easter easter easter

The Easter season of 2014 was a good one. The weather got prettier each day as Easter approached. Maybe it's just me, but a beautiful spring day for Easter is just as important as a white Christmas.

Nana and Papa started the weekend off right by sending the kids cute bunnies filled with chocolates. Thanks Nana & Papa!

Saturday morning we went to the Mission Eggstravaganza for the 3rd time.  In keeping with the "egg" theme for the day, Will had to eat scrambled eggs for breakfast.

I wanted to get one picture of the kids with the Easter Bunny to add to our collection. Neither one was very excited at the prospect, nor was Anthony for that matter. But I convinced Will to go for it by showing him the lollipops in the Easter Bunny's basket.

Lauren was trembling in fear just being in the same room as the Bunny, and insisted on being held by TJ. That is, until she saw Will get a lollipop. Then she was willing to face her fears.

The things these kids are willing to do for candy...

We had some time to kill before the egg hunts, so we checked out the fire truck, paddy wagon and police motorcycle.

Both kids moved up an age bracket this year in the egg hunts, putting them at a slight disadvantage. Lauren was in the 2-3 year old group (as opposed to the 18 month and under group last year), and Will was hunting with the 4-6 year old kids. We tried to talk strategy with them, however they both seem to lack a "killer instinct." 

Lauren's group was first. She was happy to find about 7 eggs and a few pieces of loose candy.

The fifteen minutes between the end of Lauren's hunt and the start of Will's were the s l o w e s t minutes of the day. 

Instead of sticking in one area and grabbing as many eggs as possible (as was suggested to him by his parents) Will opted to run from place to place and ended up with fewer eggs than Lauren. Four- to six-year-olds kids gather eggs fast. He was a little upset by this, but Lauren shared some smarties with him and that cheered him back up.

Sunday morning the kids checked out what the Easter Bunny dropped off overnight.

 Lauren got some toy cookies.

Will got The Jungle Book and some Swedish Fish.

A few shots before church:

And a few after:

 

We ended the day sharing a delicious meal with friends and look forward to one last Easter egg hunt with Memaw and Pepaw when they get back in town next week (I told the kid the Bunny left eggs at their place).

Last year I felt frustrated with myself for the lack of Christ in our Easter observance. This year we read My First Story of the First Easter with the kids twice in the weeks leading up to Easter. We typically read one page a night. The second time through we acted out the scenes and the kids, especially Will, really got into that. They are still acting out rolling the stone away from the tomb. They still don't have a perfect understanding of Easter, but I feel a lot better about their very basic understanding of the holiday. My mother-in-law shared the book God So Loved the World with us which goes through the final week of the Savior's life. I've enjoyed reading it, though I haven't quite finished it yet. Anyone have some great, non-bunny Easter traditions that help them feel the spirit during the Easter season?