Six A.M.

It's Saturday.  Last night I stayed up extremely late, and was woken at 6 a.m.  by little hands shaking me. "Mom! Mom!  Guess what?!!?!  The easter bunny left me an egg in my bed!"

If eyes could laugh, Anabelle's were in hysterical glee.  Even though I desperately needed coffee, it was contagious.

Before I knew it, three children were rushing around the house on a hunt.  A much harder hunt than they've ever had - I guess the Easter Bunny gets harder the older you get.

Our Easter traditions are a bit unusual.  First, we write a letter to the Big Bunny (I'm assuming he/she is big) asking politely if it could come a day early due to Mike's job, then the night before we count how many plastic eggs we have and leave them in the center of the dining room table.  The remaining dyed Easter eggs that survived and we managed to somehow not crack are waiting in the refrigerator.  And lastly, a few carrots are left out.  

This was the biggest hunt in our family's history.  When the kids woke up, I informed them there were 25 eggs plastic each for them to find and 7 hardboiled eggs - once they found 32, they had to stop (gives the younger kids a better chance, and more fun to be had).

Katarina and Sam began to get frustrated, which was a first, because the Easter Bunny truly had gotten more tricky.  Slowly, they gained some detective skills but still their baskets were only partially filled, while Anabelle, who crawled on the floor, was able to spy all sorts of eggs in unusual places.

Kat and Sam, in desperation, began opening closets and pulling out doors when Anabelle peeked out the window and gasped.  "MOM! MOM!  THERE ARE EGGS OUTSIDE!!!!"

The Easter Bunny has never taken our eggs into the great outdoors before.  Thankfully, he's a smart bunny and only hid eggs in the front yard, and on Dad's jeep and motorcycle, so the dog didn't have a chance to enjoy.  

And, yes, if you drove by and thought we were dancing around in our pajamas at 645 a.m. in the front yard, you didn't need more coffee and Visine drops - we really were.

Mike showed great joy that the Easter Bunny preferred his vehicles over mine.  There wasn't an egg to be had around the TrailBlazer.  What's up wit dat, Mr. Bunny?

It's almost 8 now, the kids have had their breakfast and  opened up eggs to find punching balls, a traditional Cadbury Cream Egg (I'm jealous), and other trinkets.  Like other holidays, Anabelle will need to be closely monitored when it comes to candy.  Sam, however, still has Halloween candy stored away.  He told me when he gets rich he plans to move back here (from the big city hours to the east) and open up a Dollar Tree right here in our town of less than 5,000 so 'Mom can have a cheap store to go and not drive much.'  Maybe he's saving the Halloween candy for some of the merchandise.

Anyway, Katarina is still hunting.  There are 3 eggs remaining to be found.  At least they are plastic eggs, unlike the hardboiled eggs several years back that my mom and dad found in the piano and the couch.... months later...  by using their sense of smell.

  

Happy Easter.  Need more coffee...