Easter

Boy, I am behind on my postings. There's been so much going on so I'll have to catch up here with all the fun we have been having. Two weeks ago was Easter. This was the first year that Reed was really into it and he anxiously awaited the arrival of the Easter Bunny. (He started sleeping with his Easter basket several weeks before Easter.)

Reed decorated Easter eggs with his cousins over at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They had a great time and I was thankful that the mess was over there instead of my house. :)

Egg Decorating

We attended an Easter Egg Hunt downtown Elgin the day before Easter. It was supposed to be in a grassy area, but it has been so rainy this Spring that they had to move it to a parking lot. How festive! It was unfortunate to have to collect eggs in a parking lot, but at least the weather was nice that day. We could have only wished that some of the other parents were as nice as the weather. I never cease to be amazed by the behavior of parents. What are we talking about...parents pushing children out of the way, encouraging their kids to hoard many more than the stated limit while other kids visibly had little or no eggs. This was just in the 0-3 Age Group. Ridiculous! Regardless, we managed to have a good time. Bob and I were the ones more shaken by the incident. Reed barely noticed.

Another thing that threw us off was why the life-size Easter Bunny was carrying a sword and shield. Is this normal?

Waiting for the cue to start

Easter morning we opened Easter baskets and went to church. Then we headed up to Lake Geneva, WI for a nice brunch. They had everything and the food was delicious. We met the Mihelich crew there. Afterwards, there were games, bubbles, and a little petting zoo set up for the kids outside. It was another nice day out so we took it in while we could. We took a scenic trip home and drove through some residential districts in a few of the small towns in between. We saw some gorgeous historic homes, so that was fun for us dorky architects.

Easter baskets

Happy belated Easter everyone!

Easter fun in Greenville

We made a last minute change of plans and went down to Greenville for Easter weekend. We were so glad that we did, because we had tons of fun. We think this will be the last trip we make before the baby comes.

Saturday morning Reed and I met up with my high school friends, Jen and Sara, and their darling children. Jen was in from D.C. and Sara was home from Indy so we got a rare visit. Reed was being shy until he decided to start stealing Jen's mom's fruit salad. He ate about half of what she had in her dish and then we fixed him his own plate and he almost cleaned them out. Great fruit salad, Pat! Jen's newborn, Hadley, was absolutely adorable and a little angel while we were there. Bryant and Benson were active little cuties-- they played together so great as brothers.

Meeting up with friends

Saturday afternoon we headed to the park near my parents' house for an Easter Egg Hunt. The weather was great and Reed seemed to enjoy himself. He only got a couple eggs, partly because the other parents were egg vulchers but also because he discovered that there were Tootsie Rolls in the eggs and that halted his search.

Hey there's stuff in these eggs!

Cousins Owen, Reed, and Willa showing off their finds.

Reed and Daddy

After the egg hunt, P-pa made a call to his friend Jay Young with a farm just up the road and we headed up to see his animals. The featured attraction was P.J. the (pajama) llama, but we also saw a big bull, a few steer, and a cool green tractor.

P.J. was extremely friendly but Reed still wasn't sure he should trust him.

But he couldn't get enough of the tractor!

As if we didn't have enough excitement for one day, we then colored Easter eggs at Granny and P-pa's house. We didn't trust the toddlers with clothes and food dye so we stripped them down to diapers and let them decorate.

What do you mean...be fragile with the eggs?

Straight to the bath after decorating eggs and a long day outside.

Sunday morning we headed out early to attend church in Brighton with Grandma Maher, who turned 90 that day! We had a nice mass and we sang Happy Birthday to Grandma at the end. We then headed to her house for pastries and celebration.

Reed helping Great-Granny to blow out her candles.

We then headed over to my Aunt Marilyn's house in Shipman for lunch and an Easter Egg hunt. This time Reed and Willa got a lot more eggs. Again we had great weather although it was quite windy.

More eggs...and more candy!

Look at this huge tractor that we found in Uncle Gary's barn!