easter weekend {the fun}

After we had been to church to celebrate our risen savior ~ nothing sweeter than the chorus of six little voices singing He's alive, He's ALIVE! ~ and enjoying Mama's delicious meal, it was time for the fun to begin.  

It was about that time that Aunt CiCi and I "found" the note from the Easter Bunny that told where he had hidden the baskets.  So we moved the baskets to the living room and called in the masses.

amazingly enough, the EB found a dr. suess beginner book collections in each of my kids' favorite colors

EB has gotten much more practical over the years.  Not much candy or fru-fru stuff to speak of.  New dollar spot flip flops for the pool season, character themed travel size body wash, over sized pencils to practice writing, beginner reader books,

i'm not sure she noticed anything else in her basket
the big green book of beginner books

and band aids.

and while he's studied his book mighty carefully, these may have been his most treasured Easter basket item

Band aids you ask?  Well, skinned knee season is already upon us.  Like I said, EB has gotten pretty practical...

Of course it wasn't too long after the treasures in the baskets were carefully studied before thoughts turned to other fun activities.

Like a pre-egg hunt bunny hop.

we were short one set of ears and sweet dq gave hers to the wee one who was crushed that he ended up without a pair

From youngest,

...to oldest they had a delightful time racing across the yard to find eggs.

Once all the eggs had been emptied to reveal their contents ~ stickers, coins, caramels and mini chocolates ~ our family should have hit the road to come home.  But the combination of a few more minutes with family and the beautiful NC skies convinced us to stay just a little longer.

The girls happily became artists armed with a complete rainbow of chalk colors.

The boys hit the field with what started as baseball...

with one hit a love for the game was born!

...and quickly digressed...

...into something else entirely!

(no daddies were harmed in the activities seen here ~ just a really strange angle )

Then when we really should have headed out, we took an extra 45 minutes to make a quick sweet treat similar to cinnamon rolls with the bonus of reminding us of Christ's resurrection.  Basically the kids dipped marshmallows (white for the purity of Christ) in melted butter (embalming oils) and then rolled them in cinnamon sugar (spices to prepare Jesus's body for burial).

Then you wrap them in crescent rolls (grave cloths) and put them in the oven (the tomb).  Bake the marshmallow filled rolls according to package directions and when they come out of the oven, the grave cloths are empty ~ much to the surprise of our seven and under crowd.

my niece recreating her surprised face for her mom ~ we missed it the first time.

It was pretty cool though, Caleb could hardly contain his excitement when he yelled, "The marshmallows are like Jesus.  They aren't in there because Jesus is ALIVE!"  If you haven't made them before, I recommend adding Resurrection Rolls  to your Easter celebration next year.  The kids understood the symbolism and they were rather tasty!

All too soon it was time to actually get in the car and begin the journey home.  But not without sweet memories of a wonderful time with family.