The Nielsens: Easter Weekend

We had a FUN-tastic Easter weekend. It kicked off Friday with Daniel, Jessica and boys coming over to our house and staying for the weekend. The weather was beautiful that day. The adults sat around outside while we watched the kids play. Donavan is now walking, so that was a whole new set of entertainment in itself. I made a delicious dinner, and the kids were able to have a picnic and eat dinner outside. The next day was another beautiful sunny day. We got everyone up and ready early, and took the kids to a community Easter egg hunt. We arrived super early so we could get parking, so we let the kids run around before the events started. When it was time for everything to start, we took the kids over to have their face painted, jump in a bouncy house, have balloon animals made, and visit with the Easter bunny. The egg hunt itself was sectioned off onto two different fields, with two separate timed egg hunts, depending on your child's age. Donavan was first to go grab eggs. Pete and I stayed behind to watch the four older boys while Daniel and Jessica helped Donavan. Two minutes later they returned back to us (seriously, that's how long the hunt lasts. It's a blur of craziness as kids run out for the eggs, and it's over in a flash. we decided next year to have Easter at Daniel's house, or car camping if the weather is good, and have our own egg hunt for the kids). We then had to wait for the next egg hunt to be set up for the other boys' turn. That egg hunt was done and over with in seconds, and we quickly left to head back to the cars so we wouldn't hit any traffic leaving. We then headed to Meadowdale Park to hike down to the beach. I think we spent a good four hours or more down there. The older boys spent the entire time digging for crabs. Donavan was not a fan of the sand. He fussed every time his feet touched it. It was sad when it was time for us to hike back up. The weather was just gorgeous and it felt so good to sit out in the sunshine. But it was getting close to dinner time, so we had to go. The hike back up seemed to take forever. We eventually made it home. I made another delicious dinner while the men watched the kids play outside into the late evening.

Sunday morning came way too early (or at least it felt like it). The kids were excited to see what the Easter bunny brought them. They also had a mini-egg hunt around the living room. After breakfast and getting dressed, we all worked on getting the day started. Pete worked on getting the smoker ready to smoke the dinner ham (and burnt his hand in the process); Jessica and I let the kids dye eggs; and I worked on prepping a few items for our Easter dinner. After lunch, we crashed. Jessica and I napped on the couch while the kids watched a movie, and Daniel and Pete sat outside watching the smoker. We ate an early, but scrumptious dinner. Daniel and family got everything together and headed home, while we did a whole lot of nothing for the rest of the evening. We had a busy, exhausting but fun weekend :)

Some pics of us at the Easter egg hunt