The Final Egg Hunt of the Year

It was off to Ba and Opa's house on Sunday for a delightful (final?) Easter celebration. By this time, apparently Evie was done with dipping eggs and wanted to try painting them.


Evie shows off her expertise to Opa.
Ba and Evie pose among the Easter baskets.


Evie proudly shows off a plastic egg with Mom and Dad.

Then it was off to the neighbor's house to play with the older kids. Abby took great care of Evie, including letting her sit on her lap as they went down the slide.

...then the big Hunt began! Note Evie's headband has turned into a tribute to Bruce Springsteen from the 80s.

Abby helped Evie find some plastic eggs too.

Evie poses with the neighborhood kids and grandkids after all the eggs and baskets were found!

Ba and Opa take a picture with Evie.

Daddy reads to Evie about butterflies, while she helpfully turns the pages.

Yes, a new puzzle - Evie is excited.

Evie and Ba read another book together as the Easter comes to a close. Hooray for our favorite holiday!

Saturday Egg Hunt with Friends

Lucky Evie had her friends Levi and Ava over for some Easter fun on Saturday. The kids had a great time coloring the eggs before brunch.


After loading up on carbs for the big race (well, mini donuts and yogurt parfaits), the kids were off to the backyard, their eyes on the prizes.


Evie did a great job of finding eggs - she is an eggs-pert by now!


Ava was no novice herself!

Levi gets into the action as well.

The three kids look through their bounty and are all smiles!

Whew! That hunt wiped out daddy and Evie - they fell into log naps while watching "This Old House".

Preparing for Easter next week...

After a rainy Saturday, Evie loved getting out in the beautiful weather at Ba's and Opa's house. To celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary, we had a lovely brunch in Occoquan at Bistro l'Hermitage where Evie loved her croissant and especially her butter. While Daddy and Opa did some gardening, Evie went to the playground and ran around outside, scoping out the potential egg hiding spots for next week.

Whee! Evie was appropriately wearing a French dress today.


Mommy and Evie pose in front of a pink dogwood tree.

At the end of the day, Evie entertained us with her favorite book that she "read" all by herself: "Good Egg."

Early Easter Celebrations in Spring Lake

It was a lovely weekend in Spring Lake as the extended McDonald clan gathered at Bebe's and Popi's house for our annual Easter Egg Hunt (a couple of weeks early so that Mom could still travel). Every McDonald cousin had a designated area to search for their eggs, so luckily they were not exposed to the competitive tendencies of the McDonald brothers.

Evie did a great job of finding her eggs in the bushes.
Stan did Aunt Casey and Uncle Dave proud with his laser-beam focus to find his eggs (although this one was a little confusing as it was shaped like a baseball).

Mommy and Evie pause for a celebratory picture post-Hunt.

After a delicious lunch, the cousins gathered outside to blow bubbles with new toys that were in their Easter basket.
Whee, look at them float high up in the air!

Hey, what's up in the air? It's a plane that kept circling around, spying on all the fun.

Stan gets into the action to finish up the day. What a great time - thanks Bebe and Popi!

Cherry Blossom Time in windy April

The sun finally came out on Sunday so it was off to the Tidal Basin for the Cherry Blossom Festival. Mom and Evie take in the view from the Jefferson Memorial.
Then Daddy and Evie checked out the sights, including all the trees along the lake and the paddleboaters too.

Mom and Evie visit with TJ inside the dome. That's a big man, Evie says.


"These don't smell!" Evie explains to Daddy with a laugh.

Time for some tree climbing, with Mommy close by.
A sunny but windy day in the national's capital.