Easter Day 1, 2016

I love holidays. I may have mentioned that before (*wink*).  I love holidays even more now that we have a kiddo to enjoy them with. Having one kiddo during the holidays is fun, so I know having two will be even better! Like I said, I love holidays; even the little ones. I love building traditions and making memories during those special days of the year. Gotta make busyness of life a little more light-hearted, right? And who doesn't love seeing the look of excitement on a little ones face.

Easter is one holiday that we like to celebrate as Christians and as parents. Our goal this year and from now on with our kids is to help them understand why we celebrate Easter. This is the day that our Lord and Savior defeated death and rose from the grave. This holiday is why we know we'll go to heaven.

Romans 6:3-5 says,“Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection”

We also celebrate Easter with the Easter bunny, an egg hunt, and all of the fun that surrounds the light-hearted traditions of the Easter season. This year I found a local farm that was hosting an Easter egg hunt. They would also have pictures with chicks and baby goats, a petting zoo, tractor hay rides, a bounce house, and arts and crafts. It sounded right up Dayton's ally. He loves farm animals, so I knew he would enjoy this event. The event was on Saturday afternoon and the day did not really turn out all that great weather wise. It was pretty chilly and the wind was horrible. We bundled up, grabbed the Easter basket and headed out to the farm (which also happened to be during nap time).

Dayton was pretty excited about his Easter basket and would not let go of it the entire car ride. Once we got to Ankre Farms, we parked (a long ways away) and walked quickly to get to the Easter egg hunt on time. We got there with just a few minutes to spare! We lined up and then someone yelled 'Go!" and all of the kids (an parents) went rushing out into the yard to collect the Easter eggs.

Just as side not here. I'm going to put in my two cents worth... Some parents are ridiculous. This Easter egg hunt was supposed to be for the kids. Brad and I both could not believe how many 1) parents were picking up the Easter eggs, 2) how many parents were making their kids run around to snag eggs out of kids hands and reach, and 3) how many parents let their kids get over 20 eggs. Dayton got 5 because he wasn't pushing, we weren't pushing, and we were letting him hunt the eggs and pick them up, because that's what an Easter egg hunt for kids should look like.

Dayton was happy with his five eggs, so we were happy too. He loved walking around finding them, picking them up and putting them in his basket. He didn't run to the eggs, he walked. He would walk to a different egg if another kiddo started reaching for the egg that was reaching for. He was just... typical Dayton. Happy to be there, happy to pick up eggs, and happy to spend time with us. Even though it was cold! His poor little lips were quivering. Luckily, we had brought an extra jacket and another hat, so Brad ran to grab those so that we could bundle him up some more.

The rest of the day was spent petting baby goats, doing crafts, holding a baby chick (and loving it!!), attempting the bounce house - that didn't quite go as he had planned, pointing at and yelling tractor a million times, looking at the horses and sheep, and never once did he want to put down his basket!

And yes, he had to kiss the baby goats, " bye bye." The sweetest!! What a fun afternoon!