Easter Weekend 2008

The first Easter-y thing we did this weekend was to go to an egg hunt our our friends, the W's house. There was a brunch followed by a hunt at a nearby park (I somehow got the time wrong and was an hour late for the brunch--so unlike me on many counts!) Anyway, the kids had a great time getting their eggs, pigging out and then playing on the playground with their little friends.

Here's Maia and Liza going through their stash of chocolate and goodies!


Mackenna didn't want to put her basket down to climb and play at the park. She didn't want her candy to get away from her.

On Saturday afternoon, our little family of six painted eggs together. We missed the traditional egg painting festivities with my family on Palm Sunday, so we were on our own. You've probably never heard of it, but we use Doc Hinckle's egg dye. Call me a genuine Pennsylvania Dutch girl, but I've never used something like Paas and don't intend to start now. With Doc Hinkle's, you don't dip the eggs; you actually paint them with a cotton swab. That way you make your eggs look like anything you'd like--polka dotted, striped, flowered, whatever! It's very fun and creative. I had to stop myself from boiling a few eggs one afternoon this week and having a solo painting session while the little girls were napping. It's quite relaxing!

Here we are painting our eggs!

See the bright, fun colors and the different designs?

Sunday morning, the kids made quick work of finding the eggs and raiding their baskets before eating a quick chocolate-filled breakfast and then getting ready for church.
Here's Teensy with her new Barbie toothbrush. Thank goodness the Easter Bunny gives a new toothbrush to help wash off all the sugar from his other treats!

I must say that my children looked utterly adorable in their Easter finery. I get such a rush seeing my kids looking so coordinated and coiffed. Just look how handsome my Mason is in his very first suit! He loved it and was hilarious when we were shopping for it. You should have seen him dancing in the dressing room!

It's ridiculously hard to get them all looking and smiling at the same time. Here are some individual shots so you get an idea of how beautiful/utterly silly each one of them is:




Anyway, after church we drove into Baltimore to grab Michael's dad and take him with us up to my parents' house. The kids thought it was a great, fun idea to take one grandpa to another grandpa's house! We enjoyed a fabulous Easter feast with Michael's dad, my parents, my grandma, my sister Amy and her family, my brother Adam and his family, my sister Amber and two of her most fun and crazy friends and another family of close friends. I think there were about thirty people. After lunch, the kids had a big egg/treasure hunt in the backyard.

Teensy simply adores Aunt Amber's friends, Sal and Chappy. She was in heaven that they were both visiting on the same day. She didn't know who to play with first. I think the only way she could have been happier was if Quita had made an appearance.

The day after Easter was the White House Egg Roll. This is something we have attended for years and everyone really loves it. This year we got to see the Jonas Brothers again. Marlee was thrilled and claims that she is going to marry all of them. Maia and Mason were also excited to see this act. The great thing about the Egg Roll is that you get to be pretty close to the stage to see the performances and it's free!


Here's the thing about these Jonas Brothers: you can't take them seriously. Michael and I almost burst out laughing when they starting singing one of their songs. It was so breathy and ...I don't know, just teeny-bopper-y, you know? Which is fine. I was bouncing Teensy up and down and having fun anyway. Then, two nights later I saw them on Dancing with the Stars where they did a cover of "Take On Me" by A-Ha. It was awful and just wrong. Please, Jonas Brothers, please don't take yourselves seriously and please, for the love, do not cover/ruin any songs I remember fondly from my youth. Thank you very much. It feels good to get that off my chest.

This is Kenna snuggling Daddy while she listens to the Jonas Brothers!

Back to the Egg Roll...we saw Barbara Bush, got faces painted, played with yo-yo's and saw countless friends and family all over the lawn. The weather was the most beautiful it has ever been for Easter Monday since we've lived here. First of all, it wasn't raining like it almost always does and after a little while, we didn't even need coats! It was great (temper tantrums from a certain two year-old aside).


The girls died at this fairy princess magician, Princess Twinkletoes. She was here from Australia.


The whole gang right before we stripped off our coats! Easter is a busy weekend each year, but always lots of fun!