Easter Activities

Saturday, April 1st we continued the tradition of egg dying at my parent’s house with the Garvins.  Ella was the perfectionist, Kenna was the egg dye spiller, and Lily was the destroyer, breaking every egg she touched!

Each time McKenna would stir her egg in the cup she would say, “Go slow mom, right?!” while still managing to splatter dye!

The finished products!

Sunday afternoon while McKenna and I were shopping at the mall we ran into the Easter Bunny.  McKenna decided she would walk up to him and give him a high five!  I couldn’t believe it since she is not a big fan of costume characters.  I didn’t have my camera with me so we had to make another trip back to the mall for pictures!

McKenna was all smiles once she spotted the Easter Bunny right outside of Von Maur.  We had to wait a few minutes for our turn and then she walked right up to him and plopped down on the bench!  Matt had to scoot her over closer so that I could get a picture.  Two pictures later we were done! 

I love the picture of them looking at the camera.  McKenna looks so old and grown up.  She’s wearing one of Ella’s old outfits.  I still remember helping Danielle pick it out at Children’s Place three years ago hoping that I would have a girl someday that could also wear it!

Shannon, our daycare provider, made cute little Easter gift bags for the kiddos.  Jordann and Kenna are sporting their new bunny glasses! 

The Friday before Easter Danielle decided to make sugar cookies.  Supermom Danielle prepared the dough during the day so that it was ready for when everyone was home from school.  Ella and Lily invited Isaac, Audrey, Kenna, and Alaina to help them!  Everyone took turns picking out the cookie cutter of their choice.  Auntie even let them taste test the dough!

Busy kids at work decorating and sampling the cookies!

Friday night our amazing neighbor and daycare provider planned a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt for the kids!  Shannon is always thinking of the cutest ideas for ways of making memories with her kids.  We are so blessed that she includes us!

I was unable to help stuff the eggs with glow-in-the-dark bracelets because I attended the Good Friday service at Naz with my mom and Jeanie.  This is one of my all time favorite services.  I enjoy listening to the stories of the high school students, as well as reliving the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  It’s a service that reminds you to count your blessing daily and that there is hope for the future! 

When I got home Shannon, Danielle, and Sophie were ready to hide the eggs!  We hid over 75 eggs all over our backyard and also the Hansen’s.  The kiddos carried their glow sticks to help them see during the hunt.  When all were found, they traded their eggs in for candy and helped re-hide the eggs for the big kids! 

Saturday morning we went to St. John’s Church with my mom for their Easter Egg Hunt!  We attended last year and knew McKenna would enjoy it even more this year!  Her attention span for the crafts was rather short!  She was ready to head to the next room before she had finished the craft from that room! 

St. John’s has a great setup- crafts, games, snacks, and then an egg hunt!  During snack time McKenna decided she would run in and out of the room we were gathered in.  She was definitely testing my patience!  We had actually been waiting quite awhile for them to release us to the courtyard to hunt for eggs.  Unfortunately, we had to pack up and leave before the hunt started.  We had plans to eat with the Easter Bunny in Hudson, and we didn’t want to be late!

One of my co-workers suggested Heritage Farms’ Bunny Brunch in Hudson.  We’ve been to Heritage Farms as kids, but haven’t been there in a long time.  After showing Danielle the flyer we knew this was a tradition we wanted to start with our girls!

Just as we pulled in it started sprinkling.  We couldn’t believe it, considering the weather had been really nice during the last couple weeks.  The one day we needed decent weather it was chilly and rainy!

We didn’t really know what to expect when we got there but were super excited when they told us the animals were in the barn.  This meant we could stay dry while waiting for our turn for the hayride!  They had a little petting zoo with goats, pigs, a baby calf, bunnies, baby chicks, and a dog for the kids (and adults!). 

McKenna wasn’t shy at all and wanted to join the big kids in the pen.  She loved following the animals around so that she could pet them.  How cute are these baby pigs on the baby calf?  Anytime the baby calf is laying down they curl up on her to keep warm!

Holding this baby bunny made me want to take one home!  It was so cute and cuddly!

The 100 year old barn had a hayloft upstairs where the kids could swing on ropes and ride on a tire horse.  They even had a horse toy like we used to have back in the day!

While we waited for the 11:15 bell to ring the girls had a chance to ride horses!  Both girls had been soooo excited to ride, so as soon as the rain let up we hopped in line to wait for our turn.  McKenna, Ella, and Audrey rode the first time, and then when we got back from the cabin McKenna, Ella, and Lily rode!

Three horse-drawn wagons took us out to the cabin for breakfast with the Easter Bunny.  The ride was a bit chilly but we were just thankful the rain had stopped!

At the brunch each child got a picture with the Easter Bunny!  McKenna again wasn’t scared at all.  She was most excited about the two Easter eggs filled with “gummy beans”. 

When we got back the rain started up again.  We didn’t let this stop the kids from playing on the hay bales for a bit!  Danielle and I have so many memories of playing on hay bales at our grandparent’s house so we wanted the girls to have a chance to experience them.  McKenna was too little to jump or climb the bales, but Ella, Isaac, and Audrey had no problems!

We had such a fun morning at the farm and would recommend it to anyone.  We’ve decided to make this a tradition every spring, as well as try their sleigh rides this winter!

Saturday evening we exchanged Easter baskets with Ella and Lily.  Kenna and I found their gifts at Target earlier in the week.  I told her we were shopping for Lily and Ella.  By this time she was already out of the cart because we were getting pretty full with baby presents for some girls at work.  McKenna kept grabbing things from each aisle saying, “I think Lily (or Ella) want this mommy!”  Then when we did find gifts for them, she thought she needed them too!  McKenna kept putting two Little People cars in our cart, one pink and one purple.  I kept taking them out because I told she doesn’t even play with cars!  Her response was, “I’ll play with cars mom!”  Our shopping trip after school was beginning to take F.O.R.E.V.E.R., not to mention my bill was getting larger by the second!  So long that we ended up having to eat supper there!  It’s times like these that I love looking back on.  Shopping with my girl is something I’ve always dreamed about.  She is my little best friend and I love spending every second I can with her.  It’s scary that she already knows how to work her mom to get something she wants! :)  PS- She did get the pink and purple cars- along with a few other unnecessary items!

The Easter Play-Doh was a huge hit!  It’s rare that we play with Play-Doh at home and seeing McKenna have so much fun with it made me realize that we need to play with it more!