Hoppy Easter!

Here are scenes from our Easter day...

The kids were up early and ready to find eggs. The bunny led them on a scavenger hunt with corny clues this year. This picture makes it look like they had tons of loot, but it was quite the opposite. I realized that efforts towards moderation left the kids without even a single chocolate bunny! Chocolate eggs, chocolate carrots, chocolate bugs yes....but no bunnies!

You will notice that between the sun and strange expressions I had difficulty getting a good shot of the kids. There are some cute pictures of Vivian in her adorable sailor suit, though. She and the kids had fun racing around in Grandma and Bampa's back yard trying to find the eggs that Henry helped to hide. We made some attempts at a family picture too, but ended up with nothing perfect. Our weather was lovely, though, and we had a nice meal together after church. Clara is still napping, so the evening should be somewhat pleasant.

Necktie-Dyeing

A couple years ago Joyce sent us this little egg dyeing kit that she put together. It had little cut up bits of old silk ties and directions for how to use them to dye the eggs. I think the first year she sent it we had already dyed our eggs, and last year we were in Iowa City- so this was our first chance to give it a try.

The kids wrapped up each egg in a bit of silk and a piece of white cloth around that. Then we bundled them up with rubber bands.

 Here are the eggs in the pan. We only did a half dozen. We still wanted to do some with regular dye too.

 After we put the eggs on to boil we did a little side craft that involved paint and shaving cream.

 Here are the eggs in the pot. You can see that a lot of color did seep out of the fabric.

 After the shaving cream painting the kids took a break to play marbles.

 After cooling we unwrapped the eggs.

 I was shocked at how well they turned out! The print transferred really clearly.

 Here's our little selection!

Happy Easter to all! And a happy Passover too.

Easter

I realize I never posted any photos from Easter. I'd hate to deny you all this cuteness.

     

Hoppity Easter!*

Our Easter morning started bright and early with lots of egg finding.
And a little bit of egg treat spilling.
Here are the eggs we decorated and hid last night. The Easter Bunny found them and left treats in their spots.
Henry wrote himself a note last night so he would remember where he had hidden the eggs. It reads "purple drawer, kitchen, floor, window, hall, c.d."
After egg and basket finding we got dressed up for church and brunch. Clara's dress may or may not have been chosen based solely upon the desire for these matching turtle barrettes.
My kids do clean up pretty well.
All of our eggs were inside, but the kids brought their baskets out for pictures.
Grammie came to spend the weekend with us.
And Henry has a new shoulder-shrug he likes to do for pictures. Heaven forbid we get a nice family photo!
After church in Deerfield we went to Grandma and Bampa's for brunch. There were more treats to be discovered there.
And mimosas!!
And another egg hunt.
And more photo opportunities.
Happy Easter and Spring Solstice and whatever-you-please to you!

*"Hoppity Easter" is Clara's Easter greeting.

I know. I'm sorry. (Easter Festivities)

I just can't figure out how to narrow down the photos. This is my best attempt.
So. Starting with yesterday...Eleanor came to play and brought her parents. Here she is looking cute with her hip shoes and her Sesame Street stickers.
We spent some time dying eggs. Henry's hair is wet because he put the colander on his head.
We also made some cookies, which looked very cute until this morning when Pete dropped the entire box upside-down onto the floor. Then they weren't so cute any more. I told him it's a good thing he is.
After dinner Henry hid his plastic eggs.
Then there were baths, followed by a viewing of It's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown!
This morning there were eggs and treats and baskets to be found.
"What's this? What'd you get?"
The Easter bunny sent a wheelbarrow via Iowa for Henry. He found it hiding in his card-table house with some gifts inside, including The Wind in the Willows and a pink and yellow butterfly ball for Clara.
Here's where I really had trouble cutting back on the photos. It was a challenging photo shoot.
Clara had to get her shoes on...
We had to get them both looking at the camera...
Henry can't seem to make a natural smile. He tries too hard, like his Uncle Rob.
And then the hat became a little much...
And the contents of the baskets got emptied...
And then Clara said "I'm done! Pick me up!"
Her papa obliged.
We went to church in Deerfield, then to Peter and Mary's for brunch. Here's the obligatory photo of Henry with the lamb cake.
Henry got a "blue track" from the Deerfield Bunny. It was actually pretty cool...just a long, flexible track that you suction-cup to the wall and configure how you want. There were some Hot Wheels in his basket, but Henry liked using marbles on the track.
He and Bampa worked on the funny bunny biscuits while Pete tried to keep Henry from eating the day-glo red cherries.
Aunt Liz and Uncle Van arrived a bit later. Clara was very stylish in Liz's Gucci (?) sunglasses.
And, finally, we got the obligatory photo of Van with the Lamb cake.
Happy Easter to all and to all a good nap!