a lot of hard work.

And if you see this guy bouncing off the walls anywhere, don't give him any more candy....please?