Easter, the one that happened several months ago

I know. You thought this day would never come.

I don't know why I've finally decided that today is the day ... I've still got several sets of pictures from July and August that I have yet to share with you, so I certainly could've held out longer on Easter.

Sigh. I guess I just felt sorry for you. I thought eventually you'd forget about it, but when a few people actually ASKED me about the Easter pictures recently in emails and comments, I realized you people are like DOGS WITH A BONE.

So away we go!

Back in March or April -- whenever Easter was this year -- we gathered at my Uncle Dick's house for lunch and the Easter Egg Hunt that he's hosted for the last several years.

My cousin Allison's little girl Anna helped make cakes.

 I didn't try the cakes, because Peeps aren't my jam. But several other people tried them.

If memory serves, I think they found out that Peeps aren't their jam, either. But aren't the cakes festive looking?

My parents were here for the weekend, so we enjoyed the day with them and my mom's extended family. My dad forgot his cap, so he made so with a paper napkin to protect his head from the harsh sun while we ate lunch. #innovator

The kids tried hard to act interested in lunch, but in reality they couldn't wait to get out to the front yard to hunt for eggs. It was hard to tell, but I used my motherly intuition. I listened for clues, like the 92 times they asked how long it would be until we could start the egg hunt.

Eventually we all GAVE IN and made our way around front.

Amelia was beyond ready. I don't think she could possibly have remembered last year, but she was Ready To Hunt.

She pranced down the steps and looked left and right, hoping to catch a glimpse of a few eggs before the hunt officially started. OTHERWISE KNOWN AS CHEATING, her brothers will have you know.

But once Uncle Dick gave everyone the Go signal, everyone was off! Grayson helped Amelia get started.

I'm not sure how much help she actually NEEDED, but he's always happy to assist her.

Turns out, though, she's developed an eagle eye over the past 12 months, and she was able to pick eggs out of the shrubbery pretty much on her own without too much trouble.

It's possible that Nick had big goals.

Jake may be the only child in the state of Alabama who hunted for eggs in a sweatshirt that afternoon.

Jake does love a good hoodie.

Precious Anna.

Anna is always so sweet to Amelia ... and I think in a couple of years Amelia is going to follow her around like a puppy dog. It's kind of starting already.

It took the kids about 20 minutes to hunt for the eggs, and even then, Uncle Dick wasn't convinced they'd found all the ones he'd hidden.

Jake might not have found every egg, but he definitely started out by taste-testing the ones he found.

When do kids get too old to want to hunt eggs? WE'RE NOT THERE YET. Especially not when the eggs have money in them.

Uncle Dick likes to keep the plastic eggs to use again the following year, so each year we open them up, empty the contents into Ziploc bags, and leave the eggs with him. It's always exciting for the kids to count up the money and eat what little chocolate was actually in there.

As always, it was a wonderful afternoon spent with my mom's side of the family, and we hope to do it again next year!

Well, you know. In about six months.

Bygones.