This Easter certainly seemed like a success to me. Though we didn't formally go to any Easter egg hunts locally, we still managed to do one at home. Joe's birthday was also kind of successful, I suppose. I guess it's best to start from the quasi-beginning. At the beginning of every April, I go online and search the potential times and locations of local egg hunts. I write them all down so we can look and choose which would be possible to attend. If played right many can be attended with lots of fun had. We had an ok list and I really only planned on going to one of them. But after discussing the contents of the filled eggs, we decided it best just to pass. They don't tend to keep age into consideration around here. Instead we celebrated daddy's birthday. Or tried our best to.
We were going to go to Korean BBQ to check it out and see if they actually had it, but our plans ended up changing for the better. We were able to have dinner with an old friend who was in town for the day. We went to a buffet style Mongolian BBQ place instead, which was fine. Lucian likes the place. He was just having a rough day. Our friend even surprised us by paying for dinner! In the end it was nice to catch up and have a good time. We hope to see them soon in summertime.
Now back to Easter...
I planned ahead and bought some all natural egg dye from Earth Paint. I won some of their regular paint in a giveaway and Lucian really liked it. They come in powdered form so you can scoop and mix in as much powder as needed or even mix colors. Lucian helped dump the powders into each cup and mix them. Then we pulled out the eggs (which I cooked the day before), and got the boys started. I had to get ready for work while they dyed the eggs, but was able to see the results before leaving. They turned out great and Lucian seemed to really enjoy coloring and dying them. We had a lot of dye left so Joe decided to get more eggs. He said Lucian was very patient during the cooking and cooling process. He also waited after dying the eggs to paint them (with his poster paint). As you all probably know, he loves to paint. So coloring, dying and painting was an all day extravaganza for this kid. They had fun and that's what matters. I did build up the idea for a few days beforehand so he knew we'd be making eggs pretty colors. When Easter came (daddy had to do school work), Lucian and I looked at our pretty eggs. Then I told him I was going to hid them, so he helped me. Then I told him we had to find them and collect them as an egg hunt. He seemed to enjoy this as well. First he collected them in his butterfly net, then he set them on bubble wrap and carried them. I was cute and no worrying over breakage. After we found them all, I wanted to see if he'd be upset about cracking them open. He can be very sensitive about certain things. Completely the opposite! He loved the idea of cracking and peeling the eggs. Though I ended up eating most of the egg, Lucian did enjoy eating some yolks. I gave him a salt shaker and he was happy as can be. I had to stop him after the 5th or 6th egg. I was full at that point. But promised we could do more later, and we certainly did. In fact, I'm still eating Easter eggs.
We did get him a few toys, but we didn't do a formal basket or anything. He also got a special box from his Gram and Poppy. They even got to watch him open his stuff over video. I'd have to say that Zingo has been surprisingly accepted. He has already played it a few times, without me bringing the idea up. He also really enjoyed the carob bunny. He couldn't finish it, there was a tiny piece left. He certainly tried his best and enjoyed his candy and toys.
Speaking of toys, we have been making homemade bean bags. I pulled out and set up the sewing machine. We went to the store and let Lucian pick out his own designs. We have made a few already and they have turned out very well. Lucian has gotten a lot of enjoyment from them as well. More successful than our homemade juggling scarves! Can't wait to make more things!
I guess I should go and help Lucian cut paper into really small pieces! Come back in a few days and check out my post about the zoo. We will be going for the first time on Saturday! We've been to the aquarium when he was younger in Seattle, but never the zoo. The Indy zoo apparently has an aquarium too. I'm looking forward to it. I don't think Lucian understands what it is, even though we've talked about it, read books, etc. I better get my camera ready!
