Egg Hunt!

Our family has so many traditions involving the holidays.  When the kids were small it felt as though those traditions would just last forever...I never really thought of them ending.  Getting too old.....But with Matthew approaching ten, I'm seeing that there will be a day that all of this changes!  ~ To be replaced with new traditions, I'm certain.  So it just causes me to pause and savor these moments even more.



We poached Shannon's egg hunt again this year.  The kids have so much fun doing this together.  Her family is very much a part of many of these traditions that we love ~ our kids started them when they were so little that they have always had these memories together.



I snapped this as I was taking photos of the kids. 

I planted some spring bulbs last year with my helpers.  One of my helpers thought they should be planted in a line rather than in natural looking clumps. :)



Heading down to the egg hunt.  The kids were running ~ so excited!



This is the last year (sniff) that matthew qualifies for the day hunt.  Ten year olds do a hunt at night with flashlights!  Hannah made that transition this year.  Andrew and Claire were in with Matthew.  Big kids!!



Kitti and Grace were in the field for the middle age group.  I clearly remember bringing Kaitlin down here at just 2 months in her stroller.

 

My boys love the Sturgis girls.  I sometimes wonder what it will be like when Claire and Hannah start dating!  There will definitely be some roads to navigate in the future.  :)



Dan has lost a lot of weight and is looking so good!!  An acquaintance didn't even recognize him at the baseball field the other day!



Dan has never been this thin since I started dating him.  It's great seeing him getting healthier.   I'm really proud of him ~ he's been really disciplined.



I laughed at this photo.  I think I will look back at this picture some day and remember this phase of Andrew always l e a n i n g over the boundary...and being called back in, only to....



cross the line again.  But seriously, who can be mad at that face?

Okay, I can sometimes.

But never for long.

 

The countdown finally came and they were off!!

 

They were quick, and of course Matthew had a strategy and ran out farther where there were fewer kids to compete with. 



Shannon was in with the little girls taking pictures...



The baskets were full in no time!



Of course there's the family photo....



And Shan & I ....



And our kiddos....



I love this picture of the kids.

Shannon's girls are like an extension of my own.  I just adore all of these little ones so much.  I know I say these things all the time in this blog...but it's true and worth repeating.

And while I'm nostalgic over them getting so big, it's fun that they will actually sit and smile for a photo!

Egg Hunt!

After poaching another neighborhood's Easter Egg hunt for many years,  the cumulative guilt finally caught up with us and we decided to go to a community Easter egg hunt.  We made a long trip south to the farm that does the pumpkin patch that we go to.  I received an email from them saying they had an Easter Egg hunt and we love the farm so much we decided to give it a try!  I'm glad we did!



The grounds are just beautiful, but because of the cold Spring we're having, not much was in bloom.  However, we did find this pretty tree that made a beautiful back drop.



Kaitlin was having trouble with the sun.  Even though it was behind her, it was bothering her eyes.  We're not used to sun around here.



After we snapped the required (and detested) photos, we headed to the line.  The Bug was SO excited...



Matthew was in the older kid area, but I snapped a picture of the 3 of the kids before he went to line up.



waiting....



And they were off!!!



There was a 12 egg limit to ensure that all the kids (there were scads of them ~ got eggs).  Andrew and Kaitlin were here there and everywhere and I was trying to keep track of both of them so I didn't take a lot of photos.  I have a little bit of paranoia now about losing the kids in large public spaces.  Although this venue wouldn't cause quite the panic that the fair did, I still wanted to know where they were at all times.



See the ladies laughing on the left in the photo above?  I'll show you why in a minute.  The kids ran to Dan to show them their goods.



And then ran off to open their eggs and see their treasures!



But first, a photo.  Notice Kaitlin's bucket?  She passed up every color and only collected pink and purple eggs.  That is SO her ~ and the reason why the ladies were laughing.



The kids were happy with their eggs right afterward but then on the way home said that they wished they could have gathered more.  I was happy that we didn't have a ton of candy coming home!







There were all sorts of different things...little toys, balloons, candy, a coupon for a free ice cream at the farm store (Matthew got that one, so we collected on it before we left).





The kids were thrilled over the balloons ~ I thought that was a great idea!



And then we headed off to the jumping pillow....



Matthew and Andrew were running around at the speed of light and so I gave up getting a photo of them and snapped this sweetness...



Then we headed off to explore a bit.  I love this farm. 



This poor Mama goat....



Boy, I remember how that felt.  I was really feeling for her!  There was another baby goat nearby so I suspect this one won't be far behind.  Bless her heart.



We went to the fort and played "Cops & Robbers."



Kaitlin loved all the flowers, of course.  She looked into this green house and said, "It's my dream come true!"  She's so funny.



Love my boys.



While I shopped for produce for Easter dinner (and okay, maybe some fresh Apple cider doughnuts...) the kids had ice cream cones.  A little is still on Matthew's lip in the photo below.  But I love that his freckles are popping out.  Cutie pie.



The weather was fantastic.  It was sunny and warm, and the most beautiful day of the year so far.  It was absolute heaven.  I was so grateful for the sunshine and the time spent outside with the family.  We came home and dyed Easter Eggs and made Resurrection rolls, but that will have to be another post as it is Easter Eve and there is plenty to do!

Happy Easter!!!