The Easter Bunny Rocks!!

Katja decided that she would be Jack's Easter Bunny this year, and he thought she rocked!

Easter weekend was very busy.  Not only Sunday, with church, etc., but also on Saturday.  That's when we went to grandma & papa's to color eggs, swim (in the heated pool- thank you, papa!) and hunt for eggs with all the cousins.  Yep, you guessed it. This is another one of those Rivera family traditions.  This one sort of evolved naturally when Katja & Robbie were very young, and began coloring eggs. We would strip them down to their bathing suits before letting them have at the eggs and dye cups so they would not ruin their nice clothes.  Then, when the coloring was done, grandma would jump in the heated jacuzzi with them in order to clean off.... Now, it is a day long celebration with LOTS of food and laid-back fun for the kids and adults alike.   

Jack LOVED everything about Easter.  He would show me his eggs and say, "mama! Ish egg!" with enthusiasm.  The teacher in me, of course, used the opportunity to review the colors with him ;)  

Me:  "Yes, it's an egg, honey!", I would say, "What color is that egg, Jack?"

Jack: "Ish lellow?" (he would say this with big round eyes as if looking for confirmation)

Me:  "Yes, it sure is yellow, sweetheart.  You're so smart! What other color is it?"

Jack:  "Ish pink!" (followed by grin full of confidence, pride (at his cleverness) & laughter)

This verbal exchange occurred over, & over, & over....  He carried his basket of eggs everywhere, everyday, including to bed.  (Yes, I took the candy out of the eggs prior to bedtime ;)  The picture below was actually taken while in the midst of one of our color identifying conversations.  Can't you just see the wheels in his head turning?

Above, Jack after coming home from daycare and hunting for eggs in the playground.  He had so much fun, and was so competitive, his teachers had to sneak a few eggs out of his basket so the other children would have enough....  Below- By the time he went hunting for eggs at grandma & papa's he knew what to do and took off to fill his basket without hesitation.

As you can see, having already egg-hunted at school did not diminish his excitement for the activity again on Saturday.  It was like he was thinking, "This is SO cool, and I get to do it again!?!  Woo-hoo!"

A few times he took a break from hunting to sample the delights hiding within the eggs. Starburts, much to my delight, were his favorite as well as mine.  "Open, pleeze!" was his favorite phrase over the weekend as these candies came tightly bound in wrappers.  We got to practice our manners repeatedly. :) He knew he wouldn't get a single sweet until he said, "Sssank-you". He said it A LOT.

Cousin Jayce quite enjoyed coloring eggs again this year... almost as much as he enjoyed smashing them on pool deck afterwards.  He is SOooo much fun these days.... all boy!

In sharp contrast, cousin Zeke (who has been know to posses a "wild-side") not only enjoyed coloring the eggs, but was quite meticulous about embellishing them with stickers and being VERY careful so as not to break any accidentally.  Who would've "thunk" it...?!?

While our usually more "mature" and "sensible" Cousin Baz (who also enjoyed the egg coloring and the hunting) MUCH preferred the chocolate fountain.  Especially, when he thought no one was looking. ;)  He didn't even bother skewering fruit or marshmallows to dip into the streaming chocolate. He just stuck out his tongue...!?!  Now, why didn't I think of that?

It was a fun weekend.