March and April

From a Lion to a Lamb, this Spring proved a delightful one for us. We definitely took part in our share of Easter Egg Hunts this year, but in my opinion, better to do many now while the opportunity remains. (Why do they put age limits on Easter Egg Hunts? This is another reason I really love Halloween...there are no rules that I am too old to collect candy from strangers!) Our first hunt of the year was at Paul's college. They had a petting zoo as well as a "Hare in the Air" ie. an Easter Bunny that was helicoptered into the scene of kids to deliver the delectable eggs. In Titus' age group, there were so many eggs the kids couldn't help but step on them every way they turned. Unfortunately, the parents were not allowed to go into the grassy area with their children and therefore could not coach these children on what the point of their baskets were. Result: Children looking confused as to why their parents sent them in the middle of this field with many other children their age.


Note all the eggs on the ground around the slightly dazed toddlers. It wasn't until I told Titus, "Pick up, clean up the eggs and put them in your basket." That he moved forward. This taught me two things. 1. Gone are the days when I spent afternoons 'training' my child on how to egg hunt. (Yes, I did do multiple drills with Josiah on egg hunting around our house...but he really did enjoy it...it wasn't just the crazy competitive mom's agenda.) 2. I must spend a lot of time teaching how to clean up now as that is what I promoted to Titus, and he readily understood!



Here Elise takes part in a definitely more advanced hunt. My hint to her...Dash to the middle and let the other little ones get bogged in the front lines of eggs. (Is this competitive?)

After a week of warm weather, this day was unreasonably cold...but we persevered for the golden eggs!

I was impressed, a two week old camel. I had never even seen one before!

Here Titus is discovering the fruits of the plastic eggs.

A few days later we had dinner as a family and everyone brought their baskets for a little hunt in our backyard.

Oliver discovers one beneath the bush.

Titus is proud of his assortment.

He now fully understands what should be in the eggs.

In fact, when asked if he wanted eggs for breakfast one morning, he started jumping up and down in celebration and saying, "Please, please, please." At first I took pride in the fact that my child was making wise food decisions in opting for the protein based egg over a sugary cereal....then I realized the misunderstanding as he gripped the candy filled basket with his chubby little hands.

To reintroduce the true egg, we also dyed some with a variety of colors.

Each of the children came out with a very different look to their eggs. I love watching them each think creatively, and yet so differently given the same materials.

A very happy Peter.

To further celebrate spring, we visited the butterfly house.

Josiah reads about the many species at the dome that we were about to step into.

A Preggo picture for all of you wanting them...it was so hot in here! I guess they do make it the temperature of a rain forest, but really, did my feet have to swell even more?

I thought the flowers were so beautiful.

The four boys viewing the water fall, and all wishing they could jump into the water!

Very sweaty, mostly happy children.

The seminary hosted an egg hunt as well, this one the week after Easter. For those of you who may believe that enough is enough...we truly like to celebrate the joy of Easter year round. Therefore, one more egg hunt was well celebrated. I thought this shot was beautiful of the campus bell tower and the amazing tree below.

What a spring, and yet, we were waiting for our little baby boy to spring out and come be a part of our lives.