Easter

Holidays are always fun because they give Kaeden a great excuse to exploit the attention of all of his cousins.

He thinks he is one of them.

As in, a big kid.

And he LOVES every moment he gets to spend with them.

This photo was taken literally within the first few minutes of our arrival at Nana and Papa's.

The kid is absolutely smitten.

Me?

I'm smitten with this little face covered in ranch sauce.

My niece Sammie didn't get the memo that those green things aren't just nifty serving ware. You are supposed to eat them too.

Since we pretty much failed as parents on the whole Easter thing this year, I was happy to see Kaeden enjoy a little bit of Easter fun as he embarked on a whole new adventure.

The Easter Egg Hunt.

I didn't think he'd understand the idea.

I was wrong.

Here's Sammie and Kaeden making a bee-line for the front yard.

At this point I don't think they had a clue of what was going on.

All the older kids had just headed out with excitement, so why not them too?

It took a second for Kaeden to understand the concept, but then he was off.

One thing he didn't understand?

That if you lean into a ditch to retrieve an egg, sometimes the contents of your basket will follow you.

Actually, I think he just thought that more eggs magically appeared when he bent down.

See how one of those eggs is popped open? I thought we were going to lose him in the game at this point.

Kaeden quickly realized there was chocolate in those eggs.

Something he generally spares no time in devouring.

He saw the shiny wrapper, but luckily Jeff was able to divert his attention to the next colored egg quickly. Whew. My picture taking could continue!

Kaeden searched high:

And low:

With no regard for the safety of little eyeballs near pointy sticks.

He just didn't give up.

The shining moment of the night?

Well after the hunt had ended, Ali got into the garage to ride her bike. Kaeden, who was still walking around with his basket, saw a glittery apple sitting near a pile of decor items and immediately squealed.

He thought he had found another egg, and the hunt was back on.

Once he felt the front yard was exhausted, he then decided to search the entire circle.

With Aubree as his escort of course.

All in all it was a great holiday spent with both Jeff and my families. I love getting together with family. Laughing, joking, and sharing stories.

I also love when I get to enjoy the innocence of childhood.

Including Easter Egg Hunts and duets on the piano.