Saturday Easter Party

This morning we got up and got cleaned up for our big and festive day.  I gave Autumn a bath and then told her to go put on the clothes I had laid out for her on her bed while I got showered and cleaned up.  This is what she ended up dressing herself in.  NOT what I had laid out for her.  It’s her pajama shirt w/ blue pants that are too short.  Oh, well.  Lexie was in a festive mood and wore Autumn’s bunny ears.  We had some breakfast and then loaded up our stuff and headed to Aunt Sandy & Uncle Robert’s.

The second we walked in the door, I headed straight for Baby Jamie.  He’s only 11 days old and I needed a baby fix.  He smelled so good and had the cutest little duck fuzz hair.  He was so little and just slept the whole time I held him.  I’m still super baby hungry.

When we got there, Autumn headed straight for the baby chickens that were out in the garage.  She was so happy that she got to hold one and pet it and give it kisses.  What is more spring-like than a cute baby chicken?

Aunt Sandy had some yummy food for us to munch on until lunch.  She had some 7 layer dip w/ chips and a big fruit plate.  The pineapple was SOOOO sweet and juicy and yummy.  I LOVE her backyard b/c it is full of gorgeous flowers and the landscaping is just beautiful.

The kids has a ton of fun playing on the fort and running around the backyard and riding bikes and trikes in the driveway.  Uncle Robert just put up the John Deere sign today, which I thought was a nice touch to the fort, and the other sign that says, “Grandpa’s Park.”

After being outside for a while, the kids wanted to come in.  Nate was wrestling around w/ Nick and wouldn’t let him up, so we had to call in Jon to come and sit on Nate.  When the kids saw that, they were all about dog piling on Uncle Nate.

They were getting too loud and rambunctious, so Aunt Sandy got out some toys for the kids to play with, which they loved.  That kept them busy (and quiet) for a while.

Finally Zack got home from work, so it was time to eat.  Here we are just waiting a few minutes for the shrimp to cook.

I absolutely LOVE shrimp boils.  They are so much fun, b/c you just throw the food down the middle of the table and then we had butter and BBQ sauce and cocktail sauce right on the tinfoil that you just dip and roll the food in.  It’s so fun to eat w/ your hands.

After we all stuffed our tummies full of good food, the kids were ready to work off some of the calories.  Andrew went over to visit the dogs and say hi to them.  The rest of the kids decided to be brave and get in the pool.  Don’t let this picture fool you, the water was freezing, but the kids didn’t care.

Everyone took turns holding Baby Jamie, and I thought this picture of his grandpa holding him was so cute.  Especially since you can only see his little face peeking out from his soft warm blanket.

Heather tried to put Autumn’s feet in, but Autumn would pick her feet up when Heather would swing her out over the pool.  It was so funny to watch what lengths Autumn would go to in order to not get in the pool.

  Nate was a good sport and got in w/ the little kids.  Zack really didn’t want to get in, but did b/c Nate wanted him to help catch the kids b/c they kept wanting to jump in.  I rate Zack’s splash as a 8 out of 10.

I love this picture of the two girls standing on the edge of the pool in their undies watching the boys get ready to chicken fight.  Not long after this, the kids started chattering and their lips were turning blue, so we made them get out and dry off and got them dressed to go to the farm.

The kids had fun watching Uncle Nate swing as high as he could get w/ out breaking the tree limb.  We packed everyone up and headed over to the farm.  Nick & Nate & Zack went around and hid Easter eggs while we kept the little kids busy.

As soon as we got on the road, Autumn fell asleep.  I let her stay asleep until it was time to look for eggs.

Uncle Robert took the kids for a ride on the tractor to keep them distracted while the eggs were being hidden.  He drove right up to the edge of the pond and acted like he was going to lower them into the water.

Here’s our motley crew before we let the kids loose to hunt for Easter eggs.

Autumn knew exactly what to do this year and went right after the eggs.  She had her little bucket filled up in no time.

All of the kids had a blast running around and finding all of the hidden eggs.  I always wonder every year how many eggs don’t get found and if they are found in a few months?  After all of the visible eggs were found, the kids went over to the picnic table to check out their loot.  I love this picture of the two girls kneeling together at the table.

They were so cute w/ each other and kept opening their eggs and showing each other what they got.  It’s like there was a magical surprise in each egg.

Some adults never grow up and will always be little kids.  Case in point was Dad wanting to swing on the tree swing.  Nate wanted in on the action and tried pushing Dad as hard as he could to get him to go higher.

After all of the Easter egg excitement, it was time to go play at the pond.  Nate wanted to go kayaking, so Nick helped him carry it down to the pond.

It’s so beautiful and picturesque at the pond.  Nate paddled himself around and even had a fishing pole out there.  Talk about living the high life…fishing in a private pond in the middle of a kayak.

The little kids were so excited to go fishing w/ Uncle Robert.

Autumn wasn’t too excited about touching the worms, so she let Uncle Robert do the dirty work.

She was really happy, though when they caught a fish on the first try and that she got to reel it in.  She wasn’t too keen about touching it once it was out of the water, but she still had a great time, and Uncle Robert was so cute about letting her “help” him fish.

Nate paddled around the pond and then Shane wanted a ride, so he paddled over to the side and Shane climbed in the kayak w/ him and had some of Nate’s drink he had brought out w/ him.  I thought this was such a cute picture.

Aunt Sandy’s farm is the best, b/c not only did the girls get to find Easter eggs full of candy, they also got to find some real eggs from real chickens in the chicken coop.

They ended up with about 12 eggs all together, and there were some brown ones and also some green ones.  The girls thought they had found treasures.  Aunt Sandy had to remind them to be super careful b/c these were real eggs, not plastic ones.

I loved this picture of Brooke just sitting over on the swing all by herself.  She had gotten a can of soda and walked over there and climbed up on the swing and just sat and drank it as if she didn’t have a care in the world.  It was so cute.

After fishing, the kids went and played on a big pile of dirt and then we told them it was time to head home, b/c it was getting late and we still had an hour drive home ahead of us.

It was such a wonderful day.  We had such a good time getting to spend time w/ family.  We all get along so well and it’s just the best to sit back and watch the excitement on the kids’ faces.  That’s why it’s always more fun to celebrate holidays w/ little kids around, b/c they get so much enjoyment out of everything.

We packed up all of our stuff and headed home.  We got home around 8:00 and Nick said he wanted to go see Clash of the Titans in 3D.  He asked everyone if they wanted to go w/ him and Jon said he would.  I thought it would be fun to go and Mom & Dad said they would watch Autumn for me.

Nick was a sweetheart and paid for us.  We got these cool 3D glasses and had a really good time.  It was a good movie and was awesome to see in 3D.  I loved being able to spend some time w/ Nick.  It was a great way to end an incredible day.