Easter Baskets

This year, the Easter Bunny copied what was done last year and hid the Easter baskets. I really hate having to wake up at 6am so my kids can gorge themselves on candy, making it impossible for them to sit through church as they are like miniature energizer bunnies at that point. By the time we get home from church, the sugar crash comes and they are too tired and cranky to enjoy Easter dinner. Last year, we found a solution. The Easter Bunny hid their baskets, providing clues that sent them on a treasure hunt around the house to find them. The catch was that the first clue told them that Mom and Dad had the second clue . . . and the second clue was not given out until AFTER church :)

This year, church started later (last year it started at 8:30am; this year we're in the 11am slot) and apparently Daddy did not talk to the Easter Bunny about this plan. I got to sleep in a bit, but was told upon waking that Daddy had said they could get the second clue as soon as I woke up. We need to have a talk with Daddy ;)

Anyway, the Easter Bunny always leaves a few presents out for the kids to find with the first clue. This year, each child got a new pair of flip-flops and all of them got a bunch of new toys for their sandbox ~

The first and second clues read ~

This year it’s sand toys 

And flip flops for all 

Mom and Dad have the next clue 

Happy Easter y'all! 

To fly to the moon 

You need a special ship 

Run and go find it 

Be sure you don’t trip! 

Obviously the next clue was hidden in the rocket ship in our playroom, so the kids ran off to get it ~

The next clue read ~

At the press of a button

Your shows will all play

What do you use

To watch shows every day?

The kids flew upstairs to find the roku remote (a roku is a box that allows us to stream netflix and other channels to our TV). Jack got to read this clue ~

If Eva is baking

She can’t use Mom’s stove

What would she use      

To make several bread loaves?

They thundered down the stairs so fast that I only caught Beth and Jack in the picture. This clue was hidden in the toy stove in the little kitchen ~

When Cricket is hungry

Dad feeds him food

From a container

To better his mood

I got tired of following them up and down the stairs, so I don't have a photo to go with the clue they found in the cat food container, which read ~

To make a great dinner

Mom needs to use pots

Where does she keep those

When in use they are not?

Upon making it back downstairs, they ran to the cabinet where we keep the pots and pans. The Easter Bunny had moved all of them into other cabinets to make room for their stuffed Easter baskets ~

This year, they didn't get much candy. Enough to satisfy them, but most of the loot was non-edible. They each got a book (or a couple of books). Megan got 3 Nancy Drew mysteries, Kylie got a compilation of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books, Beth got a Strawberry Shortcake scratch and sniff book, and Jack got a superhero coloring book. (Eva didn't get one as she mostly eats books at the moment.) The older four also got books on tape. Megan got "A Wrinkle in Time", Kylie got "Tom Sawyer", Beth got "Little House in the Big Woods", and Jack got a collection of fairy tales that turned out to be DVDs instead of cds. Eva got new shoes (her others are getting a bit small), two baby bottles (she's really into dolls at the moment), and some new onesies (she also loves clothes).

After taking a small taste, Eva ate her entire Cadbury egg in one bite ~

To the kids' credit, they limited themselves to one plastic egg worth of candy before church and saved the rest for afterwards. Plus they were super fast and co-operative when getting ready for church. Eva was the exception. She did NOT like her Easter dress. I laughed as I overheard Rob as he wrestled her into her outfit, telling her "C'mon Eva! These priceless memories aren't going to make themselves!"

For dinner we had leg of lamb, cheesy au gratin potatoes, steamed veggies, cucumber and tomato salad, frog-eye salad (which I made for the first time and which we decided we are not big fans of), and crescent rolls with key lime pie for dessert. Kiki came over for dinner, as did an older couple from church, Linda and Graham, as their kids all live in other states. We had a wonderful dinner!

Later that night, Eva found one of Rob's t-shirts and proudly dressed herself. She stuck her head through one of the sleeves, and one arm out of the neck. It was quite the fashion statement. She insisted on wearing it to bed.