Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! Last Sunday we went to an Easter egg hunt hosted by the church that our friend Kelly goes to. The hunt is at a local park, and we've gone for the last two years - it is a very popular event, so it gets pretty crowded fast. It looked like there was chance it would rain, so we thought the crowds might be lighter than last year, but it didn't look like the weather kept anyone away.

Last year, Elle was too young for any of the egg hunts, but we checked out other parts of the celebration (free food, face painting, bounce houses, etc.). This year, we were contending with the fact that the Easter egg hunt for Elle's age group was right during her nap time, and she was quite cranky throughout the day. Since the egg hunt was the main event we cared about, we didn't spend time waiting in line for the face painting or much of the food.

We started by checking out the bounce house ... last year, Elle was unsure of it and didn't seem to enjoy herself at all. This year, we couldn't get her out. Tim, Kelly and I tried to reason with Elle and tell her she had to get out and give other kids a turn, told her she was going to miss the Easter egg hunt, etc. She ignored us. We had to enlist the help of another kid to guide Elle toward the opening and then snatch her.

We hurried over to our egg hunt area, where Elle quickly got the idea of grabbing eggs and putting them in her basket. The eggs were empty, but we were instructed to return the eggs after the hunt in exchange for a prize bag. When I told Elle that we needed to go get her prizes, she said "What are we waiting for?!" with breathless awe and amazement.

Despite Elle's crankiness, some ominous-looking clouds and the crowds, it was a lot of fun. I'm glad we got to do it as a family, and I think Elle had a blast.

The Easter Bunny was there, too. Last year, Elle was not a fan. (And really, she's never really been keen on characters in big costumes, so it's not shocking.) We tried to get Elle to go see him before we left, but as we stood about 25 feet away from him, she seemed super freaked out and did not want to get any closer. She didn't have a problem with him being there ... just as long as he stayed far away from her:

Elle pretends she doesn't know us.

Tim decided she's never going in to another one of these again after she refused to come out.

What, your Easter Bunny doesn't arrive via pirate ship?

Showing off her loot.

Death grip on the popcorn Kelly's mom gave us.

The Easter egg hunt that wasn't

I really didn't care about Elle participating in any egg hunts this year. She's still too young to "get" it, and she's in super "MINE!" mode, so I figured if we instructed her to go out and try to get eggs that other kids were targeting, it would be a bit of a mixed message.

But one of our friend's church was hosting an Easter egg hunt in the park last weekend, and Tim was ADAMANT that Elle go to it and participate in the egg hunt. The weather was gorgeous, there were lots of other activities planned, and it's like 10 minutes from our house, so we woke her a bit early from her nap and headed out.

Our first glimpse at the set up was this:

That was just one of the fields, because there were several age groups, starting their hunts at different times. The youngest group was scheduled to go first, and we got a wristband for Elle and headed to check-in before the hunt. We were told several times that she wouldn't be allowed on the field in her stroller (I didn't realize we had a sign on the stroller saying our child was stuck there for the afternoon), and then after we'd waited in two lines (and kept the restless toddler strapped in her stroller until we could arrive on-time at her age-appropriate field), we were told that she wasn't allowed on the field at all. Apparently the 2-3 year age group got a little rough last year - mostly because of parents. So they were not allowing any child under two to participate in the actual egg hunt. She could claim a goodie bag, but no eggs would be hunted.

I was bummed and a bit irritated, but we took advantage of the situation and hit up the bounce houses (designated for younger kids, although I'm certain Elle, at 20 months, could have easily been trampled by the "younger kids") while the lines were short.

Then we checked out the free hot dogs, picked up a Elle's goodie bag, met the Easter Bunny, watched a clown show and just enjoyed the fresh air.

Elle spent the rest of the afternoon saying
"Hi Bunny" any time she saw him.

We utilized a strategy of one of us staying in line
for things while the other chased Elle around until
we reached the front of the line and reconvened.

Then we waited in line for face painting. Elle was extremely patient and kind of stunned by the whole experience.

Elle rockin' a purple butterfly.

After she was released from the face painting table, we trekked over to a playground at the park and she played some more. Needless to say, she slept extremely well that night :)

We hope you had a happy Easter!

Elle shows off some eggs from the Easter Bunny
(or, if you ask her, "Easter Money") after church.

Wonder, a prayer request and a new blog.

Happy Easter, bloggerdom!

I am still shaking my head in wonder after talking to my 11-year-old brother about his college fund and higher education plans. He plans to pursue education and attend Ohio State. Or Mount Union. He wants to stay in Ohio - "keep the tradition alive." And eventually, he told me, he wants to get his master's degree. I suggested that he go to Mount for his undergrad and then maybe OSU for his master's, or vice versa, and he asked, "Uhhh, Bug? What's undergrad?" I explained to him what undergrad was ... and found myself in awe of the entire conversation. A few years ago he was going to all of the alma maters of his immediate family (and then some) to pursue numerous degrees. So I guess it's good that he's narrowed things down, but still ...

If any of you have a moment to send a thought or prayer their way, my best friend from first grade is dealing with a medical crisis. Her husband, Jon, went to the ER on Friday night. The doctors haven't been able to find much, and he was tested all day on Saturday, including getting another CT scan and a spinal tap before they would transfer him to Duke (they live in North Carolina). Jon's family is with them and Nikki's family arrived to be with her and their kids on Saturday night. Nikki and Jon have three young children. This, from Nikki, on Saturday night:
"Jon has some facial paralysis, headaches & weakness on his right side. We came to the ER last night & they have done tons of tests. They are transferring him to Duke where there is a neurologist on call. All signs point toward a stroke but they can't find any bleeding. Please just keep us in your prayers."

And as promised, my new blog (in addition to this one, so don't worry about me going anywhere, faithful readers!) is here. Posting will begin today. Bookmark it, share it, comment on it, etc. It's going to have a lot of cool stuff. Meghan is swamped with fundraising and training for her hike next month, but since I have a lot of making up to do on the baking front, I do not think your baking blog needs will be neglected. And when Meg's done with the hike, watch out, world. Baking bonanza.