A Saturday Egg Hunt

The Saturday before Easter, the Rices came over for an Easter Egg hunt. Wendy, Mark, Dale and Rose are some of our very best friends, and we had a wonderful day with them!

 After some Easter crafts, the kids got to have a delicious snack of "tea" and cookies.

Would you like a spot of tea?

Delicious!

Why yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the cookies!

Blue frosting is the best!

  After snack it was time for the egg hunt!

 

 

 

Dale is a seasoned egg hunting pro, and his basket was full in the blink of an eye!

 

 

 

Elizabeth joined in the fun

 And then it was time to enjoy the spoils of the hunt!

 

 

 

Palte, Family of Five!

Coloring Eggs with Cousins

All four girls give Aunt Britney their undivided attention as she explains how we'll be dying eggs. Yes, there will be Cool Whip, and yes, it's okay to eat it.

 

Callie's a pro at this egg dying thing

Addison starts out a bit cautiously

Dee Dee kept the colors flowing

Emily went immediately for a taste test

Annalea starts off with a little orange

And then decides it's best to get her face right down in that whip cream

Addie's getting her color scheme just right

Annalea, you have a little something on your nose

Emily's neat side gets the best of her and she requests a rag (rak!) so she can "keen"

Indoor Easter Egg Hunt

While Cee Cee and Pop Pop were visiting, we decided to do an Easter Egg hunt with the girls, but the weather wasn't nice enough to have it outside, so we did it indoors. This was the first of three egg hunts for the girls this year, and they figured out how the game worked very quickly. As Emily found her eggs, she immediately dumped the candy into her bag and then went on to find the next egg. Addie, on the other hand, ate the candy as she went. It's funny because usually when we give them each a treat, Addie holds onto hers for a long time while Emily gobbles hers right up.

The hunt was over pretty quickly so I didn't get many pictures, but here's a little video:

Sisters

Before Elizabeth came home, the girls had really been loving their baby dolls. After she came home, that didn't change. In fact, their baby doll play may have even increased. After all, they want to do whatever Mom and Dad are doing, and lately there's been a lot of baby feeding, burping, rocking, and holding.

Here's Emily, a couple days after Elizabeth came home, showing off her baby rocking skills.

Now that Elizabeth has been home for five weeks, Addie has gotten quite comfortable around her and asks to hold her ("hote!") a couple times a day. For the first week though, before the holding started in earnest, Addie would sit as close to her baby sister as she could, observing all the tiny details.

 Little Helpers

 These big sisters really have been great little helpers. Here they are being sweet and precious while Dee Dee changed a diaper.

 

I just love this shot! When Elizabeth was just over a week old, Doug and Kirstin came for a visit and we all piled into the Traverse for a trip to the playground. Here are all three girls in the backseat. 

And I'll finish off this post with one of my favorite shots from Easter. Three sisters in matching butterfly dresses. Life is sweet!

 

So Many Holding Arms

In the month since Elizabeth has been home, she has gotten to snuggle in lots of arms. I haven't had a chance to take a picture of everyone, but here are some...

Auntie Jennica

Kaia (So wild to see her as the "big kid" holding the baby when it was just a year ago that she was the newborn! See pics here.)

Aunt Marsha, Uncle Bob, and cousin Luca

Auntie Allison

Dee Dee

Cee Cee and Pop Pop

Auntie Wendy

Dale - this precious four year old is a ball of energy, but when he holds Elizabeth, he is so very calm and gentle. For more pics from this amazingly fun day, visit Wendy's blog, here.

Aunt Kirstin and Uncle Doug

Uncle Mark

Great Grandma Nicoll "Grandma the Great"

Jyoti

Auntie Christa

BG

Emily and Addie's babysitter, Miss Kenzie

And, of course, Elizabeth has spent lots of time in the arms of her Daddy, Mama, and big sisters!