Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everybody!

I hope the Easter Bunny delivered lots of chocolate eggs and you were able to spend Easter with family on a sunshine and flower-filled day. We ended up having Easter in Richmond, Virginia in a hotel room with Poppop. One of my college friends (roommate, teammate, etc) had lost her father to cancer in March and her family scheduled a memorial service for him on the Saturday of Easter weekend. Though I didn't know him all that well (my main memory of him is a wonderfully touching father-daughter dance at her wedding, still brings tears to my eyes), I wanted to go to the service to support Amelia. Since Richmond is much closer than her current home of California (soon to be Oregon), and another college friend I hadn't seen in a couple years was also making the trip, we decided to make the drive down. As an added bonus, Richmond is south of State College, so we'd get to have some warmer weather, spring flowers and a visit from Poppop (Grandma had to work all day Saturday) for our Easter celebration.

We didn't end up taking all that many pictures for the weekend. Despite gathering with people we hadn't seen in a while, it just doesn't seem quite right to take pictures at a memorial service. Amelia did absolutely amazing with her organization of a wonderful slide show (set to music) of her dad's life and gave a heart-warming, tear-inducing speech. I gave her the biggest hug I could, but I know she's got a lot of healing ahead of her. Hayden didn't make it through much of the service (she did like the slide show, pointing out bikes and dogs) but luckily, the service was at the botanical gardens, so Jason had lots of space to let her wander around. And then during a reception afterwards, Hayden quickly warmed up to my college friends and spent most of the time running around, eating pretzels and strawberries, and giving out hugs and smiles. I think she was a well-needed distraction. She even managed to stay in decent spirits when we went back to Amelia's house for more food and socializing, despite it being right in the middle of naptime. She never did nap on Saturday, (5 minutes in the car on the way to dinner doesn't count), but somehow she survived and there was only a minor breakdown at bedtime. Admittedly it seemed bad at the time, but in retrospect, it wasn't all that bad.

Easter morning we enjoyed our second complimentary buffet breakfast at the hotel and then headed back upstairs to stage a 28 egg hunt in the living room portion of our hotel room. (we had a lovely 2 room suite - a great find!). Twenty-eight eggs is a lot for a 21 month old in a small space but she made it through finding most of them, while only getting a little bit distracted along the way. I've included a video to showcase part of the fun. Please note the distraction and redirection, the egg dancing/shaking (gotta test what's inside), and the request for a "bite" of candy towards the end.



We also took a few regular photos to document, but it really wasn't the most festive Easter. No pretty dresses. No siblings/cousins to compete against in the egg hunt. No gorging on Easter candy. No church. But I'm very glad we came to support Amelia and to get to see Poppop. Hayden really enjoyed spending time with him. And lest you think, she's only an "in the moment" child, when we saw Poppop, she gave him a big hug, then stepped back and stared at him quizzically and asked, "grandma?" knowing he was missing someone. Very cute.

Not even furniture can stop her...

I don't think I want to eat this. (it's a Peep.)

Look at that knee bend, complete with a steadying hand.

The post-hunt spaceout. Note the chocolatey mouth.

Hayden shares an egg with Poppop.

A day without a nap makes for a sleepy toddler when packing up.
How soon can I nap in the car?

The family on Easter morning.

And as one final Easter video bonus, here's Hayden trying a peanut butter egg.



She's still trying to figure out peanut butter. She doesn't completely dislike it, but she doesn't always want to eat it. I think Poppop gets lots of grandpa points for accepting her mushy chocolate "offering" without complaint!