Have you ever watched kids at an Easter egg hunt? If so then you are aware that this activity is competitive and there are techniques that are more effective than others. A game plan is the best way to get as many eggs as possible. Keagan was on it this year. In all 3 egg hunts you could see him scoping out the surroundings and making a plan to get the most eggs possible. Finley, on the other hand, required all three hunts to get the hang of the game.
The boys first egg hunt was an Easter party at school. They got to make ice cream sundaes and hang out with their friends before heading outside to hunt eggs. The big kids (Keagan's class) hunted eggs on the playground and the littler kids hunted in the grass with the eggs very visible. Finn really only cared about the "funny" eggs...anything that was out of the ordinary from a typical plastic egg. And this kept him from getting his 12 allotted eggs at Hunt #1. He would actually walk over a handful of other eggs to get to the funny ones. So Finn walked away from this hunt with only 8. This tore Josh up! I didn't know Josh was that competitive, but now that I do I can only imagine him as a little kid pushing the others out of the way to get as many eggs as possible. Luckily Finn just didn't care. Keagan got his 12 allowed eggs. And did so quickly.
Keagan and Maeci
Finn was supposed to be walking out to the field with his class. I was walking with Keagan's class ahead of Finn's, and all of a sudden here comes Finley running as fast as he can past everyone! Another parent said they overheard Finn say he had to get out here before all the eggs were gone! Ha!
Egg hunt #2: Our church does a hunt every year and it is always so much fun. This was the first year ever that the boys got to participate in the same spot, and it made life easier and more fun for me and Josh. On our way to church we explained to Finley that he has to actually pick up eggs that he sees, instead of walking past them to get just the "funny" eggs. He was ready. When the kids were told to go, they took off and Finn's initial gusto and speed was promising. But then he went to the "funny" eggs only. Again. Josh and I had to step back and just laugh instead of coach him through it. It is hard to table your competitive nature and just let your kid be a kid sometimes. Keagan scooped up so many eggs that we actually asked him to stop and sent him to help his brother out!
Oh me...this is what I am working with when trying to get a picture of my boys!
Yummy...sprinkles and chocolate donuts. My boys were in heaven. This pregnant girl was pretty content herself!
On Your Marks! Get Set! GO!!!! (the preschool egg hunting spot)
Now, I asked a friend to take our picture after the hunt. I included the outtakes because it shows just how impossible it is to get a decent picture of the 4 of us. And how funny my boys are. And how Josh looks the same in every single picture.
Finally got ONE that was decent enough.
After the egg hunt we dyed our own eggs. The boys think this is the best thing ever. Keagan is obsessed with the colors of the rainbow, and likes the colors to be perfectly lined up in ROYGBV order. If you don't know what that is, you are probably normal. Keagan took after me in the obsession with color coordination. (He catches when the rainbow colors are out of order...in books, in his brother's work, in cartoons...and it bugs him to no end. I think it is funny because I am the same way.)
Final egg hunt of Easter took place at our house after church Sunday. And Finn and Keagan got about the same number of eggs this time. I actually hid the eggs and made it more difficult for them to find, instead of just tossing them in the grass. It was fun to watch them find the eggs, or walk right past one that seemed obvious!
I may or may not have ruined my kids imagination this year. Keagan was asking something about the Easter bunny and I just didn't have the energy to make something up. So I told them I was the Easter bunny. At first they were disappointed, then they were confused, then they argued with me a little. And I told them that there was no such thing. I kind of felt like an awful mom. But really. I just couldn't come up with any ideas of what the fictional bunny was or did and how he fit in with Jesus's death and resurrection. We really want the boys to know the real reason of Easter and not for the bunny. And Santa is hard enough to maintain, but at least he comes with his own set of consistent "rules" that most people get. So I told them that I hid the eggs and was the "Easter Bunny" but there really is a Santa Clause, and Jesus is REAL. They seemed good with that.
