Easter Sunday found us at Mike's Uncle Frank and Aunt Peg's house for feasting and egg hunting. Being an Equal Opportunity Egg-Hunting Family, we piled in on my parents the following Sunday for feasting and egg hunting.
I must have been hungry because I made no photos of the delicious food we feasted upon, but trust me that it was absolutely fabulous and we filled our bellies full! We didn't even get the dishes cleaned up before the egg hunting began. There was the mad dash at first, again. This time, though, there were big kids and a little kid. So, there was a stern lecture to the big kids before everything began. You know, the one about leaving some for the little fellow and not hogging all the easy finds. So, the big kids followed orders...
Lillie dashed past some perched amongst the Peonies and sitting along the flower borders and went for the high stuff.
She even held back and let her pesky little sister find a few. I'm sure it required great restraint.
Sometimes Lydia was a little less than focused. Maybe she was double-checking to be sure she was leaving some behind for the little kid.
What was that little kid doing while the bigs were racing round and scooping up the bounty?
He was pretty quick to find a treasure or two right there in the Peonies where the big girls had purposely dashed beyond. So, he picked it up...
...and gave it a shake or two to make sure there was something inside. Almost immediately, his coaches (Daddy, Mama, Mamaw, Grand B, etc.) would encourage him to put it in his basket...
Harris was just a little reluctant to put those eggs in his basket. He was really more curious to check and see what was inside.
That seemed more intriguing to him. Then, of course, most likely inside was a piece of chocolate. So, he thought he needed to give it a taste.
So, a couple of his coaches (Mama and Daddy) would
pry the egg from his clutches grab the egg away from him gently guide his hand to drop the egg in the basket and try to draw his attention to another egg nestled amongst the foliage...
...and the process would be repeated...
...basically, the little guy just had to learn the ropes and understand that volume, capacity, and numbers are the key to the game in this case. However, he had his own idea of how the process should be. Finding...
Shaking...
Checking it out...
...and he did finally get the hang of it and sometimes would drop it in the basket...even if it was a little bit under duress.
There was a lot of coaching involved, however.
Meanwhile, the big girls were happily hunting and finding. After all, they had grown beyond the coaching stages and were old pros at the game.
Luci got into the game, too. One of the big girls paused long enough to give her an egg including her in the action. She would happily shake it and slobber on it as little girls are expected to do in such cases.
About half-way along the trip around the yard, Harris found a stick. So, he decided to do a little digging in the dirt.
After all, you may as well do something you know is fun...
...if all you do with those silly eggs after you find them is put them in the basket.
Good grief! Can't a guy have a little fun?
Then, the big girls, probably recalling their stern lecture, doubled back...
...and with a little coaxing, got the little man to rejoin the hunt.
So, the sticks were dropped and egg hunting began again...
...with an all new style of coaching.
Then, Harris noticed Papaw sitting up on the front porch...
...and decided Papaw needed a little company.
So, he joined the porch-sitting and rested for a few minutes...
...and just waved to the spectators, coaches, and other hunters from his perch.
After a rest and some contemplation, Harris decided he had enough of egg hunting and gave up the chase altogether.
He knew who the soft touch would be and informed me that he wanted to go ride the buddin' buddin'.
This endeavor proved to be far more interesting than putting eggs in the basket.
After all, there was a steering wheel and key...
...and levers and pedals...
...and Aunt Brenda made a pretty cool sounding race car noise.
So, it was the open road for this little man for a bit...
...knuckles to the wind and a breeze blowing through his hair.
We also had a short game of kickball with Aunt Brenda...
...played a little monkey-in-the-middle with Nathan, Madalyn, Becca, Lydia...
...and Lillie.
There was a short inning or two of softball...
...some rope jumping...
...and finally, a partner in crime to check out the inside of those Easter eggs!
One of the treasures even turned out to be a duck with bubbles to blow!
It is the simple things that make family gatherings fun, isn't it?
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