Even though we were missing daughter #1 and her family (who had just gotten home from a week's spring break in NYC and were regrouping), we had a wonderful, family-filled Easter - and birthday - celebration.
We were 14 (and 2 dogs) strong this time and kept things pretty traditional-there are just some things you MUST do for Easter. Instead of our traditional large breakfast though, we opted for appetizers with a ham and salads...plus lots of desserts-although, we never really seem to plan the sweets when we are talking about what everyone will bring. One thing is for sure - we will never go hungry with this crew!
Since the little kids were going to go on an egg hunt and have lots of little presents and candy, I wanted to do a little something for the two older girls who would be helping out. When I saw this idea on Pinterest and then just happened to "walk straight into" the EOS hand lotion at Target, even my brain put two and two together and I quickly downloaded the cards from "thecardswedrew.com and made these little goodies for them.
And, even though I am no Martha Stewart, I persevered with these cookies and they came out O.K. My initial plan had been to make them in several different colors, add names and details, etc. But, after having almost every bowl in the kitchen already in use, I decided to take the "purist" route and make everything white leaving off all details except names. I used royal icing-which isn't my favorite taste but it does harden well-and once they were dry, I bagged them up and tied them with a little tag and ribbon and put them in a basket. I will say that the buttery taste of the cookie was good and I liked the end result!
Egg dying is usually our first tradition - after grabbing some appetizers that is. This year I boiled 4 1/2 dozen so we would be sure to have plenty for eating and dying.
And then, they were off for the hunt. The "bunny" hid 15 eggs for each of the little kids. We gave each one two colors to look for and the difficulty of finding was different for each age. I wanted to make sure they each found at least the eggs that had the certificates for prizes and/or money, so when they were a few short, we all joined in to help. It was so funny when I heard one of the kids say "I got quarters in mine" and I knew I had not put in any change. Then, one of them opened an egg that said "gift" and I had used numbers this year instead - they had actually found 2 eggs that were never found last year! And after I have had my hands on every square inch of this yard since then...guess my eyes really are as bad as I think!
Hannah is 19 this year! I find this impossible to believe!! Seems like only yesterday that we were waiting for her arrival!
And, Jennie is older than 19. Presley put for finger in the icing "by accident" so she was the first to say how yummy it was.
These days, many members of our family are hooked on camping. My son-in-law has done the Appalachian Trail twice now with another trek already in the works so he was very excited to give Harrison his very own sleeping hammock for his next camping adventure. Since we don't have two trees close enough in our yard to set it up, they did so in our gazebo. Later in the day, we saw Harrison's brother zipped in there...but note his stash of Easter candy conveniently sitting on the table where, every now and then, the zipper would open and a hand would sneak out for another piece! And, I think by the time the day was done, so was all of the candy! This kid loves his sweets!
And, at the end of the day, this happy bunny pretty much told it all-a good time was had by everyone. Now, on to spring! Stay tuned.
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