Our Five Ring Circus: Good Friday...and Saturday

Monday, April 5, 2010

Good Friday...and Saturday

It has been a whirlwind of a weekend. We were blessed with a beautiful Easter weekend. Really, one of the best Easter weekends in years.

I have barely had a moment to relax, let alone edit my pictures. Grant took a vacation day today, so we had a lot of fun enjoying this summer-like day.

Benno left very early this morning. I'm not quite sure when we'll see him again. He is spending the next year in Japan. We went 2 1/2 years between his last visit and this visit, which was much too long. To say that Dylan and Uncle Benno are the best of friends, would be an understatement. We had to say a very heart-wrenching goodbye last night. It was so difficult to watch as Dylan clung to him, crying. I had a hard time saying goodbye, and I'm already missing him very much. Dylan cried for almost an hour last night, after we pulled away from Uncle Benno, and fell asleep crying. My heart is breaking for him. I hope it gets easier, and I hope we see Benno again soon!

I am feeling physically and emotionally exhausted, and the thought of editing all of my pictures from this weekend, and recording our memories in a post is overwhelming. I'm just going to break it down into three posts. Hopefully, the editing and writing will keep my mind off of missing Benno!

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Good Friday was a beautiful day! It happened to be my birthday, too. The weather was stunning, and I was in a terrific mood.

My dad, Benno, the kids, and I went to the annual Easter Eggtravaganza at a local church. We have gone every year since Dylan was 15 months old. The kids really look forward to it! This was the first year that we have had beautiful weather for it. The first two years we went were freezing, and last year, it was raining. The event is always packed, and draws in 20,000+ people in 2 days. This year, was by far, the most crowded it's ever been. We actually had to park in an auto auction lot, and take a bus over to the church.

It was Dylan's first time on a bus!

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The first thing we did was visit the Easter Bunny. Dylan jumped right on his lap, but Lexie wasn't so sure. Uncle Benno had to sit with her!

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Then, we headed outside for the egg hunts. That was mass chaos! Poor Lexie broke through the tape, then began sobbing as kids swarmed around her. Dylan is a wonderful big brother, and gave half of his eggs to Lexie.

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Dylan checked out the firetruck, then jumped in a few inflatables, while Lexie visited the cartoon character cut-outs.

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The highlight of the event is the balloon artists. My kids love getting their balloons!

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It was too crowded to do anything else, so we decided to leave. The kids were thrilled with all the toys and candy in their goody bags. This church really goes out of their way to make this a special event for kids!

I had mentioned it before, but after doing some shopping, my mom cooked me dinner then they sang to me over cupcakes. After I went home, Grant and the kids gave my birthday presents to me, and sang to me again over a Dairy Queen ice cream cake!

I had a wonderful birthday!

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On Saturday, we had to dye our Easter eggs and bake our sugar cut-out cookies. Dylan had a birthday party in the afternoon, so we had to put that off until evening.

I swear, Dylan has a busier social life than I do. This time, he went to the YMCA for his classmate's party. It was a drop-off party (it's getting easier for me to leave him), so I managed to get some errands done. He had a great time!

Dylan didn't join in too much with the cookie baking, but Lexie was my helper!

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He did help out with the eggs, though!

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While I was cleaning up, I turned around and caught Lexie sitting on the table, admiring our work (or trying to snatch a cookie).

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It was a late night for all of us, so I had to rush the kids off to bed. They left their baskets on the kitchen table for the Easter Bunny to fill and hide. Dylan even left a picture he drew for the Easter Bunny.

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The Easter Bunny showed up very late to fill the baskets.

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The Easter Bunny hid them in a closet, and left a trail of jelly beans behind, as a clue.

15 comments:

  1. nice blog & thk for sharing
    nice too meet u ya 6-^
    wish all the best to u

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  2. oh brother. you're getting the spam comments too? so annoying.

    Fun pics! I'm so sad that I missed Easter w/ my kids :(

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  3. What a great big brother!!! Awhhh!! Looks like a fabulous weekend!! Such cuties you have! =)

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  4. Looks like you had a wonderful Easter as well. The kids looked adorable and I'm so glad you had a great birthday. We should plan a day to get the kids together and do something. :)

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  5. How cute. I love the picture of Benno with the kids and the Easter Bunny. Priceless!

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  6. What a fun filled day! Love all the pics of your cute kiddos!!!

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  7. That is a ton of eggs in the background at the egg hunt! I was so exhausted yesterday, all I wanted to do was take a nap to recover from the weekend!

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  8. Happy belated 30th birthday! Looks like you had a wonder time and a special Easter!

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  9. Wow...those are some serious Easter baskets. The Easter bunny is geneous. :) Happy Easter!

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  10. wow!! the Easter Bunny does NOT play around at your house!! :)

    glad you had a wonderful Easter weekend and a great BD!!

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  11. Looks like a great Easter! We have a church close by that does the same thing, sad we missed it this year. The kids look so cute!

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  12. adorable pics and I absolutely LOVE that dress she has on at the easter egg hunt!

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  13. I missed your birthday! NO!!!!
    Glad to hear it went well though. Easter looks fun, and I hope Dylan is feeling better about missing his "uncle" already.
    Fun pics, and their baskets are adorable!

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  14. I am sorry he had to leave, I hope you get to see him sooner then later.

    Looks like a blast! Love all the pictures :)

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  15. Love the pics of the kids! Looks like they had a great Easter. And I love the jellybean leading to the closet idea...you come up with some of the best stuff! :)

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