First Annual Easter Egg Hunt!

When I was growing up, we had Easter Egg Hunts every year. And every year, they got bigger and bigger. We loved to invite our friends in addition to our cousins to hunt for eggs with us and we hunted until it became painfully obvious that we were too old to hunt for eggs. Well, since we still loved the hunt, we started doing it for the kids at church and the kids in the neighborhood. We also used to use all hard boiled eggs and we painted dozens of them.
Jasmine expressed interest about a month ago to go Eastering with her friends and I got the idea to do her Easter Egg hunt to include her friends. She became very excited by the prospect and we laid out the plans. I too was excited to do a large hunt for the kids that we love in our lives.
As you saw in a previous post, we colored eggs the day before but in addition to those, I also bought plastic eggs that were filled with toys and candy so that we could have a variety for the kids. When all was said and done, we hid 198 eggs.
We had about 18 kids show up with their parents in tow and we had some very fun activities planned. We had the kids decorate sugar cookies in the shapes of eggs, bunnies, tulips and butterflies and they also played Bunny Toss in the front yard - all of this while the eggs were being hid in the backyard.When the eggs were hidden, the kids lined up and we marched to the back where they were let loose to hunt. They were done in about 15 minutes! I couldn't believe how fast they had found them - perhaps next year we should hide them a bit harder!The kids then played on the playground and everyone had a chance to indulge in some ice cream. We thought it would be fun to have an ice cream social as well and it was all kept simple. Everyone seemed to be having a great time and I was so happy that we did this. I can't wait to do it again!

Annual Cherry Blossom Visit

Lorne and I have been going to see the Cherry Blossoms together since we got married. It was a tradition that we did with Jeff & Jill Child each year. Now that they have deserted us, we decided that we needed to keep going since it is really something we look forward to each year.
This year, since Laura was in town, she came with us and that was great fun. Also, since it had been raining and windy, the sun finally broke through on Friday afternoon and we decided a Friday evening visit would be best.The blossoms were at their peak and it was a very nice evening. A bit chilly since it was still quite windy and you can see from the pictures that Jasmine was a bit cold. I didn't think to bring her a jacket, so we all took turns trying to warm her up.We walked a bit - usually we walk the entire tidal basin, but since I am so big and pregnant right now, that wasn't about to happen! I still walked as much as I could. I loved seeing the blossoms and watching the wind rush across the tidal basin and make the water look ominous.After the cherry blossoms, we stopped and had dinner at Chicken Out and ended the evening having fun together and enjoying good simple food.

Laura's Visit and Easter Egg Coloring

My dear friend Laura (whom I met at GWU when we were students there and we have been fast friends ever since) has recently moved back from London (after securing her 2nd Master's Degree - what a smart cookie) and we were dying to see her. I gently urged her to come to DC and see us and she finally obliged.She arrived Thursday night and after promptly going to bed, we began having fun the next day. Since we had scheduled an Easter Egg hunt with Jasmine's friends to take place Saturday the 4th, we needed to prepare for that even and so we invited the Trauger girls to come over and we colored Easter Eggs. This was also an especially good activity since it had been raining all week and the first day of Jasmine's Spring Break was that day.The girls were super excited to color eggs and I was super excited to have so much extra help. Kelleen, Laura and Laura's friend Mary were there to assist and therefore, I got to sit and relax and be photographer (my favorite thing!). When we were done, we had four and a half dozen nicely colored eggs to hide the next day (plus the plastic ones I had bought). There were only a few casualties during the egg coloring process and so a few of those eggs were eaten. The girls loved coloring the eggs and made some very creative designs. Laura even got in on the fun and colored some beauties.I love having friends and neighbors that are so close to us and that we can share these special moments with. These are bonds I hope will last throughout Jasmine's life and that we can always treasure these friends.

Spring is trying to Spring

It has been a very interesting winter season around here and while we didn't have much snow (which I wasn't happy about) - we did have many bitter cold days and fluctuating temperatures. Every time I think spring is finally here, we have more cold days. Lucky for me, I am in my 9th month of pregnancy and cold suits me just fine.
The trees in our front yard have blossomed and they are so amazingly beautiful that each spring, I really enjoy the week they are blooming. We are the only house on the street that has these trees that are this large in our front yard, so they tend to stand out as you are driving up the street. I do love them and had to share them with you...