Wow!

What a day!  I thought somehow the day was just going to whiz by, perhaps because we were going to early mass, or maybe due to the fact that we didn't have a lot on the agenda.  Instead, we just kept going and going.  

We did not get up at the crack of dawn, but hadn't planned on much other than a light breakfast and basket perusing before church.  We had sour cream coffee cake and bacon, both farmers market favorites, and the kids were excited to receive their baskets and treats from the grandparents in the form of Peeps, chocolate bunnies, gold coins and $5 bills.  There wasn't too much time for candy consumption, though, as we had to be at church by 10:10 a.m.

The girls sang in the Children's Choir today and I am not sure which was better…their voices or Nicholas shouting, "Yea!" and clapping each time they finished a song.  Yet another item I will have to add to next year's to do list: a church with a children's choir.  They are enjoying this one so much, and Caitlin is being asked to add to her responsibilities within the choir.  No word on what she will do (for sure) just yet, but you can be sure it will be noted here when the time arrives.

After mass, we headed home for several sessions of Skype with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  Nicholas alternated his time between showing off his basket, and trying to quickly stuff the entire contents of said basket in his mouth.  Meanwhile I spent almost an hour trying to prepare a lunch that was almost entirely pre-made.  It makes no sense whatsoever, but despite getting most sides from Whole Foods and a Honeybaked Ham, brunch still took quite a bit of time to prepare. 

Nicholas decided to say lead us in the blessing (he simply repeated after me), and I only wish we had gotten it on camera.  Afterward, we feasted on ham, a Greek salad, marinated and grilled artichokes, rice pilaf, and mashed potatoes.  Despite the lengthy preparations, dinner went fairly quickly. I think, perhaps, the girls were more concerned we might never get to the egg hunt, especially considering we still needed to prep the eggs.

I suppose we should have completed that task yesterday, but we just ran out of time.  We thought it could be just as much fun to do it on Sunday, and that turned out to be true.  We ended up just using regular dyes, despite my best attempts to try and do it all.  I had planned on using veggies again this year, but it just didn't happen.

It was Nicholas' first time participating, and I am pretty sure he is sold on this version of Easter fun.  We planned on actually using the eggs in a hunt, however, realized that A. it was never going to stop raining, and B. no matter how dry the eggs were, I was still nervous about an egg hunt with recently dyed eggs on the carpet (we have the world's most easily stained carpet, hands down). 

I realized a hunt of filled eggs might be more fun anyway.  Due to the massive amounts of rain, all activities would be inside.  I quickly filled my cache of plastic eggs  with assorted change and one paper dollar per child.  Other than having to remind Caitlin that it wasn't a race, the hunt went pretty smoothly.  In fact, we were all so in awe of Nicholas's egg-finding skills that he ended up getting most of them while we just stood and watched.  

Though it sounds fairly fast-paced, we didn't finish the hunt until close to 6 p.m.  The girls then took a walk in the rain, while Peter gave Nicholas his water-go (bath in Nicholas speak) and I realized I needed to start with the packing business…which I now need to finish and then try to get some sleep…oh, heck, there's always the plane.  Good night and Happy Easter (again)!