Happy Easter

The week before Easter, our city had an egg hunt.  It's not really a hunt, more of a race.  The field is sectioned off into four areas (for ages 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8) and the grass is strewn with eggs and other little toys.  When the horn blows, the children race in and gather up eggs in an Easter frenzy.  Fortunately, the different age groups prevent the little ones from getting trampled by the much more competitive older children.

We discovered this egg hunt last year and decided it was so much fun that we're going to keep going for as long as we live here, or as long as our kids are young enough, whichever expires first.  It's only $1 per child, and definitely worth it.

Even though Liam isn't one yet, we decided to pay admission for him too, and let him crawl around the 1-2 age area, collecting the eggs that he grabbed onto.

Of course, since the boys are in different age groups, that meant Dean and I had to split too.  This means the actual pictures of the egg hunt are of Liam, because I had the camera with Liam.  Dean got a nice long video of Robin though.

The babies/toddlers are allowed to have their parents help them with the hunt.  In fact, they need it ("Pick up that egg.  That one right by your foot.  Don't step on it, pick it up!  Good!  Now get another one.  No, don't open it yet, get another egg.  Don't you want another egg?")  Starting at age 3, though, parents aren't allowed to cross the ropes.  We just get to cheer from the other side.  The 3 and 4 year olds are still somewhat aimless, which is cute.  The older kids were on the other side of the field, so we don't know how frienzied it gets when you graduate to age 5.

Liam actually ended up with more eggs than Robin.  This is because every time he grabbed and egg, I took it from him and put it in his basket, encouraging him to find more.  Robin, on the other hand, had to amble along under his own power--and again, that age group was fairly aimless.  It doesn't matter, though, because all the prizes were too little for Liam anyway, so Robin reaped the reward of both of their hunts.

Robin actually surprised us that day.  The hunt was the morning after his toe injury, and we weren't sure how much walking he would want to do.  Dean carried him into the area because we didn't want to make him walk that far.  I'd expected him to just focus on the eggs in a small area near where Dean would be watching from, so I was amazed to learn that he'd ventured across nearly the entire 3-4 area.

Much fun was had by all.  This is a tradition worth repeating!

We decorated a lot of Easter eggs this year.  I combined part of it with a craft.  I had Robin dip the eggs in paint and then roll them around on paper (paper I had cut into egg shapes.) 

This not only made a painting, but gave the eggs a very nice tie-dye look.

We decorated a lot with a traditional egg dye kit too.  Robin has gotten much better about not splashing the dye, although he didn't have the patience to leave the eggs in for very long

Liam "helped" too!

Dean decided to make a Jack-o-lantern egg

And now a message from Robin himself:
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Robin was so eager to see his Easter goodies, he ran out before getting fully dressed

Liam making a grab for his basket

The Easter Bunny hid a bunch of eggs in our backyard for Robin to find

Including some that were high up!

The EB also hid some on the deck for Liam

Liam's had Cheerios inside

Robin got candy and goldfish crackers, and a few new matchbox cars!

Eggs are for eating, aren't they?

After breakfast we set out for my parents' house, where we had our feast and the children got spoiled rotten by all the Easter goodies given to them.

The boys also had another egg hunt, sponsored by my parents

Robin with his eggs

Getting more goodies

Robin tossing his new bunny in the air (mid-air shots are such fun)

Liam and Great Grandma

Finally, while Liam napped, Mom, Dean, and I took Robin to the park.  He and this little girl really hit it off and played together for a while.  That was great to see, since Robin doesn't interact with his peers all that often.  If this park had been near our house, I would've been asking her father for their phone number to arrange play dates.

After Liam woke up, Dad brought him to the park to join us

So that was our Easter!  Fun-filled and jam-packed, and we're still working through all the sugar.  We will be for some time.  I hope you all had a great Easter too!