The events leading up to Easter were best summed up by the great and wise Space Ranger, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command...
That's right. Eggs. Dyed eggs. Baked eggs. Plastic eggs. Cracked eggs. MORE plastic eggs. Did I mention plastic eggs?
It's amazing how, as a parent now, I am aware of the struggle to help my children see what I would call "the big picture". The Easter holiday is obviously about Christ and his Atonement. However, on the days leading up to Easter Sunday, I am absolutely certain that to almost all kids everywhere (at least, everywhere in America), Easter is about candy. Pure, unadulterated sugar highs, with the occasional silicone sticky toy and other assorted knick-knack thrown in for good measure.
So here we are at our friends' house Friday afternoon, with the saran-wrapped table covered in paper towels and the obligatory traditional white vinegar Easter egg dyes. Meagan and Jacob both have graduated from dropping the egg into one single color to trying to do multi-color eggs and fun patterns. They're getting pretty creative that way. I have a sneaking hunch that Jacob may turn out to be a "closet" artist someday. He's got some natural talent that leans in that direction.
Here's Meagan and Jacob holding up the ones that they were most proud of how they turned out. Meagan, as usual, LOVES the camera...
The past several years, our ward has done an Easter egg hunt. Usually, we invited one or two of the other wards as well. Sarah helped with the last two while she was in Primary. Since she was released, she wasn't involved and this year, they didn't have one. What we did have is an invitation from one of the local Baptist Churches (where Sarah's friend Ellie takes her kids to pre-school) to come to theirs. We took them up on it. Always a good idea to show some Christian solidarity...amirite? OK, so we were looking for something else "Easter-y" to do, so sue us. What we didn't realize was that there would be a million people there. Literally. OK, not a million, but a REALLY lot. They set up a series of "ribboned-off" ares for different age groups and between them, stuffed and dropped 10,000 eggs. Yes, I said 10,000. No, I am NOT exaggerating. This Baptist group was DEDICATED to the stuffing of eggs. You have to admire the sheer determination... Here's Meagan, picking eggs.
And Jacob...
And there's the "take". Now, what you don't see is that in all the fuss, there were several of the littler kids (Jacob somewhat included) that didn't get very many eggs due to the...um...enthusiasm of the other kids. Meagan, actually finished the "hunt" with a basket overflowing with eggs. Then, she gave some to Jacob, and our friends' kids, and I believe even some little boy that was sitting on the ground crying. As upset as I get at her behavior sometimes, sometimes, she REALLY knocks one out of the park. THIS was one of those times. It made me so happy to be her father.
This is a partial glimpse of the amount of people in the Easter egg "hunt" area. Now imagine about 5 times this many people hunting. No, that's not an overstatement.
After the hunt, they had brought in "bouncy houses" for the kids to play on. Meagan and Jacob NEVER pass up an opportunity to play on a bouncy house. It's one of their absolute favorite things in the world. Particularly Jacob. That is one HYPER boy... Here is Meagan with her friend Jackie waiting in line...
...and Jacob with Daniel and Ben.
Afterwards, they wanted to get their faces painted. Meagan wanted a flower.
Jacob wanted...you guessed it...eggs. Easter eggs. That Buzz Lightyear was one smart guy...
- Josh
