Easter egg hunt...

Happy Easter!

I hope you are celebrating with family and friends!

Easter always calls to mind fun mornings with the family frantically running about the house searching for my Easter basket. And trying to collect more eggs than my brother and sister. Sometimes the Easter Bunny would taunt my siblings and I by leaving candy on our floors, and we would scoop it all up before searching high and low for bigger prizes. The Bunny brought us all kinds of goodies like swimming goggles or that cd that we had been pining after. 

One of my favorite Easter memories came from a family Easter party where rather than candy or money, the eggs we found in our egg hunt contained jokes.  -in retrospect this was a genius idea, thanks Mom- My family raced around the backyard competing to see who could find the trickiest eggs. Cousins playfully shoved each other to gain advantage in grabbing the little plastic toys. The 'big kids' helped the 'little kids', and before long we had scooped up most of the eggs. -I say most, not all, because my siblings and I found a few hidden in the yard in the months to follow.- 

We took our bounty into the living room and dumped our baskets of eggs into the middle of the floor. At our parents' bidding, we sat in a circle and took turns opening the eggs and reading the jokes aloud. They were the kinds of jokes you might expect, "How does the Easter Bunny stay fit? Eggs-ercise!" but as little kids we thought they were hilarious!!

Another fond memory from a past Easter is simpler. I remember sitting in my Great Grandma's nursing home. My Grandma had brought along an Easter Bunny cake - you know, one of those ones that looks great on Pinterest but never seems to work out in real life - it looked great when we got there, but as we ate and chatted and played cards, the cake's whipped topping started to melt a little. Most of the cake remained looking great, but the bunny's eyes (black jelly beans) and whiskers (licorice strings) started to droop. My Great Grandma started giggling about how funny the cake's face looked, and we all joined in her infectious laughter.

Growing up, Easter was always a day to wear a dress that was just a little too cold for the weather and spend time with the people I love. Even though I am no longer able to visit home for the holiday, Easter holds a special place in my heart.