There are some traditions that we adhere to year after year when it comes to Easter -- the egg coloring, leaving a snack out for the Easter Bunny the night before, leaving empty Easter baskets out on the table to (hopefully) be filled by the Easter Bunny and some sort of an Easter Egg Hunt on Easter morning. But, the unknown part seems to be how the Easter Egg Hunt is conducted and where.
I didn't really intend to keep mixing it up; it just kind of happened because I didn't want the older girls to become bored and I desperately wanted to continue to keep the magic of the holiday alive as long as I could. Plus, I enjoy coming up with creative ideas and then spending the time and energy to make them a reality. (I usually keep Steve in the dark about most of them too, just so that he can be a part of it with the kids).
Over the years, we've done simple egg hunts inside the house; we've done egg hunts with certain colors of eggs designated for each child; one year, there were puzzle pieces hidden inside the eggs and the kids had to find all of the pieces so that they could read the puzzle and know where their baskets were hidden; we've done a scavenger hunt with clues; we've done hunts outside.
This year, I drafted, printed and decorated a letter from the Easter Bunny and left it on the table where their filled baskets would have been. But, the baskets weren't there! Instead, the note provided instructions to follow the string attached to a bunny with their name on it and that it would eventually lead them to their basket. It also gave details for colored eggs hidden outside ...
Lots of yellow yarn was draped around the house, starting at the empty table.
The bunnies were something that I quickly made the week before as a starting place for the yarn and later, we used them as placeholders at our Easter table.
Jimmy was so excited to see that the Easter Bunny ate some of the snack that he had helped to leave out on our usual Easter platter.
Jack was chosen to read the note out loud to everyone so that they would know what to do.
Carefully following the string:
Steve DID help with this part the night before and we made it pretty tricky for them by using all of the same colored yarn for everyone. The kids had to carefully keep their fingers on the string at all times because sometimes they intersected with one another.
Around door handles, into the bathroom and back out again.
Eventually, their individual string led them to their own basket as each one was stashed in a different location.
Then, they carried them out to the table so that they could slowly pull everything out and show everyone.
That is my favorite part -- hearing them squeal with excitement over each and every single thing that the Easter Bunny has perfectly picked out for them.
After they went through their baskets, the kids put on their boots (wet grass!) and headed outside to look for eggs. Each kid was assigned a certain color and they traveled over both the front yard and the back searching for their 20 eggs apiece.
Some eggs were in plain sight and others were a little more tricky to find.
Sophia was in her winter coat for the event ...
And of course, Jack opted for a short-sleeved t-shirt.
Eventually, once they counted their eggs and discovered exactly how many they were missing, they worked as a team to find the remaining hidden eggs.
This boy is forever a ray of sunshine.
And then ... Jack realized exactly how cold it was outside (just above freezing!) and ran back inside for an appropriate jacket! By the way, the Easter Bunny hid a couple of yellow eggs right there with those yellow construction vehicles and then NO ONE could seem to locate them.
Back inside to open all of their eggs and organize their loot.
Everyone had a dollar bill in one of the eggs and then a few chocolates and lots of gummies and starbursts. The Easter Bunny seems to know exactly what everyone's favorites are ...
Swedish Fish are another favorite!
Later that day, we had family join us and we indulged in a big family dinner with all of the fixings -- chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, dessert and then just enjoyed the beautiful 60 degree weather. It was the perfect day and we were so happy to enjoy a "normal" holiday after the pandemic.
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