Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter Eggs, Bunnies, and Lilies (Oh My!)

Oh my, what a weekend we had!  Easter has always been my favorite holiday.  Especially when it’s in April.  The weather here finally starts getting nice, nurseries start opening and selling flowers, we start planning gardens (notice planning, not planting- we’re so not there yet…), fruit (outside of apples, oranges, and bananas) are in season…  I love the spring.  LOVE it.  We used to do egg hunts in the backyard, no matter how cold it was (although I’m sure a few years if it was really snowy we’d move inside, but I remember being outside in pajamas, coats, and snow boots on more than one occasion).  Easter breakfast and Easter dinner always were just part of the deal.  It’s so perfect that Spring comes during the Easter season; I love the visual reinforcement of starting new, and leaving the past behind. 

So, needless to say, I was anxiously awaiting Piper’s first Easter.  We had such a busy weekend, I’m going to have to do a couple of posts so I don’t overload on pictures too badly… 

Saturday we went to the city’s Easter Egg hunt.  Piper did very little hunting, but enjoyed herself nonetheless.  She scoped the scene out so she knew what to practice for next year.  On her list is standing, walking, bending, picking up, and putting in.  I think it’s a very manageable task!

Before the races began, she found the fake Easter Bunny.  She wasn’t entirely sure, but I really think she knew something was up because of all the people.  She particularly likes watching other kids; she’s never seen that many kids in a confined area.  She didn’t know they existed in those quantities, and was mesmerized by it all.

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When the whistle blew to let the kids start, Piper got to sit inside the ropes and watch.  Kind of.  She got to look at her already-filled Easter basket, and wonder what the heck was going on.

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After the races, which lasted all of about 4.3 seconds, we (I’d say hunted down, but that’s just wrong) found the Easter Bunny for Piper to see.

We waited for our turn, and had fun watching all the other little kiddos with the creepy bunny man.  We finally got a chance, and I handed Piper over.  I backed up to take a picture and her face was suddenly plastered with a look that seemed to say “What the heck did you do to me???  Oh, you’re gonna pay with the wrath of my big kid scream!”.  The large crowd around us did the “Awwwww!”, at which point my ham of  a child started smiling and patty caking.  Oh dear.

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That night, we got dressed up and went to church with Luke’s family.  We hadn’t been to that church in quite a while, so it was fun going back and seeing a bunch of folks, most of whom hadn’t met Piper yet.  We obviously had to get a picture in front of the Easter lilies. 

The funniest part of the whole service, though (and I almost hate to admit this), was the friend Piper made with the guy sitting behind us.  She was laughing, smiling, waving…  I looked back to say hi to whoever was back there, and was taken aback by a…  hmm.  Interesting?  guy.  Tattooed (with words!) eyebrows (!!!), piercings, tattooed other things…  Piper loved him!  He was a really nice guy, we chatted for a minute or two.  Just goes to show how much we can learn from the unassuming nature of kids.

Piper wasn’t too keen on sitting through the whole service though, so we spent some time in the foyer looking around, which she enjoyed (surprise, surprise).  She really liked smelling the lilies, and we worked on the “gentle” part of touching things. 

Piper was completely and utterly exhausted by the time we got home (so was I).  But she did so good with all the activity.  We can tell that she’s starting to leave a lot of the preemie characteristics behind, like the likelihood of getting over-stimulated.  I don’t think that we would have been able to get through a day like this (when you add in a trip to Walmart <<insert crying face here>> and going out to lunch) a few months ago.  Not to mention a day like this followed by a day like Sunday.  More on that a little later!

3 comments:

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  2. What a pretty little girl you have! She looks so beautiful in her dress!!

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  3. tell me more about this city easter egg hunt. where is it? how'd u find out about it?

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