the great easter egg hunt

I'm trying to get all the easter posts out of my drafts box and onto the blog and out of my mind, so bear with me for this one last one!

Even though it was several weeks after the actual day of Easter, we finally synchronized all our schedules and rounded up all the kids for this year's egg hunt. Sadly, we were without Clara Anne, Chloe and Christin this year, but we added 6 more kids from last years! (Unfortunately, my plastic egg supply is fixed...so that just means less plastic eggs, but for us even the real eggs come with prizes! More on that later!)

We met at the apartment complex our friends live in because they have a nice big area with no cars. Cars=issues. Cars do not equal fun.

Many years ago, Emma got a cute Easter outfit from josh's aunt Carol, but it's never been seasonally appropriate until this year - yay for Abby! She got to wear the cute springy sweater! And have her first egg hunt!

Kesed found Emma and Samantha's easter baskets and was planning ways to snatch up as many eggs as possible. Not really, but I thought he looked preciously impish in this picture!
I love this girl!
Before the hunt, we gathered up all the kids for a quick reminder of the rules. Since we had some newbies, I had to make sure they were properly initiated.
After everyone was clear, the mad dash began! Samantha stuck around close to me for most of the hunt, so if she seems favored in the pictures, that's why. I really do try not to play favorites. =)
So, there's something I gotta tell you about Peter. He is one of those people who will be considered an "early adopter". (Not like adopting babies, but like adopting trends.) He started wearing these earmuffs this winter, and has yet to take them off. The problem is actually that he looks darling in them - why should he take them off? Maybe this is a six-year-old's solution to not having an ipod to drown out the noise?
The gravitational pull is at it again...
Alex and Emma stuck together the entire time. I managed to pry him away (not really) for a quick peek in his easter basket.
...and a quick peek in hers.
Abby, brilliant as she is at the tender age of one, didn't quite get the concept. I secretly staged this picture, and "found" it for her, and then snapped the picture of her grabbing it. At least I'm honest...
She had a makeshift tin-can-turned-Easter-basket because I had no time this year to make her one. She could not have cared less. She loved bouncing her hard-boiled egg on the ground and then feeling it squish and crack beneath her fingers.
After we were reasonably sure all the eggs were collected, the kids were rounded up again for prize time. Each kid has a hard-boiled egg with their name on it and we try to hide it in a tough spot. When you find your Name Egg, you are entitled to a special prize that has been selected just for you. [Insiders Tip: Yes, I am the planner and prize selector. It's a good idea to make friends with me.] Everyone always finds their Name Egg. Just as it should be.

Then, there are also numbered eggs (this year we only had 8) that win you other random prizes.
In the end, everyone was satisfied. There were lots of prizes. Lots of eggs. Lots of candy. Lots of kids.
Lots of talking. Lots of fellowship. Lots of enjoying the incredible day we had.
Lots of candy...oh, did I already say that? Apparently, lots of blue candy...