Easter 2012

Saturday morning: Dyeing eggs with Frank and Marie Barone (formally of Everybody Loves Raymond fame, now airing as Grandma and Papa Renaud)

One must have the proper accessories to dye eggs. Bunny ears required.

Easter Morning: Evidence of the trail of confetti left by the Easter Bunny that led the children to their baskets (this seemed like a really cute idea about 5 years ago when the trail of confetti went from their bedside to the next room over, totaling approximately 20 pieces of confetti, but now with older and more savvy basket finderers, we find the flippin' 6,000ish pieces still on the floor in July. But, in our household, a tradition is a tradition...)

Egg Huntin'. EB left a note explaining that he left each child a baker's dozen of eggs, 8 hidden inside and the rest outside (feel free to have fun with the image of Mark running around our property wearing a headlamp and dodging skunks at 10:30 the night before, I know I did.) Christopher's eggs were the shape of carrots and Courtney's were the shape of frogs.

Discovering that the notes from the EB did not stop with ones written to children. A note on the dining room table thanking Cupcake for not barking while he hid the eggs and a special Easter bandana for her to add to her ever growing wardrobe of holiday attire.

Just after I took this shot, Christopher poked his head up and proclaimed, "Nothing back there but dust bunnies!" and then proceeded to point at me and laugh at his own joke for a good 6 minutes. Really cracked himself up. Absolutely NO DOUBT that he IS his father's son.

On to the outside eggs...

"I'm Freezing!"

"Then stand still and smile so I can get a good picture."

"But my teeth are chattering."

"Pretty soon you'll be frozen solid and then I will

FINALLY be able to get a decent picture, so for now just stay put and smile."

After all 13 eggs were found by both kids, there were basket contents to check

out. A fan favorite shown here.

Off to church (without Dad in case anyone was wondering, he bailed the night before which, had I been taking bets, the over/under would have been blown out of the water.)

"It's too bright."

"Then stand still so I can get a good picture and then you can get out of the sun."

"My eyeballs are burning."

"Pretty soon you'll burst into flames and then I will FINALLY be able to get a decent picture of your sister alone, so for now just stay put and smile."

Easter Egg Hunt on the State House lawn following the 9:00 a.m. Easter Service. There were over 1,000 eggs "hidden" - I think it is safe to say that the kids hunting eggs AND the elderly church-goers watching the whole scene had equally as much fun.

Isn't she darling hunting eggs in her pink dress and pink parka? Strangely, the cute factor gets replaced by the sheer panic factor when she is plowed over by a sprinting 8 year old. Good grief. At a church sponsored egg hunt to boot...who allows there child to be so brutish?!?! Clearly only a grieving widow.

Sunday After Church: Pick up Raymond and head to Grandma & Papa's house for Easter Dinner. Here is part of the gang listening to Papa explain his well planned out egg hunt for his 5 grandkids of varying ages. One egg per floor of the house (three total for each child) and each grandchild had a specific color of eggs. He worked really hard on hiding the eggs according to difficulty depending on the age of the child. It was so cute to listen to him explain it...for 20 minutes...and to then watch the kids find their eggs. A special memory made with Papa.

And to round out a fun, family-filled holiday of memory making...Courtney came bounding through Grandma's back door, sprinting into the living room where everyone was napping and yelled, "CHRISTOPHER IS STUCK!" You cant tell from the picture, but he was successfully entangled in the equivalent of kite strings on a windy day of "picky bushes." When discovered, he looked at all of us looking at him and sadly said, "I can't get out." As if on cue, came a choir of, "Well, how the hell did you get in?"s. Nothing says Easter fun like grown men yanking and tugging a child through a mass of mini razor blades.

Easter Night: The true miracle of Easter is upon us. Both kids asleep in the car, successful transfers from the back seat to their beds, and all is quite at the Renaud household by 6:45 p.m.

Although we desperately missed Grammy & Grandpa this holiday (the kids were relieved to hear that the Easter Bunny found them among the sun and surf in the Sunshine State), and it wasn't the same without their favorite druncles, us church folk (and the Dad) managed to have a really nice Easter weekend. Good times had by all.