Happy Easter!

 We enjoyed a very blessed Easter on Sunday with our wonderful family!

Austin was ready for Easter to come...he made these bunny ears at preschool and excitedly wore them around the house waiting for Easter to come.

On Saturday, we decided to undertake one of the many items on the "to do" list...cleaning out and organizing the playroom closet!  There were still half unpacked boxes, piles of random toys, and stuff we were trying to keep out of reach of little hands (aka not age appropriate for Sarah to be around).  We cleaned out the closet, put up 3 shelving units, unpacked some of the toys left in boxes in the basement, and totally organized the whole playroom and closet.  It turned out great!  Along the way, we found some new and forgotten toys. One of the new ones was a remote control car.  Austin thought it was pretty cool! 

Sarah continues to have lots of fun with the bouncy bunnies and chicks sent from Gramma and PopPop for Easter.

Then we got everything ready to go to host my family for Easter Sunday and headed to bed.

The kids were up bright and early on Sunday and ready to go.

Ready to head to Church on Easter morning.

We left as soon as we could because when we arrived for Christmas Mass 45 minutes before it started, we got the very last seats in the very back row.  Lots of people were saving seats by throwing coats over them, which annoyed us a bit since we were there early with 2 little kids and barely got a place to sit.  We didn't want to end up standing (or trying to chase Sarah and Austin around) for the whole Easter Mass, so we tried to get there early again this time in hopes of getting a seat.  The difference was remarkable. There was almost nobody there.  We sat in our normal spot (first pew behind the pews reserved for the choir).  The kids just sat like little angels waiting for the Mass to start.

They continued to do pretty well, though Sarah was missing nap time, so she got a bit fussy near the end.  While we were at Mass, the Easter Bunny visited our house and hid Easter baskets and eggs for the kids. Sarah was pretty exhausted by the time we got home, but she joined in on the egg hunt and loved her Easter basket goodies.

 Sarah had fun lugging her basket around before she discovered she could take stuff out and play with it!

 Then she discovered that the eggs contained treats...that certainly got her attention.

 Austin was an egg finding whirlwind, so Grandpa put some eggs out again for Sarah to grab.

Finding lots of eggs (and a stuffed bunny too)!

So excited to show off her eggs!

 Chocolate bunny!

"What do you mean, smile?  Open this!"

 All smiles!

Here is a video of the indoor egg hunt action.

 The Easter Bunny also left baskets for Austin and Sarah at Nanny's house!

 Sarah's had a peek-a-boo chick that makes her giggle.

After a much needed nap for Sarah, the rest of the family arrived for Easter Brunch. I made a couple of french toast stratas and mom made some egg bakes.  The rest of the family brought goodies to go along with - cinnamon rolls, fruit salad, muffins, juice, etc.  It was delicious!  Then it was time for a wardrobe change for Sarah in anticipation of going outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather!

The kids also got some gifts from Great Aunties and Uncles.  Sarah absolutely adores this baby doll stroller and immediately started pushing it around the room squealing with delight.

 Then it was outside for another egg hunt!

 Alexis all ready to go...

Getting ready...(actually, waiting for the silly parents to stop taking pictures so they could go grab eggs, already. Geez!)

Sarah was really excited to have a basket and sit with the big kids

 And they're off...

Alexis was a fierce contender...she apparently had scoped out all the eggs at her house by about 4:30am before mom and dad were even awake, so when it was time to hunt eggs, she already knew where they all were.  At our house, she had seen a few out the window, but still had a few surprises to find.

Austin had a blast and managed to grass stain his nice new pants.  It was nice to get the kids outside in beautiful weather to enjoy the fresh air and get dirty! (oh, and the grass stain came out just fine)

We put some in more accessible locations in the front yard for Sarah while the big kids were occupied in the back yard.  She's so dainty about picking them up.

The Easter Bunny brought Austin two kites, so we got them going and had fun running up and down the neighborhood with them.

 (As you can see from the big pile of dirt down the street, our neighborhood still has some construction going on.)

We also got out a bunch of yard games and toys. The kids got a children's croquet set for Easter too.  Here is Grandpa teaching Sarah how to swing a club.  Maybe he'll have a little golfing buddy when she gets bigger.

Sarah also enjoyed hanging out sitting in the grass and trying to get the eggs open to search for candy.  We filled some of the eggs with things she can eat - gummy candies, bunny marshmallows, etc. and she thoroughly enjoyed getting to munch on treats all day!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous!  Temps were in the mid to upper 60s with beautiful sunshine and a light breeze.  We broke out the t-shirts, sunscreen, and lawn chairs.  We all relaxed and played outside for most of the afternoon.  We took walks to the park, played catch, flew kites, blew bubbles, shot a toy rocket onto the roof then hatched schemes to retrieve it, sat on the porch and talked, and generally enjoyed the beautiful day surrounded by family!  What more could we ask for?

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Easter!