Easter Fun

Easter weekend rolled around quickly here at our house. Since the weather has been cold, wet, and gray for what seems like FOREVER, this rite of Spring seemed to come amidst just another winter day in Central Pennsylvania.

Saturday we spent the morning at church for Easter egg hunts and activities and then the evening with our friends the Kings for dinner and egg dying. Below is my typical photo tour of the festivities:

CJ and the Easter Bunny. She just LOVES any costumed creature. She flocked to the bunny once it hopped into the room. Notice that Alex is nowhere to be seen. Later that night when she went to bed she told us that she was going to go to sleep but keep listening all night for the Easter Bunny's arrival. Then promptly at 7am she bounded into our room to say that she SAW THE EASTER BUNNY. I asked what did it look like and she replied, "A cute little pink bow next to her ear and a jellybean jacket." DUH!

Meanwhile, the other kids were busy coloring or completing other Easter-themed activities. Here Alex and Lucas are coloring.

Taryn and CJ just being as cute as ever!

Then the egg hunts began. Because it was yet another cold and rainy day outside, the groups were divided by age and sent to classrooms to "hunt" eggs. CJ's group only had 4 kids --- so they had more eggs per person than the baskets could hold. Easy pickings!

Alex's group had far more competition, but they all had a great time and were thrilled with the loot! (Alex is in the center back.)

That evening we headed to the Kings for more activities. But before dinner, all the kids were up in a bedroom playing when suddenly CJ calmly came downstairs into the kitchen with blood dripping out her nose to tell us that there was blood on her tights. ACK!

Turns out she was performing some gymnastics moves on the bunk bed ladder and slammed her nose into it. Amazingly she didn't cry. So the rest of the evening she had Zack's makeshift bandaid stuck up her nose. Enjoy!

Alexander taking the project very seriously.

The final results. While these photos show a beautiful holiday ritual completed, it doesn't show you the spilled red dye all over the table cloth, the constant chirp of parents saying "don't grab the cup -- we will get it for you!" or the repetitious, "I need another egg. I need another egg. I need another EGG!" Too bad since it really was fun!

Now onto Easter Morning and the Basket Discoveries!

Alex found his no problem. Surprising since we thought the Easter Bunny picked a hard spot for his. Hopefully the Bunny will get better and trickier next year.


CJ was the last to find hers, but the first to dive into the pink peeps.


The ring pop was a major score -- she was THRILLED.

After some coffee for the adults and a great sugar rush for the kids, off to church we went for the most wonderful day of the Christian calendar. Jesus has risen! Hallelujah!

Even though it was raining again, we managed to snap a family photo while we were all dressed nicely. How I adore my family -- I look at this photo and my heart is full and warm.

Since Ripley hasn't made an appearance in awhile, I thought I would give her a mention. I also need to update the kill-count stats for this hunter. She killed a vole right in front of me the other day. Kinda gross, but she was just so darn pleased with herself. I figure it's just one less animal stealing from my garden this year.

First Communion

This past weekend was a big one for Alexander. After a few instructional classes at church, he was primed and ready to receive his first communion. While this religious milestone is a big one for my side of the family (the devout Catholic upbringing), Alexander was mostly looking forward it because Aunt Ann told him there would be cake and presents. Seems right, eh?

For me, I was excited that my family was coming to visit. Having my mom, dad, two sisters, brother-in-law, and nephew all here in the house was wonderful. Growing up with a large family, I really feel complete when there are many people in the house with messes everywhere and the next meal being prepared as the last meal is still being cleaned up. It just seems right.

On Saturday, Zack left at the crack of dawn to travel 3 hours south to participate in an Adventure Race with a friend. They spent 4 hours and 36 minutes mountain biking, trail running, orienteering, and canoeing in drenching rain and mud. Sounds awesome! ;-)

Meanwhile, my brother-in-law left at the crack of dawn too to go and wade in cold rivers... in the drenching rain... for 10 hours of fly fishing on the first day of trout. He came back with a smile on his face and stories of many fish caught, so I guess he had a great day too.

The ladies and the three kids managed to head out to see a watercolor exhibit at the Penn State HUB (student union building) and some tropical fish. The paintings were amazing, but the kids enjoyed spotting Nemo and Dori the most.

Then came Sunday -- the big church day. If any of you readers out there are Catholic or similar, you will know that Palm Sunday is the longest service in the year. Longer than Christmas or Easter. After getting everyone there in time, we settled in and waited for the notable moment that Alex received his wafer and sips of wine.

He was so excited. When the pastor read the prayer that welcomes all to come up for communion, Alex threw his hands up in the air -- touchdown style -- and whispered to me "FINALLY!" With a grin ear to ear and hands open and in receiving mode, he waited for his turn. The wafer went down fine. Then he sipped the mini shot glass of wine. One sip: no reaction. The second sip: sour face. I leaned down and said, "you have to finish it". He shot back the last drip with that face reminiscent of the face he has when trying asparagus or pea soup.

Once back in the pew, he turns to me to say, "Mommy, at first the wine was okay, but then it wasn't. I guess I will just have to get used to it." I smiled and nodded. Although, in the back on my mind I thought, "just wait until you taste scotch." HA!

The post-church photo shoot:

The kids with Aunt Ann, aka GodMother.

Proud Grandparents and Alexander

Back at the house, we all enjoyed a quick lunch, cake and presents before the visitors headed back to their homes and we went to the two soccer practices.

This was the tiniest cake ever!! I kept calling it the "cupcake". Although it managed to feed everyone, plus seconds to those who wanted it, and still had two pieces left over. Crazy!

The Big Lunch Celebration!

It was a hectic weekend, but a wonderful one too. While I miss my family already, it is nice to have the house back to calm and to be able to walk around in my undies again. Was that too much information? Oh, well, you know it's true.

Animal Rescuer

Zack and I were just remarking this morning about how much Alexander loves shows about animals. Since he says he will be a pilot when he grows up, we were speculating how awesome it would be if he was a animal biologist/researcher that flew to remote places to study animals.

Alexander's fascination with the wild kingdom started when he was nearly 2 and would go crazy when Go! Diego, Go! came on TV. He loved the stories about helping the animals so much that we consistently would buy him toys with animal creatures.

Now his new obsession is Wild Kratts. Although it is just another cartoon, it is the only show that he really watches. It is about two brothers, "the Kratt bros", and they transform into whatever creature they are helping save in the wild. Their motto is to let "animals live free and in the wild."

Going to the bus stop usually takes 1 to 2 minutes to walk down the lane. But not today. We had a heavy rain for the previous twelve hours (although it feels like it has been raining for the last month) and the road was littered with worms. My little scientist took FOREVER to make the walk to the bus stop because he was picking up EVERY SINGLE worm wiggling on the road and tossing them back into the grass.

Finally, he turns to me to say, "Mom, now the worms can go back to making tunnels in the dirt so the grass and plants will grow. Isn't that great?"

How can you not just love this boy? My heart was overcome with warmth, joy and love.

Nittany Lion

Living in Happy Valley you get very use to seeing the Nittany Lion EVERYWHERE. Truly. You name it and there is either a statue, picture, sticker, pin, tattoo, t-shirt, tie, hat, flag, baby bottle, tent, mailbox, garden gnome, ping pong table, cup, beer koozie, or RV with some image of the glorious Nittany Lion.

So on my jog this morning with Ripley, I wasn't surprised when we approached a house with a mini-statue/shrine of the Nittany Lion in the front of their yard. But I guess Ripley was. That's why I found it absolutely hysterical when Ripley ran up and smelled the Nittany Lion statue's butt.

HA!