Easter Egg Hunting from Robby Edwards on Vimeo.

Our girls show off their Easter dresses and Emily rescues an Easter egg.

Julia Finds an Easter Treat from Robby Edwards on Vimeo.

Julia opens an Easter egg and finds a special treat.

We had our second Annual Easter Egg Hunt today. The day was beautiful and it was so nice to be out in it. The girls loved their new BIG baskets. They are so big we should have used them as props and taken photos of babies in them. Julia was a little unsure of the new location and the large group of people, but as she hung with her Daddy she got into the fun of picking up eggs. Emily was very selective of the eggs she chose. We are not sure why though. Maybe it was the discussion about being the biggest kid in the little kid hunt. We didn’t want Emily to run over the babies in her quest for eggs. Not a problem, she didn’t even collect her quota of eggs. After the hunt both girls enjoyed hanging with their friends and eating their picnic lunch. Just a smattering of photos from the day and some of the little people who we spent it with.

Julia had to get used to the idea of the egg hunt before she could get down and hunt her own eggs. Daddy is a great place to get a towering view over the area and feel safe.

Rose was the mascot Easter Bunny for the day. So sweet!

Emily was checking out her basket and the small collection of eggs she had gathered.

Aiden checking out his spoils. He had just informed us that one of the eggs had sparkles.

Where to go next?

Elena loves McKenzie. She was making sure that McKenzie was getting all of her eggs opened and inspected.

What is in there?

Julia found another one to gather

Maeve in her adorable Bunny dress. She decided to share a smile with me after all.

Julia had to decide which one to open next.

Natalie and her Easter pail

We enjoyed a beautiful spring morning at the UT gardens with friends this morning. We were joined by the usual suspects of Ashley, Elena, Maeve, Heather, and Kenzie. Also joining us was Deborah, Sarah, and Andrew who were in town for a visit and brought Grandma Darrie. The big girls love Ms. Darrie from church. We could not have asked for a more delightful morning. The kids enjoyed being with each other and at times were willing to pose for photos too. I think my favorite game the girls played was pretending to be ants and crawling around a set of benches.

My best photo at our attempt to get one of all of the girls. They are busy and loved being with each other, just not all looking at the camera at the same moment.

Sweet Elena

Emily was so excited to give McKenzie a hug. It was really sweet. She kept hugging and kissing her.

Emily was pretty reluctant to give the camera a smile. She loved checking out the flowers, sticks, garden art, benches, paths, and just everything else in the garden.

Awesome Julia smile!

Kenzie in the Heart

One of my favorite photos from the day. Maeve was really playing in the dirt surrounded by all of the beautiful flowers. Happy as any bug found in the garden.

Sarah and Andrew taking their turn posing in the heart.

Some days things happen that are unplanned and wonderful. Yesterday was a beautiful day and we were drawn to the front porch with a few crackers and coloring books. The girls just stretched out on the porch and colored to their hearts content. Julia found her arms and legs to be a great canvas too. At one point Julia was laying on her tummy with her feet up in the air and ankles crossed, but that sweet pose was gone by the time I got the camera and came back. They spent almost two hours on one activity because it was so satisfying in the sunshine. These are some of the things I love!

(4 yrs) Emily is the sleeping nomad at our house. At night she wakes up and moves herself, pillow, stuffed friend, and favorite blanket out to the couch to sleep. The time varies, but it is usually around 3-4 am. She will come to her bedroom door and if she sees light on in the living room she goes back to bed. If it is dark she comes on out and finishes out the night on the couch. Lately, she figured out that she can turn her sleeping music on in her room and hear it through the monitor on the couch. If there is a noise that is bothering her sleep on the couch, she will get her Daddy to fix it for her.

Why she moves is still a mystery to us. We have changed her pillows on her bed to be more like the couch and that didn’t seem to make any difference. There is a chance that she does it just to see her Daddy in the morning as he leaves for work. For whatever reason she does it, it does offer her the ability to see him on his way out the door. Usually, she gets her morning milk and the TV turned on for her by Daddy as he leaves. I can’t imagine that her night sleep is of great quality if she is waking up every night and moving. This might explain why her naps can still be very long when she gets to take them at home.

Our last stop was a “rest” stop on the way home. We stopped and visited with Aunt Janet and Uncle Art for one night. The day we arrived they had just had their annual Easter egg hunt with extended family and friends. Our bonus was that all of Rachelle’s Atlanta cousins were there and stayed for an evening of visiting. It has been years since we have all been together and it was a joy. The girls took a while to warm up, but they were in an unfamiliar place with loads of people. Emily warmed up first and loved playing with the new to her toys. Lily was great to play with Emily too. Eventually even Julia was running around and playing in the cubby under the stairs. The next morning we visited until after lunch and then headed on home to see Daddy. Thanks for the hospitality and the invite for future visits!

Julia was having fun running around playing and acting like her pixie self. At this moment she was supposed to come for a group photo, but had other things in mind.

Emily getting a special front porch hug!

Uncle Art and Aunt Janet with the girls. I wish the girls would pose better for photos, but it was cold and they were just ready to go home and see Daddy!