A few weekends ago, Grandma and Grandpa Kartchner came to visit. We had a great time with them. Unfortunately, the only pictures we got were of Grandpa breaking open the geode (which wasn't as sparkly as we were hoping for, but fun anyway), and of the girls attempting to fly kites in the C O L D and wind.
Easter weekend was a lot fun too. Saturday morning, we woke up, got ready, and headed to the park. The local newspaper had said the easter egg hunt would last about 30 seconds, so we wanted to make sure we were there on time.
The girls were signed up for the 2-3 year old section. We got there and pinned their tags on. Rhett gave them strategy tips--go straight to the center, then work your way out. Come to find out, every other parent told their kid to do the exact same thing too.
As we were waiting for the countdown, I started having flashbacks of Katniss and Peeta in The Hunger Games counting down in the arena to get access to the cornucopia . . . good thing Rhett was there to keep the girls focused.
It was a little cold, but we thought the girls would work up a sweat hunting all the eggs. They got chilly, though, while they were waiting, so Rhett wrapped them in his sweater.
Finally, the Easter Bunny on the baseball pitcher's mound counted down and the kids were off. Both Claire and Summer ran straight into the field of eggs, and then just stood there. The instructions were that parents were to stand on the edge and watch, but when all the other adults ran out to help their kids, I sent Rhett out there too. (As you can tell from the clip, I was a little bothered by it.)
My favorite moment of the whole thing was when Summer found a bracelet. She was THRILLED! It was more exciting than any of the candy that she found. She ran to show Rhett, and came to show me too. And the best part is that when she found another one, she picked it up and ran over to put it in Claire's basket.
Checking out the loot.
That evening, we headed over to Basin City, Washington, to par-tay at my cousin Jessica's wedding reception. It was fun to get to visit with Steve and Valon. And the girls were obsessed with the "princess" the whole time. They even got to dance with her and Eric. Jess and Eric were sweet to entertain them.
I've thought a lot about the hunt, and the repeated "Don't be picky! Just get everything! Pick them up! Hurry!" advice. The moments of Summer squealing at the little treasures she found during the hunt are seared into my memory. How fun to be able to enjoy the hunt and not stress about frantically picking up everything in sight, rushing to get to the next egg before someone else, and trying to get the most eggs possible. She enjoyed the hunt just as much as she enjoyed opening the eggs afterward and eating the candy. I think about this a lot now . . .
5 comments:
It is funny how Easter Egg Hunts turn out when the kids are little...it's not much of a hunt and more of a free-for-all...But you're right...The girls don't have an expectation to get a ton of eggs to fill their basket...they are happy about the little treasures they got! Great perspective Britt!
This was the only egg hunt I got to observe,I too was cheering the girls on. Thanks
Looks like they had a lot of fun! I read about some town in the U.S. where they had to cancel this years hunt because parents had been too crazy the previous year. Guess they had also been told not to go out on the field, but had done the opposite, trampling kids in the process and leaving some empty handed. I think it says a lot about how kids grow up and move away from the joy of the hunt to the joy of the prize. In Sweden kids get just one egg. Filled with charcoal and rocks (Not really).
Looks to me like you should have had a few prep runs like my mom had us do. That way there was no question as to what we needed to do. They both lost valuable seconds actually looking at what they were getting.
Isn't it interesting the things we learn from children. Hence, the direction to "become as a little child..."
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