Easter Sunday was spent in Allison and Hampton. We made it to church on time, Cruz and Mila shared the spotlight at the children's message, and later shared lots of Easter eggs with their cousins at my parents' house. It was another gorgeous day outside and it was so nice to sit on the porch, be barefoot, and feel that sun on our face. We celebrated Grandma and Grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary (I swear we were just celebrating their 50th!) with cake and ice cream, and later went to spend some time with Beau's parents in Hampton. We played at the kids' favorite park, ate a few too many jelly beans, and were officially zonked in the car on the way home!
Every year, I have them take the same picture on Easter morning. Think they'll still do it when their 19 and 16?!
Easter Morning, 2016...
2017...
2018...
2019... :)
I'm taking a small break from Hawaii posts because I'm sure by now Grandma and Great Grandma are having withdrawals of not seeing kid photos on le blog. And weekly portrait photos? Let's just say we had a good run. Time will tell if we ever get back to those.
We had a great Easter weekend here at home,lots of good time with grandmas and grandpas, uncles and aunts, and cousins. Late Easters are so good. The grass is green, we're that much closer to summer, and Cruz and Mila already showed a bronzed glow in their spiffy Easter clothes. But most of all, Easters that fall right as our whole world seems to come alive again is the perfect reminder of God's perfect plan to restore and renew through His precious son. Soaking in that truth as the earth literally turns from dead to life is a mere snapshot of the magnificence and brilliance of our father.
Just coming back from vacation, I was bombarded with a hard work week and some stressful situations that were messy and consuming. So finding flowers and chocolates on my porch steps from sweet Jess was just what my Good Friday needed.
Saturday was a big day full of lots of "hopping" from one thing to the next. We started at the UNI-Dome for Oakridge's Easter Egg Hunt. After dealing with Iowa weather the past three years, they decided to move it to the Dome this year. Go figure, it was the most beautiful day outside, but they outdid themselves in every sense of the word. Beau was a sponsor for the event, so we took part in all the festivities, from two-story tall bounce houses to ring toss to one crazy town egg hunt with 30,000 eggs and approximately 3,000 eager hunters. It was insane town!
We had about an hour before Cruz's soccer game, so I snuck in a little egg dyeing because, traditions. Unfortunately, I tried to use last year's leftover egg dye and the colors were a little finicky. We snapped a few pictures to say we did it and I'm pretty sure the kids were back outside running the neighborhood twenty minutes later. It was just too nice to be inside!
The boys had a great soccer game even though they came up a bit short. It was our first spring sporting event where I sat outside and didn't freeze, so that was the biggest win in my book.
Mila stealing a hug (or craving attention) from Coach Dad.
We returned home from the soccer field just in time for Sherri's annual Easter egg hunt for neighbors and friends. This continues to grow and continues to blow my mind in many ways. So many kids and they all end the event with buckets overflowing of candy, bubbles, crayons, squirt guns, juice boxes, and snacks. In a neighborhood full of thirty-something parents just trying to keep their heads on straight, it's a blessing to have a "mama" like Sherri to love on the kids and share that with us parents. We are grateful for her!
I surprised the kids with their Easter baskets after their egg hunt. We don't do the Easter bunny at home, so it's kind of fun to surprise them with the baskets the day before and not feel the rush of squeezing all that in before church. I had these all done and ready to go before our trip and the babes will be fully ready for summertime with their goggles, swim toys, golf club, and little botanist kit!
And then my favorite part of the day! If there's one thing the four of us really have in common it's our love for the woods. And paired with a springtime picnic, it's about as good as it gets in my book. The night before, Cruz went to Lincoln's after school and Beau and I took Mila to scope out George Wyth (and grab some spaghetti at Brown Bottle - girlfriend had a craving). We explored the deep pockets of Alice Wyth Lake and discovered some perfect picnic locations for our summer.
And the kids, they LOVE it when we just let them be little in a little bit of wild. Kids are so scheduled now and I just want them to have a childhood with open trails and walking sticks and tree climbs under a blue sky and warm sun. So we found our own little landing pad deep in the forest on our Easter Eve, spread out a blanket and turned on some Avett Brothers, sipped hard ciders and ate one too many chocolate eggs, and watched them be kids. Mila runs with a stride that fits every bit of her free spirit personality, and Cruz suddenly becomes an adventurer when he's surrounded by big trees and sticks twice his height. He even took me up on a dare to balance on a downed tree limb that led straight into the muddy murky waters of the Cedar River. He made it out dry, but has a pretty decent scrape to show for it!
Easter Sunday awaits!
