Easter afternoon, once the girls were dressed, combed and had photos taken, we were off to Great Grandma and Grandpa’s house. There was rumor that the big egg hunt was back. And it was! In my younger days, there would be about 160 plastic eggs hidden and the cousins and myself would fan out collecting as much as we could. There were always a few eggs lost to squirrels who would kindly leave the pile of coins behind and the foil wrappers of the candies they’d pilfered. This year, it was slightly smaller with *only* 120 eggs. However, there were fewer participants with Ella and Lillian as the key players and four of my cousins in their teens to early twenties. The odds should have been stacked against the two little newbies, but lo and behold, with the help of mom, dad, grandparents and aunts and uncles – the shortest egg hunters were victorious!
Lily puts on her game face. Which led to chocolate victory!
A few of Ella and Lillian’s team.
Once most of the eggs were recovered, the negotiations started. Ella was trying to convince Loran that she should eat all of the candy in her 32 eggs, immediately. Guess who won that battle. Lily, however, wasn’t interested in the candy. She was busy working on her multiplication skills. She would find big sticks, snap them in half and gleefully yell, “I have TWO sticks!!”
Once we had sorted through eggs, money and candy it was time for lunch. The girls were great eaters and enjoyed sitting up with everyone at the big table. After lunch, it was well after nap time so Loran took Lily to the basement, I went to check on them when dessert came out to see if Loran wanted any pie or coffee and I found them both passed out. So sweet!
In the late afternoon, we were off to Nana and Papa’s house. We thought the girls might nap in the car. Nope. However, they were very happy to have dinner and play with everyone. Ella was her typical self, quiet and reserved – happy to sit and read books. Lillian, however, brought out the zest and Uncle Nathan was happy to facilitate the silliness!
In this corner, Nana and Ella reading calmly…
The tickle sequence.
Lillian gave Nathan a crash course in preparedness. She was standing on the couch, hopping around and she approached the edge and said her tell-tale, “ready, set!” As soon as I heard it, I knew what she was going to do. Jump. While I could have alerted him of the impending aerial attack, she was too quick and I wasn’t too worried. I knew he’d either catch her or she’d belly flop and foot and a half, and since they have carpet, it would be a good lesson for her, since she does this at home and sometimes misses there too…So rather than warn, I lifted my camera and snapped the reaction. You’ll note some panic in Nathan’s eyes, but he did catch her and perhaps knocked a year off of his life! Lillian is totally relaxed and in her element. Someday that couch will be an airplane door. This led to a series of Lillian jumping off the couch into Nathan’s arms – now prepared to catch her.
I call this series: Lillian’s Trust Falls
Lillian eventually calmed down and made herself a little bed on a chair. She relaxed for a few minutes before taking off at full throttle again. Ella just watched the carnage. Once in the car for home, Ella fell asleep quickly and soundly, Lillian was still wide awake.
Monday morning, Ella didn’t have school. Loran was off to Chicago for work and I was attending the Twins opener with my dad. Ella was up bright and early – even earlier than my alarm would have woke me for a school day (which is an hour before she is typically woken up by me). Of course, on a day we can sleep in. I invited into bed and she chatted and giggled and wiggled for nearly an hour, and then…fell asleep! I snuck out to get ready for the day. After much puttering around, enjoying my shower, breakfast, and coffee there was still no peep from the upstairs. Eventually, I went upstairs to do some cleaning and wake the girls. I was getting a little bored. Apparently, Easter and egg hunts took a lot out of them!
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