Happy Easter!

What a splendid Easter weekend we had! We were excited to get a visit from Marmee and Grampy as well as enjoy lots of fun Easter activities.
We started the weekend out on Friday by getting reacquainted with Marmee and Grampy. It wasn't long before Caroline was playing with and showing off for her guests. Grampy helped break the ice too by mesmerizing Caroline with his fancy iPad. Then Marmee and Caroline made bunny cookies together and we all enjoyed a tasty dinner.
On Saturday, we went to the botanical garden despite it being overcast and slightly chilly. We admired the tulips and especially the orchids before loading up and heading out for lunch and naps at home. Marmee was kind enough to do all the Easter brunch cooking and baking while Mommy put her swollen feet up for a good stretch. On Saturday night, Miss Claire came over to sit for Caroline while the adults enjoyed a nice dinner out.
Easter Sunday was a beautiful day and busy with church, an Easter egg hunt, the "opening" of the Easter baskets, and brunch. And as if this wasn't enough fun to pack into one day, Caroline enjoyed a long play session in her pool because it was hot, hot, hot outside!
The only thing that could've made this weekend any better would have been our little peanut sleeping past 5:30am both mornings! I guess she was just so excited to have guests in her house that she just had to get up before the sun!

I was a little snap-happy with the camera this weekend, so please forgive the extra large amount of pics below :)

Grampy and his super cool iPad.

One of the many lovely orchids we saw at the botanical garden.

Marmee giving Caroline a squeeze at the botanical garden.

Mommy and Caroline.

Easter Sunday family pic

Caroline and Grampy hunting for Easter eggs.

Grampy, Marmee and Caroline on Easter Sunday.

Caroline scoping out her Easter basket.

Caroline loved an extra special part of her Easter basket - a handmade bunny from Grandma Hepper!

Mmmm...bunny cookies!

Caroline having a blast in her pool.

The dogs had a great weekend too, but Frances couldn't hide her "crazy" from Marmee and Grampy!

Easter Egg Hunt!

This afternoon we went to our friend big Caroline's house for an Easter egg hunt and party! Hailey, Wingrove, Avery, Lawson, and Mary Michael and their mommies joined us for a fun time. 

Caroline spent the afternoon happily playing in the fantastic back yard and packing back an impressive amount of grapes, Goldfish, and cookies. When it came time for the Easter egg hunt, I was a little worried that Caroline wouldn't understand how to participate. But boy was I wrong! After watching her friends lead the way, Caroline got down to business and collected an impressive amount of eggs. In fact, she was moving so fast that I wasn't able to get a lot of pictures of her in pursuit! I did get lots of pictures of her playing though, as you'll see below...

Off to hunt eggs!

Looking for more eggs while picking one up.

Checking out her loot.

Wingrove and Caroline playing at the sand and water table.

Wheelbarreling around the yard.

Going for a drive!

Avery, Big Caroline and Caroline post cookie-eating binge. They all look like they're in sugar shock.

Caroline's First Easter

We enjoyed a lovely Easter weekend complete with good food, good friends, and good weather! We had a potluck brunch today at our place. As usual, we had enough food to feed a small country, but everyone did a good job at eating his or her weight in casseroles, salad, and dessert. We ate and ate (and ate), and then relaxed and just enjoyed each other's company.

And just when you thought our nice little Easter brunch was going to be a calm and quiet event, Jessica and Ryan decided to shake things up a bit. Jess had asked me earlier this week if it was okay if she planned a game for the guys to play on Sunday. I was excited about the prospect of a game and said to go for it.

After we'd eaten, Jessica announced that she had an Easter egg hunt planned just for the men. She asked me to give each guy a bag, led the "contestants" out onto our porch, and gave them the boundaries of where to look. I'll admit, the guys looked slightly confused and seemed to be wondering why they had to run around looking for eggs. And then Jessica casually mentioned that it was not, in fact, eggs the boys would be hunting for, but beer. Because what goes better with Easter than beer? Wait, don't answer that. I'm pretty sure that putting "beer" in the same sentence as "Easter" is sacrilegious. Needless to say, the boys were off like mice after cheese. And guess who pushed his way to the front of the pack? Paul, of course!

After 10 solid minutes of hunting, all 24 bottles of beer had been recovered from their various hiding places and "safely" stowed in our refrigerator until it was time for our guests to leave. Although, while I was making dinner tonight, I couldn't help but notice that Paul managed to end up with more bottles in the fridge than what he found during the hunt. Thanks to Jessica and Ryan for such a fun idea!

Happy Easter to all!

Bunny cake before...


Bunny cake after...


The boys after the "egg" hunt


Caroline in her Easter dress