Hoppy Hunts

We finished our third Easter egg hunt today and I think we're starting to get the hang of it! We've had such a good time getting excited about Easter this year.

Last Saturday, we did the Funny Bunny Festival in our city. This was advertised a lot so I was a little worried about having to park really far away and how crazy the egg hunt would be since I was on my own that day with the kids. It always makes me a little sad to do these things without Mike but I was hoping Clay would have some fun so last minute I decided to suck it up and go!

It was such a fun time! I felt really blessed that day since Mike ended up being assigned to the festival. His shift started just about the time we were arriving so we got a front row spot! Then, to add to our blessings, Mike was able to come to the egg hunt with us!

This egg hunt was like nothing I had ever seen! It was reserved for 0-3-year-olds and there were quite a few kids (and many, many more parents). Out of the 500+ eggs on the baseball field Clay found 4 eggs and Carolina got 3. They were thrilled!


Clay was very overwhelmed when the egg hunt started (those people were intense) so I had to pull him along and get him going. I ended up putting a couple of the eggs in his basket and he picked up one. It was our first egg hunt where he kind of knew what to do so he was really happy. Daddy was on picture patrol and I held Carolina (seriously she would have been trampled otherwise). The whole thing was over in less than two minutes but it was a good start to our egg hunting season!

After the egg hunt, the festival had carnival games and once again, Clay had so much fun! He did bean bag tosses, mini-golf, basketball and bowling. It was very cute and the lines were not bad at all. Our city is so good about putting on these kinds of things that are affordable (it was $1 total for me and the kids) and fun.


Each time Clay would "win" a game he would reach in the candy bucket and grab two candies-- one for him and one for Carolina. She was happy as could be riding around in the stroller eating candy after candy (wrappers included). These are kids that haven't even finished their Halloween or Christmas candy so I let her live it up!


Monday we went to an Easter party hosted by one of Clay's little friends, Cody. It was so sweet! It was a lunch/Easter party and Clay loved it all. At lunch time the hostess put a big blanket on the floor so the kids could eat picnic style. I sat Clay down and went to hand him his lunch but he was already standing up. I sat him back down and tried to hand him his lunch again but he kept standing back up. Finally I said, "Why don't you pick a spot to sit in?" And he did. At the table. He might be a little bit pampered (and I'm okay with that).


The kids played and played until it was time for the egg hunt. The family who hosted has a big backyard and there were so many places to hide eggs. Carolina picked up two eggs, plopped down and played with them during the egg hunt.


Clay's strategy was to put his bucket in the middle of the yard and run to the eggs. He wasn't letting that bucket weigh him down! The moms were cracking up because the kids did the egg hunt just until they were tired of it. The moms ended up doing about 1/4 of the egg hunt! We were just glad our kids were busy and happy!


I loved getting the chance to visit with the moms and knowing the kids were having so much fun. I think Clay would have stayed there all day if I would have let him.


That afternoon Clay said to me, "Mama, di' you have fun at Cody's house?" "Yes, I did. Did you?" "Yes! Thanks, Mama. Thanks." It was so sweet to hear him be grateful for taking him somewhere.

Today was our third egg hunt. This time we got to hunt with our friends from our small group at church. We are thrilled that there are so many children in our small group who are close in age to our little ones and we love their parents, too!

This egg hunt was held at a park and the kids were so happy to have some space to roam. I was laughing at one point because Carolina was running off from the play area by herself and trailing behind her were three of the older (4-5-year-old) girls. They were all trying to get her to come back but she was up for the chase! They looked like a bunch of little ducks all chasing a runaway (who thought it was hilarious)! The kids played for a long time before it was time for the egg hunt and I don't blame them-- that playground had fun stuff!

When it was time for the hunt, this time Clay was ready! He did such a good job and he kept telling me he was looking for the special egg (the golden egg that they hid for the big kids). Bless his heart, he didn't know it was up in a tree way above his head! This time he got about 10 eggs and he was excited. As we walked away he stuck a peanut butter chocolate egg in my hand that he had tried and not liked. I guess he didn't want to wait to check out his loot- yuck!

Carolina didn't even care to take her bucket out this time. I kept trying to put it in her hand but she wasn't having it! She ran out, grabbed a couple of eggs and put them in another girl's basket. She did this a couple of times and she was happy with herself. If she's happy, I'm happy...

..and then she was unhappy! Carolina and the Easter Bunny were not friends.

Last year, my dad and I were changing the kids outside of the Easter Bunny area into their picture clothes and the moment Clay laid eyes on the Bunny he started shaking REALLY bad. I told the picture people that I would run up and stick him by the Bunny and whenever they could get him in the shot to take it. No matter how many times they backed that camera up, Clay was faster. He would take off running and there was no way he was getting a picture with that Bunny!

So you must know how super proud I am of him this year. Look at that adorable smile and look how close he is to the bunny (who was a sweet mom from small group). Yay for Clay!

And those are our egg hunt tales so far this year. We are getting all of our last minute Easter prep done and trying to explain the Easter Bunny to Clay. He and Carolina are going to be in for quite the surprise tomorrow when they realize what the Bunny brought! I can't wait!