Easter 2015

Why, hello there almost-May!  Same story, different month.  I had noble intentions of getting all April goings on captured in the actual month here on the ol' blog, but alas I have failed.  Let's start back at the beginning of April.  Perhaps you recall when a giant bunny and your body weight in candy came for a visit?  Let's walk through how the Martin clan celebrated.

The first event?  Emery's egg hunt at school on Thursday April 2nd.  I snuck out of work a bit early in order to witness her "hunt-a egg" in all her glory.  This was her first real egg hunt, so much prep in the form of verbal explanation took place beforehand.  She was pretty amped up to find these hidden eggs.  Knowing her the way I do, I expected other children to need padding to undertake this with her.  Girlfriend has been known to throw some 'bows when there's something she wants on the line.  However, much to this Mama's relief, she was much more preoccupied with my showing up unexpectedly than she was with egg retrieval.  We ended the hunt with no incident reports and that is the definition of success in my book!

Walk Hard: the Emmy Story.

By the time she clued into the egg hunting there were no eggs left.  I think she managed to find 2.  That happens to be her favorite number, so I don't think she was too bothered by it.

"I fin-a egg, Mommay!"

Love of post-game snacks is deeply embedded in this child's DNA.

Perhaps the most entertaining event of the Martin Easter holiday weekend took place on Good Friday, April 3rd.  Ryan and the girls both had the day off... but Mama did not.  Why is that entertaining?  Because it meant a Daddy-Daughter day.  As you might imagine, there are zero pictures from this occasion and the same number of stories.  I guess what happens on Daddy-Daughter day stays with Daddy-Daughter day.  To his credit, Daddy took care of the girls fantastically.  All members of the family may have still in pajamas when arrived home in the early afternoon but they were fed and alive.  Again- success!

After my arrival home on Good Friday we frantically packed the car and hit the road.  Destination: Conroe for some much needed family and relaxation time.  This trip not only did I remember to take some pictures, but my Dad also put on his paparazzi cap as well.  So buckle your seatbelt for a wild picture ride, my friends.

The first photo-worthy event was on Saturday morning when we decided to be ambitious enough to check out the Easter egg hunt at the Walden racket club.  As you can tell from my appearance below, we decided at the last minute to go which meant no time for things like... make up... general hygiene... changing Brynnie out of her jammies.  This is actually the case most days which is why you rarely see me on this blog.  Keep this in mind if you have the misfortune of seeing me in person any time in the next 18ish years.

I wasn't too concerned because I figured we would be one of about 20 people there.  I was so wrong.  Apparently this is quite the shindig.  There were different hunts for all the various age groups.  The pictures you see below are JUST for the 0-3 year olds.  There were hunts for bigger kids with even MORE kids.  It was quite the shindig.  

My little bunny.  (Shout out to Aunt Nitty for those awesome bunny ears!)

Julie and I pretending to be twins on accident.

Her egg-hunting skills improved drastically from Thursday to Saturday.  Just look at that form.

I think everyone in Conroe was here.

Hey!  Hey!  Are you watching me?!

The cheering section.  Unrelated note: none of us were cheerleaders in high school, clearly.

Nonnie, she's moving in on an egg I had my eye on.  Should I take her out?!

How cute are these two?

Em looking a looooot like her Nonnie!

We made the rookie parent mistake of letting Emery hang on to one of the eggs she found on the drive back home.  Shockingly, Ryan and I haven't let Emmy have much candy in her life.  In case you were ever curious how long it takes for a child to be hooked on sugar, the answer is about a 5 minute car ride.  It was  a good run, I suppose?

We spent the remainder of Saturday just hanging out, relaxing, and trying to avoid being manipulated into sharing candy with Emery.  She seriously became very adept at convincing people (namely my Dad or Uncle Matt) to set her down NEAR candy and then either sneaking her hand into the bowl or puppy dog-eyeing her way into being handed it.  Her manipulation game is STRONG guys.

OH!  And we were all treated to some ah-mazing food.  My parents made prime rib, green beans, rolls and potatoes.  That's basically candy for adults.  Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

I am 99.9% sure she's shoveling candy in her mouth here.

For weeks Emery had been telling us how she "kick-a sock-ah ball," after school.  Apparently the EB heard too because he brought her one of her own.

Soooo... when is it my turn to hunt eggs?!

Love this little Boo Boo!

Thank you Jimmy James for this adult engagement photo.

Is your heart a pile of mush?  No?  Just mine?

"C'mon Nonnie!"

On Sunday the Easter Bunny paid the girls a visit.  Thanks to the EB's fantastic GPS skills, the girls were treated to all kinds of goodies and we were all treated to a layer of stickers. 

Em's loot.

Brynnie's haul.

The Princess holding court.

Fancy pants.  I wonder if the EB is hoping that this deters her from ruining Mama's necklaces as much as I am?

One for you.  Two for you.  Okay... Fifty for you.

I wonder what stickers look like on a plate.

People usually only eat frog legs?  The whole body seems pretty tasty also.

Underwhelmed by her new links.

Comparing goods.

Poor second child.  Her Mama doesn't have it nearly together enough to remember to pack bows.  Luckily she's cute with or without them.

Is everyone ready for a little broken record action?  My first Easter with two bunnies was an absolutely fantastic holiday weekend full of food, laughs, love and lessons in what not to let children do (read: ever have anything that tastes better than vegetables.)  Thank you to all who participated- we love you far more than I could ever express!