easter doings

***prepare for picture overload***

last thursday was the start of our easter festivities. i loaded up the kids and headed to marshalltown to dye eggs with my friend angie and her daughter payton. we ate pizza, chatted, the kids played and we dyed the eggs. i think it was the fastest and messiest egg dying has ever been. fletcher sure enjoyed himself and payton did too. the poor eggs all ended up with some sort of crack because they were not dunked lightly.

 {let the fun begin}

 {so careful and so serious}

 {so excited!}

 {i think this one is done}

{payton and her colorful hands}

 friday night the kids and i headed to des moines to my parents' house. my dad's cousin and her husband were in town, so we decided to hang out for the weekend too. adam joined us for dinner that night, but then headed home to work on his car.
saturday was a fun day. the girls went shopping and the boys went to bass pro. my dad and bill took fletcher to see the easter bunny...NOT a good experience. the picture is one that ellen would show...it is that good...or bad. that evening, we went for mexican and then back to the house to dye eggs. this time we waited for fletcher to be in bed so they would turn out. brynlee joined in the fun and did her a pink egg to match her shirt. she may or may not have had help.

 {dying eggs}

{melinda and b after egg dying}

 sunday morning, we got up and dressed in our easter finest and headed to church. both kids were way better than i expected. service was over and we headed back to the house for baskets full of candy, a house full of littles and some grub on the table. the food was fantastic and the dessert was even better. my mom and melinda headed out to hide eggs for little boy to hunt. he did such a good job finding them. it was pretty much comedy. he would find an egg, shake it, and then giggle before putting it in his basket and heading off for the next. the kid seriously makes me laugh all the time.

 {little lady in her easter dress}

 {and he's off}

 {oh, an egg!}

{on a mission}

 {such a pro at this egg finding game}

 {chillin while her brother hunts for eggs}

{codi and chase not really enjoying their 1st easter}

 {not such a great family photo}