Happy Easter!

Despite all of the recent preparations, I'm not sure that Blanden is old enough to have known that Easter, in terms of one particular day, was coming. But he is definitely making the connections between the bunnies and eggs featured in his books and all the decor and festivities surrounding him in real life -- and I think it's safe to say that he had a great Easter Sunday celebration.

First, a visit from the Easter bunny. (Ellis isn't even here yet and he already has his own basket! Thank you, Grammy and Papa.)

Blanden was very excited to sit down and sort through his goodies this morning...

Which included three more zoo animals for his collection, his first Brain Quest flash cards (thank you, Martha and cousins Ella and Joshua, for introducing me to Brain Quest a few years ago and for giving the Easter Bunny this idea without knowing it), five new Clifford books (Blanden really likes Clifford lately), and some edible treats: a chocolate bunny, M&Ms, and Rice Krispie treats.

Blanden doesn't recognize much candy by the packaging. He really likes M&Ms, but he just tossed the little packets aside when he saw them. When he pulled out the last book, however, he turned to us and asked, "More? More?" (Lucky for him, he did indeed get more books later on in another Easter basket from his aunt Nancy, uncle Jim, and cousins Jeremy and Gretty, who know him well.)

After our own little Easter celebration at home, we headed to Highlands Ranch to attend church with Aunt Nancy, Uncle Jim, Jeremy, and Gretchen, which was really nice. Then we were all off to Colorado Springs to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Nick, and Blanden had his first Easter egg scavenger hunt.

Grandma had hidden special zoo-critter eggs just for Blanden. Jeremy and Gretchen showed Blanden how to do it...

Before they took off in search of their own golden eggs. (Blanden was definitely getting into it.)

Hanging out with just the boys.

Relaxing after all the eggs (and the goodies inside) had been found.

And to cap it off, we celebrated three family birthdays with ice cream and homemade cake. Happy Easter!

Easter Party

Blanden had an Easter party at school today. He decorated a couple of eggs, made a card for Mommy and Daddy during art time, had special snacks, I'm sure he listened to some Bible stories about Easter...

And he came home with a basket of goodies. He was intrigued by the candy, but not overly so. In fact, he didn't even finish the two pieces he tried after dinner. He preferred to color some more on his card -- and eat the eggs.

Decorating Easter Eggs

Last year, at 10 months old, Blanden was really only able to admire the finished product...

But this year, at 22 months old, Blanden was able to decorate Easter eggs (almost) all by himself! He loved putting the little tabs in each glass of vinegar and watching them dissolve and change color. And then, with only a little help moving the glasses around, he was able to dunk the eggs and put them back in the tray on his own. (Of course, some of them received multiple dunks because that was the fun part. You can see that the eggs get darker as the pictures go on.)

As for the stickers that came with the decorating kit, Blanden preferred to put those on himself rather than on the eggs. But now we are all set with 18 eggs for his first Easter scavenger hunt next weekend (minus any that he eats between now and then).

Easter Part Deux

Caption from Ed: "Move over, Dad, and let me drive home."
Hanging out with "Gramps."


Fortunately the weather cooperated today and we were able to celebrate a belated Easter in the Springs with our entire Colorado family. Upon arriving Blanden found more Easter goodies, including being surprised with his very own high chair for use at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Other highlights for Blanden included devouring salmon (this was the first time he tried it), peas (Grandpa's favorite vegetable), and strawberries (a favorite) for Grandma's delicious Sunday dinner and getting to practice driving Uncle Nick's new car. (All the boys were outside playing when that happened, while the ladies were chit-chatting inside the house. :) )