Easter Activities

The Schleichers are back to the blogging world! :) Life has been quite a whirlwind for our family lately as we have just completed a huge cross-country move. Keeping up with our blog has taken a back seat during this time of busyness. Now, however, we're ready to get caught up again so we can share some of our family's new adventures. I believe we last left off at Eastertime... 

On the Saturday before Easter, the boys and I went to a large community egg hunt. (Click on the pic below to see just how many eggs are on the ground behind Jaden and Cody.) 

We attended this same egg hunt last year, and I was eager to see how much more involved the boys would be at age 2 1/2 compared to 1 1/2. We arrived early to get a good spot before the hunt started, so here are the boys lounging out before the egg-hunt countdown begins.

The first "hunt" (it can hardly be called that when all the eggs are in plain sight...) was for ages birth to 3. The boys brought along Easter bags they had made at our church's Cradle Roll Easter party from the previous weekend.

Notice that Cody and Jaden (and Mommy, too, for that matter!) are standing on the inside of the yellow tape line. They were SO eager to begin collecting eggs!

Unfortunately, here is where our egg hunt experience took a downward spiral. As soon as the 3-2-1 countdown ends, Mommy rushed out into the field with Jaden and Cody to grab some eggs. All of a sudden, Cody started sobbing and talking about "the white egg." I couldn't figure out whether he had his eye on a certain egg that another kid took first or if he was overwhelmed by the big rush of people around him (could've been anything... he's a 2-year-old!). Once I finally got him calmed down, we looked around and saw an egg-free field. The hunt was done! Cody had dropped the only egg he had (the one that Mommy put into his hands), so his bag was completely empty! Jaden, on the other hand, was happy to hunt (see him picking up some eggs below), but during Cody's meltdown I made Jaden stay by me so that I wouldn't lose sight of him in the crowds.

We ended our egg hunt with a grand total of SIX eggs. I made a huge deal about how fun it would be to look inside the eggs, and Jaden sweetly offered to share his eggs with Cody. (Phew!) Neither of them seemed to mind at all that they only had 3 eggs apiece to open (though Mommy was a bit sad for them, especially when over half of the eggs contained taffy that was too hard for them to chew!). Good thing Easter is about much more than just egg hunts... :) Here's Cody with his entire cache of eggs.

Thankfully, our experience wasn't completely a dud. Following the egg hunt, we stood in line to slide down these inflatables. Cody and Jaden LOVED it! They probably waited in line and slid 6 or 7 times.

The church sponsoring this event also gave out free hot dogs, so we took advantage of that as well. I think this was Cody and Jaden's first experience eating a full hot dog on a bun (they typically enjoy the bun separately). They were pretty pumped about their BIG hot dog! :)

Later that same day, we did some Easter egg dyeing. Jaden wanted his froggy to join us for the experience.

The boys helped me get set up and were VERY interested in the tablets that colored the water.

I don't think they were quite sure yet what was happening with the eggs, but they enjoyed picking out which color to start with...

...and were surprisingly very patient while waiting for the dyeing process.

When we removed the first egg from the dye, Jaden's reaction was just precious! I captured it on the video below... 

We couldn't exactly master the egg holders or the spoons for lifting out the eggs, but both boys still had fun trying.

Here are a few of our completed eggs. Jaden and Cody were very proud (as evidenced by their ready willingness to pose for a picture).

On Easter morning, Cody and Jaden were thrilled to find their Easter baskets full of goodies. Since this was the boys' first year with an Easter basket o' treats, Jason and I chose to give them a sampling of a few traditional Easter favorites so we could see which treats they most enjoyed.

Right away, they were especially curious about the Peeps.

Even though marshmallows are a hit in our household, these Peeps were not. One bite and the boys were done.

The Pez candies, however, were an instant hit. Don't be fooled by Jaden's lack of enthusiasm in the picture below. :) Both boys ate their entire sleeve of candy before Mommy knew what was going on! And in case you're curious, Pez, M&M's, and Jelly Belly jelly beans were the top-ranking treats of the day.

Of course, egg hunting and egg dying and candy eating are all just extras. The main reason for Easter is the celebration of our Savior Jesus and his victory over death. What a beautiful thing it is to attend that joyful service on Easter morning-- my personal favorite of the year! Jaden and Cody were ready to celebrate, too, in their Easter finest. Grammy and Papa gifted them with these adorable 3-piece suits (their first ever!).

Good smiles were hard to come by this morning, even with a bribe of jelly beans!

Here are a couple of our picture "outtakes," which certainly capture a more realistic everyday view of our active little guys!

Even though Easter is far removed on your calendars by now, we pray that the season is never far removed from your hearts. Jesus is alive, and He loves you deeply. May you rejoice in His resurrection each day!