Easter 2009

Easter with Nathaniel was so much fun this year! He became a pro at hunting eggs after five different Easter egg hunts in just over a week.

We kicked off our Easter celebration with an Easter egg hunt in our new neighborhood on Saturday, April 4! The day was cool and windy, but children and parents throughout the neighborhood gathered at the soccer field a block away from our house. This was Nathaniel’s first egg hunt, and he wasn’t sure what was going on. The field was bumpy, so Nathaniel didn’t want to walk around much. In addition, Nathaniel was afraid of the Easter Bunny, clinging onto Daddy’s leg when he came near. Nathaniel did manage to pick up two eggs, though!

At church the next day, the Sunday School teachers held an Easter egg hunt for all of the kids. They separated the youngest ones, so Nathaniel got to hunt for eggs in the preschool room along with his cousin, Alexander. (It’s becoming a tradition to have Sherry, John, and Alexander join us at church for the Easter egg hunt each year.) With more familiar surroundings, Nathaniel seemed to enjoy picking up eggs off of the floor, tables, chairs, and toys. We’re not quite sure if Nathaniel wanted the eggs or if he was just trying to get to the trucks underneath! He had quite a haul of candy, but I’m sure Daddy will be eating most of it.

On Friday, April 10, we went to a birthday party for Evan and Adam Rice (sons of Del’s cousin, Melodie), and with birthdays so close to Easter, an egg hunt was the perfect party game! Nathaniel ventured out onto the grass this time, and he picked up all of the eggs he saw. There were a few pennies in each egg, and Nathaniel liked playing with them as much as the eggs.

On Saturday, April 11, we had Easter with Nathaniel’s Grandpa and Grandma Gust. He got to hunt eggs again, and he was really getting the hang of it by now. He spotted eggs “hidden” on the patio and put them right in his basket. Again, there was money (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters) inside the eggs, and Nathaniel enjoyed playing with the coins as well as the eggs.

Finally, on Easter Sunday, we celebrated with Nathaniel’s Grandpa and Grandma Schiermeyer and Aunt Kelly. We hid a few eggs for Nathaniel in the basement, but that wasn’t enough for him. When he had collected all of the eggs, he kept looking around for more! It was so cute! So after lunch, we hid more eggs for Nathaniel to find. He was so good that he would have a hand on one egg while scanning the room to locate the next one! Again, he wanted more, so we took him upstairs and re-hid the eggs. After he gathered all of the eggs this time, he started to crawl up the stairs. I started laughing and asked him if he thought that the eggs would be hidden for him again if he went back upstairs. Of course, they were, so he had one final Easter egg hunt! Nathaniel found all of the eggs again, even when we made the hunt more challenging. It was so fun to watch his little mind at work!