Early Easter

Somehow I've managed to create a tradition of having my entire family down for Easter. I think it's because we have the biggest backyard.

OK, so it's really because I love Easter. And it gives me an excuse to make a real ham dinner, complete with homemade rolls and funeral potatoes. The whole bit.

This year we did things a bit differently.

First, we had our Easter celebration a week early. It worked out perfect because we've got plans next weekend. That and my brother, Kurtis, had to go to prom so we had to cater to his love life. Sheesh. He didn't even wear his tux for the Easter festivities.

Second, I put Kurtis in charge of pictures. He's taking a photo class in school and borrowed my camera for his homework. It was nice to not worry about trying to take pictures amongst the cooking, lugging Cole around, and enjoying the fun. The bad thing about this was wading my way through nearly 500 pictures afterward! I found quite a few pictures like these ones.... hmmmmm.
Isn't my sister gorgeous?! And that little boy is pretty handsome himself.We did force a few family pictures for documentation purposes. Thanks to our neighbors for letting us tromp all over their yard!Cole loves all the inflatable bunnies. He points at them and babbles every time he sees them. I'm pretty sure my Dad wears this same shirt every year. I had to give him a hard time about it... but he sure is a handsome fellow! Third, we changed up the egg hunt a bit from previous years. Rather than stuffing all the eggs with candy and hoping Ruby doesn't get all the good eggs, I (well, technically it was Jeff's idea) put Grandma and Grandpa Easter bunny in charge of prizes. Everyone had to find as many eggs as they possibly could, then turn them in for a prize. The kiddos, including Kurtis, each got a basket filled to the brim with goodies! Hopefully they aren't disappointed when the real Easter bunny comes next week. Even us old foggies got to turn our eggs in for treats in the adult-only basket. Look at this loot! Best idea ever to put my mom in charge of the eggs.What doesn't change about the egg hunt is my lame attempt at hiding the eggs. I don't get too creative with them yet. I'm going to avoid spending hours really hiding them for a few more years until Pearl and Ruby need something more challenging to keep them entertained.
Here we go!
I love this picture because you can see Kimmy is just as excited about finding eggs as two little pipsqueaks. I guess she's sort of like a big pipsqueak herself.Every year I hide camouflaged eggs for Kurtis to find. When he was a little boy he was obsessed with the army... my dad even painted his room with camouflage. He had to be stealth-like to find his eggs.
Cole's fascination with balls really help with his egg hunting. He seemed to know exactly what to do. He would pick up an egg, throw it in the basket, and then when he had found enough of them, proceeded to dump them all over the ground.
Apparently my brother Jesse needs to take egg hunting lessons from Cole. Had I not given Jeff a clue about this egg in the bird feeder, I'm fairly certain no one would have ever found it.Fourth, we had special surprises from the Easter bunny for the kids. This was all Jeff's doing. He hide notes in three big eggs. One for Kurtis, one for Pearl, and one for Ruby and Cole. Oh, and a note inside the soda refrigerator that said to stay out of the soda... drink some water. Kurtis laughed hysterically when he read his note... "Kurtis, you do not have a special surprise. The Easter Bunny." Good one, Jeff.
Pearl's egg lead told her to go and look in the dirty clothes hamper. She found a new Rapunzel Barbie doll and to say she was excited was an understatement. She came running around the corner waving it in the air shouting at us that she got a Rapunzel doll!Then it was Ruby's turn to read her note. Her note said to go next door to David and Vickie's house and to make sure she took Cole with her. So all 11 of us headed over to see what David and Vickie had up their sleeves. Or in this case, in their garage. Our neighbors rock. There is a story behind this. You might remember they gave Pearl a 4-wheeler for Christmas. Well, the first one they bought was red. Then Pearl saw a pink Barbie one and said she wanted a pink 4-wheeler. So they went out and bought the pink one. But the red one was already assembled and sitting in their garage. And since they should be getting a new vehicle anytime now, they needed the garage space. Oh, and Cole got an early birthday present. We each have our own 4-wheelers now. It's ridiculous. I can't get my crazy kids and husband off of them. We might as well rip out all the lawn and lay down a track in the backyard. Have I mentioned how much we love our neighbors?And lastly, I put my sister-in-law, Emily, in charge of dessert. Double-layered raspberry cheescake with a chocolate crust. New tradition, I think so!I think it's fairly obvious why I love, love, love Easter!