Spring Egg Hunt

How adorable do these little ones look in their "Easter pastels"?

Judah and Lily, two of our sweet little neighbors, came to our backyard for an Egg Hunt the Wednesday before Easter Sunday. Judah is 18 months and Lily is two-and-a-half. They have the dearest mommies in the world, so this little gathering was as much for our joy as it was for the children's! We had a perfectly gorgeous morning for the hunt, and followed it up with a yummy potluck lunch. Amanda, Melissa, and I agreed that we can't get enough of this sweet, sweet age!

All three toddlers caught onto the concept of searching for the colorful plastic eggs and depositing them into their buckets rather swiftly, and were diligent in their pursuits!

Whenever she spotted an egg Susannah would declare, "Eata egg! YAY!"

Susannah and Judah (who wore a hand-knitted sweater...ADORABLE!)

Lily shows her very pregnant mommy Amanda what she discovered.

Found an egg tucked inside the daffodil leaves!

Susie Joy sat down about two feet from the forsythia, then scooted on her bottom in order to access the lilac-colored treasure beneath! Why do we even dress them up in hand-stitched dresses and tights?!

Two pretty girls...

Lily found an egg among the irises!

"Two Eata eggs, Mommy."

Back up the hill for more...

I filled the eggs with bunny stickers, raisins, and pastel M&M's. Susannah had never had an M&M before (it's a wonder she's thrived thus far...), so the raisins were very satisfying...UNTIL she ate her first candy-coated chocolate morsel! She and Judah both tasted their first M&M then promptly stuffed the others into their mouths as quickly as possible, as if eating for the very first and last time! Then she strategically shook all of her eggs one by one, asked me to "Open Eata egg, pwease Mommy," explored the contents, and, if she found raisins within, promptly said, "No fank you raisins. Cwose (close) it egg" while handing it back to me! If she found chocolate inside, she yelled and signed (way up near her elbow!), "CHOC-LATE!" I have no idea how much sugar she consumed that day or in the days following, but I do know that I found raisins sprinkled on the toilet seat, under the kitchen table, and on other assorted furnishings, which leads me to believe she ingested very little fiber. :)

Susannah is thinking, "At least this one's not ALL raisins. I guess I'll keep it around until I empty the chocolatey contents!"

Sharing necklaces on Susannah's Learning Tower in the kitchen

Chocolate-coated Judah longs to be a girl so that he, too, can wear sparkly, pretty necklaces! When Susannah offered to put her necklace on the very verbal Lily, Lily firmly but delicately told her, "No thank you. I have my own necklace!"

All three cuties continue to explore basket contents with glee!

Lily and her curly-curls! Such a little beauty...