There were so many Easter activities that I held off from posting because it was too overwhelming. The first of our 4 egg hunts was put on by our neighborhood association. This was a pretty low key, yet fun event and according to the kids, it had the best candy! 
The next egg hunt took place at Camp Sunshine only a few hours after the first one. They put together a lovely day for kids with cancer and their families. The afternoon was jam packed with face painting, egg dying, a puppet show and arts and crafts for hours! The event ended with an egg hunt, the likes of which I've never before seen. They had so many eggs that within seconds each child's basket was overflowing. Ava was hilarious to watch because she only wanted to collect the pink eggs.
Our next egg hunt took place the day before Easter at one of Kate's best friend's house. She and Emery have become such good friends and we just love to see them together. It is wonderful when you see your child nurture a friendship with another sweet spirit. In truth, Lily, Ellen, Kate, Ava, and Emery all play so well that the parents actually get to visit when we get together! We love the Ryan's so much and are really hoping that they stay in Atlanta when their residency is over. Poor Jackson is the lone older boy at these get-togethers though... We think that when he's a bit older those odds won't seem quite so bad? ;) (except for the sisters part - that's just weird people!)
Lastly, Jason invited a couple over for dinner on Easter! Now, although I was looking forward to having the Vellingas over, I was a little bit stressed about cooking for guests on Easter. A holiday meal is a lot of pressure for a first visit don't you think? In the end I decided to cook a roast (Mom Anderson style) which turned out great (by some small miracle)! Perhaps it had something to do with the 20 phone calls back and forth to her regarding each and every detail of the cooking. Whatever the reason though, I'm just glad we didn't end up ordering out for Papa Johns on the sabbath ;) Unfortunately, our own egg hunt was a huge disappointment to the kids I think. Jackson and Kate are obviously getting older because their comment was that the baskets were "way too easy to find". I guess we are going to have to step it up next year!
In the Easter bunny spirit of things I have one last funny story. The day before Easter, Jackson and I had a discussion that went something like this:
Jackson - "Mom, tell me the truth. Is the Easter bunny real?"
Me - (After considerable internal conflict) "What do you think?"
Jackson - "I think the Easter bunny isn't real. I mean, how ridiculous is that - a bunny running around to everyone's house and hiding eggs."
Me - "You are right Jackson. Your Dad and I really hide the eggs and make the baskets but please don't spoil the secret for Kate and Ava. Let them figure it out when they are ready."
Jackson - (LONG pause followed by a sigh) "What about the Toothfairy and Santa. Are they real or not?"
Me - (Again with the internal conflict) "What do you think?"
Jackson - "I don't think the Toothfairy is real. I mean, how ridiculous is that - a fairy flying to people's homes and collecting their teeth? Weird."
Me - "Well, what do you think about Santa?"
Jackson - "Oh, I think he's real."
Me - "Yeah, me too." (I mean, how ridiculous is that - an old man flying to everyone's home in a single evening giving gifts to everyone. I guess that scenario is the plausible one?")
Maybe I wasn't totally honest but I just couldn't let the magic die even if just a glimmer of hope remained that it was true.
