Easter Weekend

Here are some pics from a little hike we took in Kensington Park last Saturday. I am in love with Kensington Park, it's beautiful and HUGE and only a 10 minute drive away. We originally went on this hike with the purpose of seeing a Civil War Reenactment but apparently we had missed it and the sounds we were following that we thought might lead us to it were coming from a shooting range across the highway, still fun though:

And remember the Easter Egg Hunt we went on last Saturday? Well Steven had entered a raffle for an Easter Basket there and he won! When he entered he was so excited and sure he was going to win so I kept telling him that he probably wouldn't, there were lots of people entering and only 2 people could win. BUT he was right- he won a basket full of candy! Lucky kid! Only then he had to share his winnings with the family, he felt grumpy about that...  

Yesterday, as I was getting breakfast ready, I noticed crumbs on a shelf in our kitchen, when I went to investigate I found this:

It looks like we have a critter in our home that really likes Kit Kat bars. Ack! It was easier to pretend they didn't exist when we just found them DEAD in our basement. Less easy when they are eating things in our kitchen.

But on a happier note, the kids got to open their Easter gifts from Grandma & Grandpa Brady yesterday, and they loved everything. I am quite thrilled with the Pom-Poms Lucy got, so adorable:

They also got to dye Easter Eggs... Well, not Lucy, she got to eat crackers instead: 

Benny decided to do some eggs 2 different colors and when he got half of it dyed he exclaimed, "It has a swimsuit!"

After dying Easter Eggs we went across the street to Helena's birthday party. The people across the street have 3 girls: a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a 7 month old. They are from Germany and super nice. Our next door neighbors were there as well. They have a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy. Now that the weather is warming up (except for the freak snow storm on Tuesday that broke records) we're finally getting to know our neighbors better!

When we came home, we did our own little Easter Egg Hunt. Each kid was assigned a color so I let Steven hide Benny and Lucy's eggs. Then I went and hid his. We're discovering that Benny is much better at looking for things than Steven. Benny needed surprisingly little help while Steven couldn't find the eggs that were right in front of him.   

And last night was like Christmas Eve all over again! Steven was way to excited to sleep and kept shouting from his room, "Did the Easter Bunny come yet? I think I heard him!" But at last he went to sleep, only to wake up at 6:30 ready to find those baskets.

As per tradition they got a special note from the bunny with a clue on where to find their basket. Steven's basket was by his Lego's (where he goes to build houses):

Ben's was by the heater vent in the playroom (his favorite place to sit):

And Lucy's was under the TV:

Then we had pancakes and cinnamon rolls and rushed off to church. Lucy wore her pretty new Easter dress:

And for dinner, I made my very first ham:

This Easter has sure made me home sick. I miss having a special Easter dinner with all our extended family and the big Easter Egg Hunt with all the cousins at Grandma Hatch's home. It's nice to get to do our own thing I suppose, but it certainly isn't as fun. So though it is beautiful here and the weather is warming up and we're starting to make friends, I still can't see us here forever- AZ just houses too many people that I love and miss!