Happy Easter

This year Easter started the Friday before. Sarah Grace had an egg hunt at school the Friday before Spring Break. I went early to help "hide" eggs. There wasn't much to hide. I went to the big field/track area and just started dropping them on the ground along with 2,000 other eggs. It was really pretty, seeing all the colorful eggs in the grass.Not long after I finished helping with eggs the kids started coming out. It's quite a site to see 200+ Kindergartners chomping at the bit to grab the eggs that are just inches in front of them. They all lined up around the track and waited for the whistle to blow, which felt like forever. I thought with the number of eggs out there Sarah Grace would rack up, but that was not the case. She's such a girl! She passed by 50 eggs before she picked one up. She was going for the "pretty" ones. She hand-picked 8 eggs. Out of 2,000 she got 8. But to her credit, they were pretty and all color coordinated. After all the eggs were "found" we went inside to resort them so that every child would have 12. When SG heard what we were going to do all the color drained from her face. You could see the panic, she was going to lose her pretty eggs... Her teacher had all the kids dump their eggs in a pile and they went around one at a time, in 12 rounds, and picked. She went for her favorite first. It was a tiny little purple egg she had found before. She was so proud of it. When she originally found it she stopped looking and found me to show me her "baby" egg. She went for a color theme again (purple, pink and turquoise), choosing several from her first batch. She was happy with her final 12.The next Saturday was our egg hunt at home with our Sunday school class, friends, and family. We had over 30 people, about 16 were kids. The dads hid the eggs while we waited inside with the kids. We let the kids go out in two groups, under 3 yrs old, and then the bigger kids. Little did we know that the Gadds brought a ringer! Payton was a pro! She was snatching eggs so fast we had to let the big kids out early so they'd have eggs left to hunt. She probably found 20 eggs, in under 2 minutes. Come to find out they had been practicing at home for weeks! Charlotte did good, she found about a dozen, with no practice.When we let the big kids down it was a free for all. There were 2 prize eggs that were really hidden and the winners got a big chocolate cross. Sarah Grace did better than at school. She went down the fence line and found all the ones along the gates and in the pine straw. She got about 10. Claire did good too, with a little help from her daddy and big sister. She just wanted what was inside them.After some group pics we went inside, it was CHILLY, and had our "picnic". Charlotte ate really fast because she knew what she'd get if she ate all her lunch. She even helped Claire finish hers so she'd get a treat too. Cookies! Every year I make & decorate Easter egg sugar cookies. She had watched me make them a couple of days earlier and had been begging for one. She got the one with the most jelly beans on it, her favorite treat in the world. She didn't miss a crumb.The next day was Easter. I got the girls up early and got them dressed and then we went down to see what the Easter Bunny had brought for them. Charlotte really had no clue/memory of what was going on but she liked all of her treats. Sarah Grace knew and bolted to her basket. They both emptied them so fast we couldn't keep up with pictures. Charlotte found an egg filled with jelly beans and popped it open. It exploded all over the den! She and Fancy were packing them in their mouths as fast as they could. She had at least 10 in her mouth. She couldn't even smile for pics her mouth was so full. She was so stuffed with sugar she wouldn't eat her breakfast. Lesson learned... next year we'll eat first and do baskets after.After a great service at church we went to Nani and Pawpaw's for lunch. All the family was there. After some pics and playtime in the yard (without baby ducks!) it was time to eat. Charlotte was ready! After lunch the girls got gifts from Nani, Mimi and Pawpaw. Mimi gave them all bathing suits and cover ups and they all wanted to model them. Charlotte would end up wearing hers all day, under her dress. Then Nani gave each of the girls and big plastic egg. They all opened them and they each had a $5 bill in them. Sarah Grace was thrilled! Next year the Easter Bunny should just bring a basket full of eggs with dollars and quarters in them. She loved it! Charlotte held hers up to her daddy and said "look a ticket!".After gifts they put their clothes back on the guys hid eggs. All the girls did good finding them. They were spread out enough that they all had their own territory. After round one, Claire opened every egg in her basket one by one checking for candy. There was none. She'd open an egg and in her quiet little voice say "nope" and go to the next... "nope". She was so determined to find something we actually put candy in a couple so all her hard work would pay off.After our egg hunts we packed everyone up and went to my aunt's house to see my mom's side of the family for dessert. All the kids played and Charlotte, still with swim suit under her dress, begged to go swimming in their pool.