easter festivities.

here a few (cough) glimpses into our festive Easter.

my one complaint:
it came and went all to quickly.

meeting the Easter Bunny at the mall-
Ellie loved him.
which to me was a little weird.
but endearing.
i love what she said to him:
"hi Easter Bunny. i promise to leave you lots and lots of carrots. and then you can bring me Tangled."
wow, what a little business woman.

baking sugar cookies:

one of three Easter egg hunts;
this one was with a small group of our cute little friends:

don't you worry, Alice was there, too.
she was content to feel the grass in her little fingers and toes.
so easy to please.

then we enjoyed Easter Egg Hunt # 2 with our ward at a yummy + fun ward breakfast.

sidenote: the Easter Bunny made an appearance.
since Ellie met the Easter Bunny at the mall last week, she was not convinced about this dude at our ward party. her response to seeing him enter the cultural hall:
"who is that silly guy in a bunny costume? that's not the Easter Bunny!"
seriously?
still, she wanted to sit with the impostor for a picture.

ok then.

onto the hunt.
running as quickly as possible to find some eggs:

a nice sharing moment.
i'm glad the competitive nature of the hunt hasn't sunk in quite yet.

pretty stoked with her spoils:

we made some festive cupcakes to share with friends.
they were scrumptious and cute.

and even had a fun colorful center inspired by these cupcakes.
i was quite impressed with myself.

and together we dyed some eggs.
Ellie loved it.

the night before Easter, we left out a little snack for the Easter Bunny.
just in case he got a little hungry during his travels.
(and might i just add- i feel like the Easter Bunny gets a little jipped. because Santa gets cookies and milk, but the EB gets carrots. maybe next year we'll make him some carrot cake or something. yes, that's a good plan).

and thanks to some coupons and after-Christmas sales (you read that right- i bought that Disney Store Rapunzel doll after Christmas for like $7 bucks. i've been stashing it all these months for the perfect moment), the Easter Bunny was super generous this year.

and Ellie was thrilled about it.

oh yes, and Alice was too.

sidenote: have i mentioned that Alice started doing this?

and in between scenes of Tangled, we got dolled up in our Easter best.
and struggled getting good pictures.
but what can you do.
this was as good as it got:

the rest of the morning, Ellie was lost in Easter thought.

and Alice did the two things she does best:
was cute + sucked on her thumb.

then we trekked to Grandma and Grandpa's house...and Ellie was so excited.

there we enjoyed Easter Egg Hunt #3.

and since she is the lone grandchild within 600 miles (who can walk and appreciate candy-filled eggs), Ellie made out like a bandit...and was thrilled about it.

and meanwhile, Alice enjoyed some Grandma and Grandpa snuggles.

afterward we ate a delicious meal. (thanks Lynne!)

we spent time together talking and oogling over the chillens.

and then with two exhausted little girls, we headed home.

wow. i feel pooped after posting about it all.

but it was lovely.

and felt good to be so dang festive for once.

thanks to all for making it so memorable and fun.

xoxo