Easter Day!

Easter was the best this year, truly. We could have had a bit warmer and sunnier, but otherwise it was such a good day start to finish. 

We started the morning with Easter baskets and inside the baskets were only a few small toys. But there was a clue leading them to a location with one larger present. This was James's face when he saw the Lego set he wanted desperately but wasn't expecting. 

Juliet got a leopard "soft friend" who hasn't left her side since Easter day.

A few candies and chocolates, some seeds for the garden, sidewalk chalk and blueberries.

He couldn't wait to get building. And even though this was a set for 8-14 year olds, he only needed help a few times.

And it wasn't really warm enough for sidewalk chalk, but when you've got bunny jammies and slippers, anything is possible. ;)

Once dressed we modeled a bit in front of the forsythia.

She is such a good model. But look at that sad face! Maybe I told her I didn't like where she was standing?

Soon the house filled with brunch guests. We were hoping to host in the backyard, but alas, not quite warm enough.

Melissa is a kitty whisperer.

Juliet was SO MUCH more social at this party than every before. Yea!

Breakfast was AMAZING. The strada was out of this world good and my mom's homemade sweet rolls...

My four sibs, all in a line. Me, Brandon, Melissa, Chandler.

And my mom the Easter Bunny had a chance to hide more baskets plus tons of eggs in the backyard for the kids to have another hunt!

Everyone was so interested to see what the kids got.

Full house! Seriously such fun.

Brandon had an app on his phone that delighted James and Juliet, and he played with them the majority of the time.

After a quick quiet time we drove up to Midway to join E's family for dinner. Chelsea and Joe hosted, which was extremely nice of them, due to the fact that Chelsea is 17 weeks pregnant! 

After (more!) Easter baskets were explored we started the annual egg hunt. Every year E's dad the Easter Bunny puts on an EPIC egg hunt with clues, tricks, driving, and scavenging until we find the final goodies. For a couple of years now, he's been doing it for the grandkids (because for years and years he did it for his adult children!). He's amazing.

We went all over town looking for clues.

These three cousins (and another on the way) are the best of friends.

Happiest Easter!

In this post Juliet is wearing my favorite outfit I've ever found for her. It's vintage (purchased with the original tags!) and is just perfection. I paired it with a classic knee sock and black leather mary jane. With her little bob she looks like she just stepped out of the 1940s.

Dying eggs with little friends

The Friday before Easter I got the brilliant idea to dye eggs with some of our little friends. We hadn't dyed eggs in years, and finally the kids were big enough to kinda get it. Thank goodness it was warm enough to be outside (mostly) because it was an epic awesome mess.

Most eggs were dipped into every color before they were deemed complete. So 90% of them are kinda brown.

The six year olds are looking huge these days. (Look how little these boys were once!)

Lots of work getting the perfect color (notice James's very brown egg!).

Capitol Reef National Park

Every spring we like to head south to enjoy the red rocks and the sun. This year we decided on Capitol Reef, it's a less visited park and just spectacular, plus, we haven't been there since James was a baby.

This year we went early enough that it didn't make a lot of sense to camp (it was COLD at night), but we found a really affordable hotel just down the road, and the kids did fabulously.

We left Friday and got to Capitol Reef by mid afternoon. The kids were so excited to get right to it, so we choose a short hike that was a little bit steep. We worried that we were possibly making a mistake but Juliet has turned into an incredible little hiker, and while slower than the rest of the group, happy to keep hiking and never complaining.

These photos aren't really in order, but they all tell the basic story. Beautiful days, blue skies, warm in the sun, cool in the shade and two extremely happy kids.

James has always been an incredible hiker, often out pacing all of us easily, but this bunny turned into a great hiker seemingly overnight. She LOVED it. She didn't want to stop, and kept telling us she was a good 'xplorer.

You really realize how small you are when in a place as huge as Capitol Reef (see James there on the right?).

Cohab Canyon is a must.

I got a selfie stick. Can you see how thrilled everyone is?

We'd never hiked to Hickman Bridge and absolutely loved it, after Cohab Canyon, it may be my favorite Capitol Reef hike.

Thank you nice stranger for taking our photo.

Any time there was a little side trail or rocks to climb on, this one was all over them. She couldn't get enough.

Grand Wash was lovely but cold! But the blue blue sky looked especially marvelous that day.

James loved hiking ahead so often we finally just gave him a radio. He kept calling it a "remote control" and felt so mature being in charge of it. His messages were darling, even if we only caught half of what he was saying. (Don't worry, there was an adult with him at all times!)

I think I bribed with with a candy for a smile here, because he thinks the selfie stick is ridiculous.

This boy of mine! Look at those freckles and eyes.

Happy the entire day through!

The view from our hotel room wasn't bad. Isn't that sunrise light beautiful?

More spots to explore.

Look! I was there. ;)

The rocks don't even look real when you're looking at them with your own two eyes.

He is really just such a happy hiker.

And the last stop before leaving was to the apricot orchards that were all in bloom!

The National Park kept the original pioneer orchards as part of the park, and they are just stunning.