egg-fest

yes yes yes...i'm weeks late, but you know what? this is my pace. so just enjoy the colorful pics! 

i haven't decorated eggs since who knows when, it was actually more enjoyable in my head than i had made it out to be...i had forgotten it could actually be quite fun with the boys now that they're older and can contain their messes a bit better.

i tried doing the marbled egg look with shaving cream and food coloring, and it was a lovely + colorful disaster-- bonus that the eggs smelled really good too!

i totally enjoyed taking pics of Leo 'helping' Caren decorate her hard-earned eggs that she had been collecting for weeks. and by helping, i mean crushing. she didn't mind it at all which i thought was beautiful. it reminded me that i am too quick to get angered by the boys when they don't do things as they should be. 

'chillax, lynet. enjoy the moments and be silly' was my lesson learned....

finally we headed outside to take some pics and hunt!

the kiddos were more entertained by what was in the egg than looking at the camera. but you see that grass? it was truly that green.

Elena & Leo enjoyed those jelly beans to the max!

photographing all four cousins together was futile. especially with those eggs and 3 o'clock sun.

and then there was that nosy horse. he just kept sticking his nose anywhere he could...

and as soon as they all had their baskets, they were off!

i could easily tell Leo would be a pro at this...just a little instruction and he was an egg-picker champ.

the boys didn't need coaxing...they were so pumped about crushing 'cascarones' on people's heads

miss elena didn't know what to do...don't worry baby girl, you'll soon know why we do this.

in no time, people were getting smashed in the head.

nobody was safe.

eggs were crushed. ouches and tears were shed but smiles roamed abundantly.

and candy was enjoyed most of all by a certain little boy...

smiles were so cheesy and little bodies never stood still enough -- it was all too exciting!
crush every egg!!!

and finally, all eggs were found and crushed. all candy was eaten and it was time to call it an end...

scooter was being nosy again about the commotion. i think curiosity got the best of him because an egg was busted on his head too...

the next morning there are always a few eggs hiding from the grown-up hunt the night before. all the boys get up and go out to find the strays...and again, the crushing of the heads continue!!! 

until next year!

Antiqued Easter hunt....

Brace yourself, long post full of pictures. Just sit and stay a while =)

We went to Dublin to Easter hunt on Easter weekend...

The things is, the weather hindered our traditional night Easter hunt and we had to cancel it...

Don't get me wrong, we needed the rain--badly.

But it was kinda disappointing since we had been preparing for this since last November.

So before the weather got bad, the kids managed to pick some plastic eggs at the park that the other side of family was hosting...

It was H-O-T

So this is our workspace...

While I'm outside spraypainting the 'cascarones' {{empty eggshells}}

these poor souls slave away filling each 'cascaron' with confetti.

Then they cover up the hole with glue and a tiny square of tissue paper.

Tons of people showed up...We were SO ready!

The girls!

Cousins...eerrrr, wait.

This is the boys room. Shocking? No, not that much...

Beautiful ladies....

the stash of 'cascarones'...over 10 dozen

Roughed-up Tim and Wita

Tia and Pancho {{and her weird faces}}

I honestly can say that I prefer this method a lot better than hunting candy eggs...why? Because I don't sugar highs from 'cascarones' just fun-highs from cracking them over people's heads!

Needless to say, that night was when our hunt got cancelled due to horrendous hail and rain...

Rain, rain, and more rain....OH and hail. And more hail.

Yeah, that's hail...my car took a few dings.

No worries though...Easter morning, Moomie gives each boy their Easter gift!

Can you tell how excited Andrew is in his Toy Story chones?

It's a dinosaur that will hold his beloved "First Tooth"

Can you tell that Jonah thinks his green bunny is delicious?

So after lunch, it's off to hunt!

Andrew finds one and immediately knows what you're supposed to do--CRACK them on vulnerable people, that's what!!!

Now it's Tio Carlos' turn...

Gimp Gary gets tackled by the abuser James Ross...

while the elderly either babysit or watch from above...

...and of course, Mommy gets some confetti action

Warning: Never put confetti in eye. Doing so, will make you look like a dork. 

See James Ross.

Pearl snap shirts are optional.

Ring Pops are the ultimate find...

So we were all pretty mad out tradition got broken so we made plans to come back the next weekend to hang out and hunt the rest of the eggs....

Soooo glad we did! We had fun.

This time, Melody and Katie and her kiddos joined us.

We were also blessed to meet Jamie, the boyfriend who ate all my pico de gallo.

Katie with Mace set off in search of the eggs!

Lil' ones get to go first...

Aunt Melon helps little Brylee enjoy the grass

Tia Emily was helping Andrew discover the 'cascarones'

Then had to suffer the consequences...

The Aunt and Uncle...

Mace, getting the hang of the 'cascarones'on his Aunt Melon

Moomie and James

We never could find that right shoe!

boing, boing,boing, boing...

C-R-A-C-K!!!

Confetti EVERYWHERE!

The grown ups were waiting while the little ones hunted...

Jamie stayed as far away as possible of those babies...

"Don't need to get any ideas, Emily" says he.

Mace found some!!!

And of course, this year I managed to surprise folks.

While I sneakily made my share of 'cascarones' I included a secret ingredient that was sure to be loved by everyone--flour!

{{hence the antiqued title of this post}}

Commence the shameful final pictures of our hunt:

Moomie

Carl

Mel

Mimi

Jamie

{{mind you, the first 5-10 minutes he wasn't going to "participate," but we quickly changed his status}}

Mace!

Me and Jonah

James Ross

Dawna 

{{got her good on the right eye!}}

Carl, Tia Betsy and Brylee

And finally, we end with Mace trying to bust his Aunt Melon with a plastic egg...

Keep going Mace! 

...ANNNNDDDD WE'RE DONE!

{{wasn't that fun?!}}