Pre-Easter FUN!

Once Kyndall started feeling like herself again, we headed full force into a fun-filled Easter weekend!  Easter is probably my favorite holiday of the entire year.  I love everything about it, from the silly traditions like egg hunts, Easter bunnies and frilly Spring dresses to the true meaning of Jesus's resurrection and the gift of salvation.  (That's code speak for "tons of pictures ahead"!)

We kicked off the weekend on Friday night by making a trip to the mall to visit the Easter Bunny.  I was supposed to do this earlier in the week with a friend and her baby, but when Kyndall fell ill we had to put it off.  I had been promising her all week that we'd make it up, so Friday night the entire family (Grammy, G-Daddy, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Michael, myself and Kyndall) all headed to the mall to check out the iconic rabbit.

Just as I suspected, Kyndall didn't exhibit even an ounce of fear!  In fact, she just giggled the entire time as she sat in the bunny's lap and even gave him (her??) lots of hugs!  She's never been afraid of characters, which makes me so happy!  I think it's absolutely ridiculous that they forbid you from taking your own pictures of your kid with the bunny.  I have a professional style camera, yet I was forced to pay $25 for a giggly teenager with a part-time job to take pictures that I could've easily taken myself!  Ok, rant over.  Anyway, here's what we came away with!

Comparison picture from last year's visit with the Bunny........

I can't believe how much she's changed in just a year!

And a few from her very first Easter in 2011.........

(I'm guessing we didn't do the Bunny this particular year because I can't find the pictures anywhere!)

As a parting gift, the bunny gave Kyndall this silly mask, which I was positive she would want nothing to do with.  Much to my surprise, she refused to take it off for the rest of the night!  She walked through the mall with it on, and then kept it on through most of our dinner at Barnaby's!  Silly girl..........

I guess the Easter Bunny likes Barnaby's pizza too.....who can blame her??  Best pizza in town and another one of my must-haves when I come to Tallahassee!

 

I love that Barnaby's will give the kids a roll of pizza dough to play with while we wait for our dinner.....makes for a great form of entertainment!

I had been looking forward to Easter-Eve (Saturday) for quite a while!  My friend Betsy and I organized a little egg hunt and pot luck picnic dinner for all of our friends and their husbands and kiddos.  It was sweet and simple---Each family brought a dish to share, and each child brought 20 stuffed plastic eggs to contribute to the hunt.  We met up at a local park at 5:00, indulged in a yummy dinner, enjoyed each others' company, and then topped it off with the egg hunt.  Everything turned out just perfect and I'm really hoping we can make this an annual tradition!!  

My entire family joined us, including Matthew's parents.  Only thing that would've been better was if Matthew himself had been there!  We missed you, Daddy!

Annelise, the adorable!

 

Annelise greets Brinley

 

The Albritton Family

 

My Mom with sweet little Ava

 

Too cute!!

 

Dad and Michael

 

The handsome Booten boys, Koby and Elijah

 

Being around all of these adorable babies is giving me some major baby fever!  Good thing I have sweet friends who let me love on their little ones to get my fix!  Ava couldn't be any cuter!!

 

Sweet cousins, Julia and Koby

 

I'm not really sure who thought it would be a good idea to hand my child a caterpillar, but nonetheless, it made for some cute pictures!

 

This one totally makes me cringe, but I love the look on her face!

 

After we ate, the grown ups "hid" (more like scattered) the eggs, while the kiddos played on the playground

 

More cousins, Camden and Koby

 

Lily Kate and her lollipop

 

Annelise

Kyndall

 

Beautiful Mommy and daughter, Laura and Brinley

 

Ava loved the swing, obviously!  =)

 

Once all the eggs were hidden, we called the kids back over to line up for a quick group picture.  My little egg hunter was like "let's GO!"

 

Attempting a group shot with this many toddlers/infants is about as easy as nailing Jell-O to a tree.......

 

That's my kid, the only one with the bucket on her head.......sigh.....

 

And just in case you're curious what it takes to make these pictures happen, here's a view from the other side.  The things we do......!

Once we got our group shot, the egg hunt was ON!

Checking out her loot with Nonie

 

Kyndall and Lily Kate, just before Kyndall decided it would be a good idea to flash everyone in the entire park..........

 

I have no words........

 

Another attempt at a group picture

 

All the Mamas! (Left to right: Teri, myself, Betsy, Jennifer, Stacy, Sarah and Laura)

 

Kyndall with Aunt Kelly and Uncle Michael

 

Love my sweet girl!

 

Ever wonder what a sugar high looks like?  Well here ya have it!

 

It was a fun afternoon spent with great friends making sweet memories!  Let's do it again!!!