Easter 2012

After the fiasco that was the egg hunt the day before, we were ready for a more chill Easter morning.  We decided that the Easter Bunny wouldn't vist our house during the night, but rather the next morning when Hayley wasn't looking.  This turned out to be a great plan, and one that allowed us to sleep in, and for the kids to be dressed while looking for eggs and baskets, instead of in their jammies.

Hayley thought it was great to be the only one searching for eggs, since Jackson could have cared less.  He was pretty mad at Jeremy for forcing him to look for an egg.  But you know, sometimes there's nothing quite like some forced fun.

Hayley was even more excited when she realized that some of the eggs had coins in them instead of candy. (This was entirely intentional, since the girl had FIVE cavities last month when we went to the dentist.)  Jeremy said to that, "Wow, I wish the Easter Bunny would have come to my room and left me some money eggs."  To which I replied, "Really?  You want a whole dollar and 57 cents in change?  Because that can be arranged." :)

Later in the day, we headed to Grandma Heidi's and Grandpa Bob's, where both kids got another basket of loot from Grandma, and were able to search for more eggs out in the yard.

And good news!  No one got knocked over, Mom got some pictures, and everyone was happy.

Hayley was especially happy that Jackson liked the plastic eggs better than anything elst that was inside of them.

And this mom realized that really what do my kids need another egg hunt for anyway?

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

The Hunt and the Bunny

For the last few years, we've been attending the outdoor Easter Egg Hunt at the Fintess Center by our house.  It's free, and Hayley seems to like it, and it seemed to work out well.  This year, it was mostly just frustrating.  First off, they separate the kids by age, which is fine, but meant we had to split up.  I went to the younger field with Jackson, and Jer went with Hayley.  As people kept arriving, I realized that there were a lot more people at the hunt than there has been in previous years. " No problem," I thought, "this little kid field will still be pretty chill."  Yeah, not so much.  Despite multiple announcements for parents not to gather candy, but let the little kids do it, it was like a mob scene on the field.  I was actually following the rules, having my kid pick up the candy for himself.  He ended up with about four eggs.  Other kids had an entire basket of eggs and candy.  Honestly, that's not what makes me mad.  I mean, of course some kids will get more than others.  What makes me mad is that I know that most of those baskets were filled by parents.  So, #1 What exactly are you trying to teach your kid by ignoring the rules, and #2 Really, what 1-3 year old needs that much candy??

This kid was happy as can be with his four eggs.   

 Realizing Jackson's hunt was over, after, oh, two minutes, we headed over to look for Hayley and Jer.  Apparently it was even worse on their field, leading to a few more eggs and some candy for Hayley, but her being knocked to the ground by other kids in the process.  When I asked Jeremy if he took any pictures, he told me he was busy enough just trying to get her out of there alive.  I'm not sure exactly how much of that was actually an exageration.  I did take a picture and her loot when we got home.

At least I had the Bunny Breakfast to cheer me up.  Including this little boy who went right over to the bunny, and held his hands up like, "Okay, lift me up.  Let's do this!"  And even a smile for the camera!  I know, it's like a miracle, right?

Maybe Santa has a chance after all this coming Christmas. :)

The Last Snowstorm

With planning one last winter cabin trip during the first week of April, we knew we might be cutting it close on having any snow, so we were excited when we got there and still found a few inches on the roads and a good foot still on many of the snowmobile trails.  We made the most of it for the first two days and snowmobiled up a storm while hoping for another storm, but it didn't happen.  We even ended up having to hike out to get back down to the car. (Only 6/10 of a mile, no biggie.)

Hayley was bound and determined to have a fire and roast marshmallows, since we hadn't done either all winter.  She set out with her little spade shovel, digging out the fire pit and all the log seats around it.  It didn't take long before she solicited some help in her endeavor.  She and grandma dug, dug, dug for about two hours.

 

That night we all headed out to the fire.

It was really fun, and the perfect transition from winter at the cabin to spring.

 

The kids were in heaven having Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, and Dad there.

Such a perfect little fun family trip.

Made even better by hearing this from Jeremy a few days later:

"So Heather, what do you think about us buying a snowmobile?"

Looks like next winter may be just as fun. :)