Earthmonkey Mama: Easter weekend

Easter weekend was such a great laid back couple of days.

Saturday, first we dyed eggs... this time we just used food coloring, but I promise next year, I plan on doing natural dyes... I just didn't feel like going to the store :) Then we headed to Tyler's work egg hunt, where the kids made Easter bags, collected hidden eggs, and Ayla even got to ride Shine, a pretty white quarterhorse! The kids had a great time, and it was fun to see their excitement.

Saturday evening, I had procured a babysitter for the night, so Tyler and I could go on our first date night in awhile! We had planned to see The Hunger Games, but the show time that we could go to was sold out! So we finally settled for the raunchy comedy "American Reunion", you know, the finale to the million American Pie movies! Can you believe it! We went on date night to see a less than average movie! Oh well, lesson learned. Don't go to Starbucks and enjoy a coffee before buying movie tickets :)

But at least it was good company.

So, here is a rundown on costs for our date night...

Dessert and coffe at Starbucks:: $12

Movie (that we really didn't want to see):: $17

Babysitter for 4 children whO slept the entire time (minus the 5 or so minutes Soren was awake before we got back) :: $50

Total:: $79

The lack of interruptions:: priceless

When we got home we had a couple screwdrivers (yes, alcoholic beverages, not the Phillips kind) watched some Forest Gump (to make up for what we paid to see!) and then headed to bed!

Sunday, we woke up early to an Easter basket scavenger hunt that the kids LOVED! Tyler made little rhymes that we hid the night before, and I think it will become tradition. Then we had breakfast and had our backyard egg hunt, which was fun to watch. There is something about watching your kids discover an egg filled with candy. I don't exactly know why! Then, we lazily watched home videos all afternoon, which is so great to capture the kids' antics at different time periods! The similarities between these four is amazing! We finished off the night with a long walk to the loved train park, stopping along the path to climb trees and pick beautiful flowers. Such a nice family friendly weekend.

And we still have tomorrow to spend together too! We made plans to meet some friends at the zoo, then Tyler will head to play a round of golf. My family is so fantastic!

What fun traditions do you guys do for the Easter holiday?

Since we are not religiously affiliated, we tend to emphasize family togetherness and fun. Which in my mind, should be celebrated all the time, but it's nice to remember!

<--They don't look related, do they?! I love my boys so much! (And my girl!)

I just love his funny look... he loved laying in the grass.

Ayla riding Shine. She was so excited and got right in line to get on... at first she was nervous, but she went the whole way without needing anyone next to her! I was so proud of her!