This past weekend we headed over to Branson to enjoy a day at Silver Dollar City. It was a great day! The weather was amazing and the park was not crowded at all! We seriously did not have to wait in line for rides or food. We all had so much fun! Lily was tall enough to do several new things this year which made the day even more enjoyable. Those 2 kiddos ran and ran and ran and never complained a bit. We ended up staying several hours and left with huge smiles on our faces! We have a list of things to do next time we are there - things that we ran out of time for this visit but really want to do which makes me excited to go back. Once in the van, Lily passed out before we even left the parking lot while Cole looked at the park map, planning out our next visit. It was a perfect family outing for us!
One thing I love to do....dye Easter eggs. I don't know why - it is like it is really Spring when you dye your Easter eggs. And I look forward to Spring all Winter. This was Lily Kate's first year to get in on the action and she did very well. Much better than this past Halloween and the pumpkin carving. She really seemed to have fun dunking the eggs in the dye and watching them turn colors. Cole opted to draw his own decorations on his eggs rather than using the stickers and things I had bought. He is truly becoming a real artist. As with all things creative that we do, Rhonald ended up dying and decorating eggs as well. I love that the kids always have him to enjoy these holiday traditions while I snap a few pictures. I did get in on the decorating but I really loved being able to watch the 3 of them this time. Lily covered every egg with as many stickers as she could - it was a real mess but very sweet. Cole, sweet and serious Cole, drew faces and even drew the Solar System on his eggs. Lily ended up dropping several eggs on the floor but we all decided it gave them a "vintage" look. Such a fun memory to make together - and such a wonderful welcome to springtime!
Since we were home this year for Easter we decided it would be super fun to host a big Easter egg hunt the Saturday before. I planned for weeks....I was so excited. We had candy and eggs and food galore and then.....it poured. It literally poured down rain for 3 days and our yard was a total mess. So, we postponed the Searcy Egg Hunt until 2014 and took the day to play inside together. Sunday, however, was beautiful so we filled some of our hundreds of eggs and let the kids hunt them in our front yard. They had so much fun - even though there are not many hiding places in our yard. They ran and laughed and enjoyed themselves so much. Although it was disappointing to have to cancel our party it was still super fun watching our kids enjoy themselves.
This was the first Easter that we have spent at home since Cole was a baby. We were very excited to be here and experience Easter with our own church family. It turned out to be the very best and most relaxing Easter we have ever had. We had a great worship service at church and came home and played and rested and had a very laid back afternoon. Then, that evening, I made a big Easter dinner and we ended the night curled up together on the couch watching a movie. It was wonderful and much needed after the busy schedules that Spring has brought us.
