We kicked off the Easter festivities yesterday with an egg hunt in our backyard. I was a little behind on things, seeing as when Julia asked if it was time for the egg hunt, I hadn't even filled any of the plastic eggs with candy yet. I thought I could sneakily fill them up while we were all playing outside; going to the other end of the yard, I quickly began adding candy to eggs, which I kept hidden inside a plastic bag. My attempts at stealth were *almost* successful; Julia was way too excited over playing ball with her aunties to even notice me, and it wasn't until I was filling up the very last egg that Madeleine spotted me, running over to me to say sweetly, "Yes, Mom? An egg, please, Mom?"
I sent the kids in to find something in which to collect the eggs, and was able to swiftly scatter them in hiding spots around the yard, so before long the hunt was on:
Halloween in spring: Julia trots along gaily looking for eggs full of candy
Although I had not wanted to spend an exorbitant amount of money on plastic eggs, I think next year I will upgrade from the cheap-o CVS variety, seeing as the eggs didn't stay closed very well, spilling their contents all over the insides of the kids' baskets. Or, in one case, all over the lawn. Madeleine, who, if you remember, once ate bites from the gnawed-upon apple core belonging to my piano student's guinea pig, was not above eating her jellybeans straight off the grass, but the fact that our lawn had just been treated with fertilizer made us put a stop to the lawn-to-mouth practice.
Following the egg hunt was more egg fun, as the kids got to color Easter eggs with their aunties. Madeleine loved getting included in this activity, although at first she didn't seem to understand what we were doing. "I'm going to color this egg!" Julia cried, picking the first egg out of its bowl. "Yeah, and I'm going to eat THIS egg!" Madeleine declared, grabbing hold of another. Being as artistic as she is, however, she quickly caught on and was happily dunking eggs in various cups full of egg dye.
I think the Easter egg extravaganzas, followed by a big family dinner and Easter cookie dessert, was so fulfilling for the kids that they completely zoned out on the fact that today is in fact Easter. Neither kid asked about Easter baskets upon awakening this morning, nor did either child actually spot the Easter baskets I had hidden for them. I finally suggested Julia take a look to see if there were any baskets hidden in the house, and as she leapt up to search, I encouraged Madeleine to do the same. The result was a teary melt-down over her "Dora the Explorer" episode being turned off, although once she saw Julia's basket, she suddenly changed her tune. "My basket?" she asked inquiringly, looking up to Caitlyn as if Caitlyn could magically produce an Easter basket out of thin air. After finding her own basket, Madeleine was immediately enthralled by the princess figurines I had scattered throughout the basket. "JULIA!" she exclaimed, grabbing Snow White and running to her sister. "I got my OWN princesses!!"
Yes, Madeleine. There was a very deliberate reason for that.
The girls sat down to more thoroughly study their loot, delightedly dumping everything out of their baskets:
The next big event was a trip to church, and following the service, there was a church-wide egg hunt (only kids allowed, of course.) Both girls had success filling their baskets with plastic eggs, and despite their excitement over gathering even MORE loot, Madeleine decided to give the camera the evil eye as the church school kids were all lined up for a group photo:
And now, as we sit down to enjoy Easter dinner and yet more cookies, I can only hope both kids will collapse into a sugar coma and allow their parents a decent night's sleep this evening.
Kali anastasi!
It was a memorable weekend with the family. Kalo Pascha!
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