Easter Weekend 2014

We had a terrific Easter weekend, and I hope everyone else did too!  The girls and I had Friday off, so we got to have a long weekend, which was much needed after some craziness during the week.  We got to sleep in a bit on Friday, run errands and meet up with some fun friends for lunch at Bread and Chocolate.  Here's a mostly photo wrap up of our weekend!

We ended up waiting until kind of last minute to dye our Easter eggs, but we did get it done Saturday night.  Both girls were really excited to help, but didn't have a lot of patience to wait for the eggs to change color.  There was a lot of stirring and checking the eggs, and Little J ended up spilling the purple all over the kitchen.  Thankfully I was able to get the purple off the floor, and we're planning to paint this room soon anyway.  

On Easter morning the girls slept in until about 7:30, and we all got up to start our day.  I made a deal with Miss A on Saturday night that she had to take a bath and eat breakfast before hunting for Easter eggs, so she was pretty cooperative getting ready for the day.  New twirly dresses didn't hurt anything.

Little J testing out her new dress.

 The Easter Bunny hid the girls' eggs and baskets in their rooms, so Miss A got us started in her room.

Then we moved on to Little J's room.

Each time Little J would find an egg she would yell, "I found it pink one!  I found it blue one!"  So cute!

Each girl got a new swimsuit, beach towel, bubbles and cup in their Easter basket.  They're both very excited to use their new summer gear for swimming lessons later this week!

The silly Easter Bunny always gets confused and brings extra Easter baskets for all of the neighbor kids to Neighbor B's house.  We'll be so sad to see them go later this year (thought I can't blame them for moving to Arizona after the winter we had!).

Our attempt at a family photo :)

After finding Easter baskets we headed to church.  We were even a little early, which almost never happens.  Before church, we always ask Little J, "What are we going to do in church?" and she tells us, "Be nice and quiet."  It doesn't often work, but it's sweet when she says it.  The readings and the Pastor's message for Easter Sunday included the line, "Do not be afraid."  Each time she heard it, Little J would tell us (quite loudly), "Don't be afraid!"  She might have been a little disruptive, but she certainly understood the message.

We ended up with the most beautiful day for Easter this year.  It was in the 70s and sunny all day.  I spent hours sitting outside on our deck, and playing with the kids and loved every minute of being outside!

Look at my big girl!  I don't know what it is lately, but she seems to be growing up extra quickly.  Such a spirited personality.  I've also been extra emotional about her growing up, probably because I know these are the last few months of Little J being our "baby."  But I'm also really excited to see her move into the role of big sister!

I also love our backyard swing.  I wasn't so sure when E decided to make it last year, but I love having it now.  Both of our girls, and any other kid who visits, loves the swing.  Even E and I can use it, which is also pretty fun.