Easter 2010

Now THIS will be the post about our Easter shenanigans. There might even be some more bunny ear pictures - if you're lucky!

Saturday we decorated eggs. This was my first time doing it with Hayden (at least where she participated) and she did great. I don't quite how the hard-boiling turned out, since we haven't eaten any yet, but we had lots of fun decorating them. Despite my cooking and food interests, I still have to look up directions for hard boiling eggs every Easter. Guess they aren't in my regular repertoire. Also, we were using a dye package that was 2 years old, from when M&D came up when Hayden was 8 months old - but it still worked great. Hayden especially liked labeling the eggs for people. We made ones for Hayden and Eliza (marked with an H and an E respectively) and one for Daddy, and one for Logan and one for Lachlan.

the dye cups

Hayden working hard

you mean, dye THIS egg?!

the finished products!

On Sunday, we had a GREAT Easter including (but not limited to) Easter baskets, buttermilk pancakes for breakfast, egg hunt in our front yard, the donning of Easter dresses without complaint, attendance at church including Hayden's first experience in the church toddler room during the service (these days, if there's baby dolls to play with, she's all good), an easy drive to Harrisburg and a wonderful time in Harrisburg with family on my dad's side. The only bad thing about the day was the drive home from Harrisburg where we had a little bit of a navigation issue AND Eliza decided that being in the car seat was last on her list of places she wanted to be. She expressed this by crying the whole way home. But even with that not-so-fun part of the day, I still say we had a fantastic Easter, complete with 75 degree sunny weather and family. What could be better?!!

Here are some pics...

Easter baskets! Yes, we might have 'reused' some items we already had in the house (i.e. the frog).

Patiently waiting (mostly) to go outside for the hunt

Pretty smile in her Easter dress

Eliza is wearing her Easter dress, but we wanted to make sure she wasn't cold. Jason is not yet in his Easter finery.

finding eggs

Egg hunts are fun!

Jason's Easter bunnies before church

In Harrisburg, Meredith and Hannah (my second cousins) organized an egg hunt for Hayden. She had a great time having another egg hunt but she was a bit particular. When she found hardboiled eggs, she refused to put them in her basket; at first she held them gingerly and then put them back in the grass. Then she willingly put them into the egg carton that Hannah provided, so as to keep them separate. She also refused to pick up the toys that were also hidden. Only plastic eggs were to go in the basket!

Notice the slinky in the grass that has been cast aside in favor of the egg.

Hayden also got mad when Meredith tried to get Eliza to participate in the hunt. Hayden promptly snagged the egg from Eliza and put it in the basket. I'm not condoning that behavior but I think next year she might be ready for a real competitive egg hunt like my sisters and I had growing up. Hayden had a great time meeting all of my family over Easter. She was a tiny bit shy in the beginning but warmed up quick and settled right in. She helped Uncle Jay fill the bird feeder (just like she would help Pop-pop, his cousin). She met Meredith's dog, Juno. She played a bouncy ball game with Meredith and her husband Paul - and even told Paul "good shot!" during the game. AND she got both Aunt Joy and Aunt Jane to do sidewalk chalk with her.

I think Jason had a good time too - mainly because he got to eat the dessert we contributed to the buffet - pound cake doused in cool whip and homemade blueberry sauce.

Eliza watching the sidewalk chart artistry.I think Eliza had a good time too. I'm pretty sure that just about everyone there got to hold her and she tolerated it like a champ. She even managed to take a little bit of nap halfway through our time there. She woke up in a good mood and had fun showing off her love of screeching and bouncing. And she got Meredith making funny faces. Bunny ears can do that to you!

the screeching
the funny faces
(so technically E is crying in the picture but moments before she was laughing hilariously)

I even managed to get a photo with just about everyone who was there (we're missing my second Eric and his girlfriend Alexandra, and my great-uncle Harry and his wife Marsha)
from l to r: Meredith, Hayden, me, Doug, Joy, Jay holding Eliza, Jane and Hannah
(maybe next time we'll try to do a picture not squinting in the bright sunlight)

And finally, we were lucky enough to get a family photo taken while we were there.
Aren't we cute? Happy Easter everyone!