The Easter-ish Festivities

Our Easter weekend was one crazy roller coaster ride of activities. We shoved so much fun into three days that we forgot to sleep, thus causing the Easter Sunday previously shared. But those three days were so fun, it was almost worth the sleep deprived Sunday.

Our buddies, the Stouts, came back in town for a visit and crashed at our house. Their kids and our kids are just 7 peas in a crowded little pod. They hit the ground running like they had seen each other not months but hours ago. They pulled in late Thursday night and after some impressive kid wrangling we finally got all 11 of us asleep.

Friday was a day of party prep as we were hosting a double birthday get together for Blaze and Bennett that evening. But we did manage to squeeze in some egg decorating.

Side Story: Why Jon Wasn't There

Jon loves decorating Easter Eggs. It is probably one of the only holiday traditions he gets excited about. The night before, the boys had casually thrown around the idea of fitting in a round of golf. I heard this only through some inadvertent eavesdropping and also heard them conclude that there really wouldn't be enough time for that.

The next morning, Adam needed to make a stop on the other side of town briefly. Jon volunteered to drive him over there. It wasn't until we were traipsing down the aisles of Walmart with our 7 children under the age of 7 that Ashley got a text. "Hey, hope you guys are having fun. We decided to hit a few balls."

Seriously.

Now don't get me wrong, we didn't care about the golf. That was totally cool by us. But what was with the trickery? I can only picture them sneaking their clubs in the car when our backs were turned and snickering to each other as they escaped. They feigned ignorance, even after it was discovered that they called a friend on the other side of town to join us hours before either of them even thought of mentioning it to us.

My conclusion: they are afraid of us.

So in punishment, egg decorating proceeded Jon-less. No holiday fun for you until 2013 dude.

Side Story Ended

We kept it simple this year. Just a basic Paas dye and a few crayons.

Rhode decided to grab for an egg when I had just asked everyone to wait a moment before I handed them an egg. The delay was devastating.

He is a tad bit touchy these days... about everything. Sure hoping this is a three year old boy thing that improves with age.

This picture cracks me up. Ashley was trying to show much how much little baby Cate does not like food. She has been describing to me for months over the phone the disgusted look she gets whenever they try to get Cate to eat different foods.

Turns out they haven't tried pineapple yet.

The babe gnawed on that stick for a good ten minutes. Don't worry, I still believe you about the disgusted face. Mostly.

Ashley threw a killer party that night. We had over sixty people fill our house and backyard, snacking on pizza and cake, opening present, and chatting like we hadn't seen each other in years.

With a combo of factors involved (early church, family obligations, trying to get some real Easter stuff in) we decided to do baskets and egg hunts on Saturday. To make sure nobody started the party early we were prepared.

Another Side Story:

The crepe paper gate of mine was a great idea until Asher had an incredibly long and cranky night. Both Jon and I got to make our way past this sometime during the midnight hours without tearing the whole thing apart. It is truly amazing neither of us made it down the stairs head over feet.

And Now Back On Track.

Down the stairs was a trail of bunny marshmallows. When we finally broke the gate, Bennett jumped into action.

Yes, he literally slid headfirst down the entire staircase, grabbing and munching every marshmallow he passed leaving a devastated number of children still in awe at the top of the stairs.

Luckily, bunny marshmallows had found many perches in the downstairs, plenty for the crowd to share.

Baskets were given to great success. I remembered at the very last minute that my parents used to buy us kites every year for Easter. They were cheap and usually only lasted a few weeks but I loved them. So, I picked up a couple for my kids this year and they were instant winners.

And then the Stouts had to leave us once again. When we were headed out on errands the next day, Rhode asked, "Will Blaze and Bennett be there?" I wish... Drowning our sorry in Easter candy was very effective though. But we are down to our last few pieces. Might need to plan a trip very soon.