Easter Weekend

I had a few realizations this weekend.

First, it really doesn't take a kid long to realize that finding Easter eggs is a pretty awesome activity. Now, days later, Scarlet is still searching through our house every morning for "candy" eggs.

Second, being the oldest kid would really be the most awesome thing in the world... if only we could remember all of the great things we got to do when we were the only ones around to do it.

All of the Easter egg hunts I remember as a kid involved me being the 'grown up' one and making sure all my brothers and sisters found a fair amount of eggs. But now I realize there was probably at least one year when I was the only one old enough to hunt. Scarlet had to whole house to herself to find eggs at whatever pace she deemed reasonable. It makes me happy to think that maybe I once had the same experience. It also makes me happy that I can blog about it now and when Scarlet complains in years to come, I have documented proof that she once had the world all to herself.

We started our Easter festivities at the Bass Pro Shops. They hid plastic eggs around the store. When you turned in five you got to spin a wheel for prizes or candy.

They also had free pictures with the Easter bunny. When I suggested the idea to Scarlet I saw the most terrified expression I had ever seen. I had to agree the 6 foot bunny was a little creepy looking so I avoided that traumatizing situation. We stuck with egg hunting.

What is better than one cute Easter basket? That would be two cute Easter baskets.

That night we held our second annual Easter barbecue/egg decorating party. We grilled some mean burgers, even threw on a little london broil (an Earl classic) and made some seriously bright Easter eggs. I don't know what we did to that dye but we had some great color going on.

Sunday morning, both kids woke up within minutes of each other so we all headed downstairs together and the hunting ensued.

We hid the real eggs outside, just in case one wasn't found. Hidden inside the house were plastic eggs filled with various treats. When she opened one with a bouncy ball or a bendy rabbit, she would scream in delight, throw it in the basket and continue her quest. We could always tell when she found an egg with jelly beans inside because we wouldn't hear anything for a few minutes while she poured them all in her mouth and chewed them up.

Rhode watched from the couch, eggless and Easter basketless. So while Scarlet will read this entry in later years and marvel at all the fun and enjoyment we planned just for her, Rhode will be left to think, 'wow you guys really ignored me that first year of life didn't you?' Yes, yes we did.

After a quick nap, it was time to get ready to church. Scarlet is not a fan of the curling iron. I haven't even burned her yet and she is already freaking out about it. I have to catch myself from saying, 'wait until you have a red mark across your forehead or at the bottom of your neck, then you can be afraid of the curling iron!' Either way, it wasn't going to stop me from having adorable curled Easter hair on my little girl. After Jon took this picture I had another realization...

I told myself a thousand times as a kid that I was not going to torture my children in an attempt for cute hair. I have a very sensitive head. I still just have to grit my teeth and will my eyes not to water when I get a hair cut. But turns out, I was wrong. Tears or not, those curly pig tails were going in.

It didn't take her too long to forgive me.

Then, the required photo shoot.

Happy Easter