Easter 2014 - Part 2

After church, we swung by the house to grab the watermelon basket I made and change my clothes since one of the kids had wiped their nose on my dress. Then off to Granny's house we went.

I was somewhat worried about how smoothly the day was going to go to be honest. The kids are usually ready for lunch right after church and then naps, so we weren't sure how disrupting their schedule was going to work. Would we be able to slide in a nap? Could we keep the crankiness to a minimum? How did we keep the sugar intake low despite all accessibility to candy and desserts?

Thankfully though, things went pretty smoothly. I had everything ready before we went to church, which meant we could head straight to Granny's afterwards. The kids fell asleep in the car which meant not only that they got naps, but also that we got to fix ourselves a plate of food while they slept and sit down to adult conversation which rarely happens.  

We couldn't have asked for a much prettier day either. Granny bought the kids some t-ball sets and soccer balls and Aunt Julie bought Hadley some bubbles for her birthday, so they had lots to do outside. Even the grown-ups got in on the fun. Whether they joined in the football game, helped the kids with their new toys, or just enjoyed watching the action while basking in the sunshine, the adults enjoyed themselves as much as the little ones did.

This was the first holiday since my dad passed away that we all got together, so it was definitely bittersweet. Even in the days leading up, it was on everyone's minds that this would be our first whole family celebration without him. God really blessed us though with a beautiful day and some time for family bonding to help our still healing hearts. In some ways, I think we all needed the day together. You could just sense there was just some type of bond that seemed deeper than it had before. 

One of the most touching things about the day though was the way my Uncle Junior loved on my little Reid. This baby is somewhat of a magnet when it comes to my dad's brother, who can't help but seeing my father in his sweet features. And, while snuggling with Reid may have been comforting to Junior, it also comforted me to see that grandfatherly type love being lavished on my boy who didn't have his Pop around to do it. I've never thought my dad and his older brother looked that much alike, but as I looked through these pictures and saw the way he looked at Reid, I saw Daddy in my uncle's face. Until then, I hadn't realized how much I need that. 

There were a few other special things about the day too. When we were kids, Granny used to buy kites for my cousins and me every year for Easter. Our parents would struggle to put the things together and off through the yard we'd go trying to get them up in the air. I don't remember being very successful, but I do remember having a lot of fun. Eventually we kind of grew out of kite flying though and she started buying airplanes or Nerf guns or something like that for our younger cousins, so the days of flying kites in our family seemed to be behind us. That is until this year!

The week before Easter, Granny surprised me when one day when she commented about buying some kites for kids this year. "Hooray!" I thought. My little ones were going to get to participate in this lost Vaught family tradition. I was going to be the parent trying to put it together, and a new generation would be trying their best to get their new treasures in flight.

This is my Great Aunt Margaret trying out her kite flying skills. My cousin Philip commented that this is the best kite pose ever and I have to agree. :)

I was especially impressed with three-year-old Peyton who had hers flying very well. She has skills that I sure didn't when I was her age I guess.

I worked with Hadley quite a while....

....trying to get her to run while I held it.

Finally, I decided maybe if I could get it in the air that I could just hand it off to her.

"Come and get it, Hadley!"

It would fall usually before she could get a hold on it, so off I went again, having a good ole' time. 

Finally, we got it. The trick was to keep the string short for her.

She was still a bit disgruntled for some reason though. I think she wanted to hold the kite itself. I could never quite figure out what was frustrating her.

Big girl trying to do it herself

You've got to get up some speed!

We had plenty of spectators. Everyone wanted to watch the kite flying.

Caleb tried a couple times to get his up but didn't have much patience with kite flying. He went inside instead where he somehow talked Aunt Julie into giving him a big piece of strawberry cake. The next thing I knew, he and Aunt Beth had their heads together chanting, "Chocolate, Chocolate!" (So much for my plan to keep the sweets to a minimum.)

After kite flying and snacking came the event we'd all be waiting for - the Easter egg hunt! Cliff and Ryan did a great job hiding eggs for everyone to find. Some were in obvious spaces for the little ones, and others were much more difficult to spot. Tuffs of dry grass left over from when the yard had been mowed recently were great tools for camouflaging those colorful eggs.

After being at an egg hunt the day before at the firehouse, Hadley immediately looked in her first egg, expecting a treat inside. Sorry, Girlfriend! Mommy told Granny I thought no candy was best. 

There go Dan and Bell to fetch some eggs.

Hayden was so sweet to the little ones and pointed out hiding spots.

No bells or whistles were really needed, just being out in the sunshine and having some time with family made it a fun day.

After most of the Vaughts had headed home, my brood stayed put for awhile since we were supposed to be at my mom's house next door at 5. Rather than heading all the way home, we just relaxed a bit, everyone doing their own thing. Hadley snuck back in the toy room and turned on some cartoons, Reid played with Aunt Beth, and Caleb went outside to shoot the water gun Granny had gifted him.

He said Granny was going to be very happy because he was helping her plants grow and making her yard beautiful.

Then it was time to head to my mom's where there was a whole new set of aunts, uncles, and cousins to enjoy.

Golf lessons from Uncle Randy

Hadley and Celia found a couple more playmates to chase - Mom's chickens, Gertie and Tunsy.

We had an Easter egg hunt there too. Since there were so many little ones, the eggs were hid pretty easily and the kids spotted them quickly.

 

Blake

After they found them all, Caleb emptied his basket and threw the eggs out in the yard to start again!

Since the kids' Longaberger baskets aren't the best for gathering eggs, they each have a lighter weight one to use. This year, Reid used the basket his daddy used to use when he was little. (Thanks, Grandma McKinstry, for saving it!) I think Dave was kind of proud.

Finally, the kids jumped in the little red truck Mom bought Caleb for his birthday and had a blast.

You've got to have some place to put all those eggs.

Just as much as the egg hunt and the toys, the people that we spent the evening with made it fun.

That night when we got home we were pretty exhausted, but we wanted to go over the story of what Easter was about with Caleb once more to kind of close out the day the way we had started it. After Reid and Hadley were snuggled down for bed, we finally had that opportunity to do so using these:

Dave bought this set of "Resurrection Eggs" at a Christian bookstore near his work earlier last week. Inside each egg is something that has to so with the story of Christ's death and resurrection. They are designed to be used as a visual teaching tool for children.

My husband went through the eggs and the accompanying book with the kids while I was teaching Bible study Tuesday night, and when I got home Caleb reopened them and excitedly told me what each thing meant. He was especially excited about the white egg, which he said was the best one. I loved this because it's empty like the tomb was that morning after the resurrection.

Even just going through them one time, Caleb had picked up all of that information and knew the story by heart. Even more surprisingly, when Dave first brought them home and took them out to show the kids, Caleb said, "I think these eggs have to do with Jesus." He later told me that he learned about them in Sunday school, which meant that he had remembered the lesson they did at church LAST YEAR when he had just barely turned three years old. I was pretty impressed that that Bible lesson had such an impact him him that he had remembered it a year later (especially when he'd forgotten about doing things like riding Thomas the train, which I thought would be more memorable to a kid).

We went through the story a few more times throughout week, but Easter night, we set down for one final run with the eggs to remember once more the reason for our hope. And, while I wish I had caught on camera the first night when he was so super excited about telling me what was in each egg, I did catch a little footage on Easter even though he was pretty wore out from the day: 

Dave ended up buying several more sets for our younger cousins and we handed them out through out the day Sunday. To our delight, everyone was pretty excited about them too, so I hope that rather than just kites and egg hunts these will become a tradition too. Helping fill the hearts and minds of the next generation not with just the happiness of Easter treats but with the joy of Jesus.