when easter falls on conference weekend

When Brooke was little, we started the tradition of backyard camping on Conference weekend.  We've had quite the experience over the years with a little one, me camping while super pregnant, and rain during the night, but it has always been a fun and memorable experience.  This weekend was no exception.  

My little puppy-lovers were thrilled to find the puppy door in the tent.

We set up sleeping bags, stuffed animals, and everything they could possibly need to make the tent "ready", haha. 

We all actually slept in the tent during the night, which was a first!  I use the word "sleep" loosely because it was a pretty awful night of sleep for me, but at least it was a first for our family.  Last year Colby wouldn't lay down, and once I threatened to take him in the house, he decided that he wanted to sleep in his crib and there was no convincing him otherwise.

In the wee hours of the morning, the Easter bunny made his appearance and left baskets full of goodies for the kids.

Since I was already up, I took a few pictures of the sleeping campers.  Brooke was first to wake up, and she was so happy about the whole experience.  Her talking woke Colby, and as soon as he sat up, Brooke asked him cheerfully, "Did you have fun sleeping in the tent?".  His immediate reply was "no" in the grumpiest tone. We all started cracking up.  Camping isn't for everyone, haha, but he really did well throughout the night.

We nearly forgot about dying Easter eggs, so we did that right after our waffle breakfast.

While Kevin and I were watching Conference, the kids were outside playing in the tent.  I went to check on them, and quickly saw that they had since moved on to the trampoline and had made a gigantic mess. I was slightly frustrated at first, but when I heard their giggles and saw them playing so nicely together, I decided to let it go.  But I did remind them that they needed to clean up when they were done.  And of course, I ended up helping because "it was SO hard to clean up the grass."

That afternoon, we headed up to Grandma and Papa's, and we dressed the kids in their matching clothes. Without realizing it, Melanie and I had ordered the same dresses for our girls, which made for some really adorable pictures. 

After a yummy meal, Kevin and Jeff went outside to hide the hundreds of eggs we had all filled.  

The kids all had a blast, and it was a day full of fun memories together as a family.

The next day, we went to the annual Family Night Egg Hunt that Joanna puts on. Lots of our favorite families all get together, eat a picnic dinner, hunt for eggs, and run amuck.  It's always a good time :)

Whew, that was a lot of Easter fun over the course of a week!  Although we enjoyed all the fun activities, we tried something new this year by focusing on the Holy Week.  I am SO glad that we did this because we all learned a lot and recognized the importance of the sacrifice of our Savior.  I followed along with a book I ordered last year, and it was full of daily activities and ways to teach children about the daily events leading up to the Crucifixion and Resurrection.   Each day we would add a small picture to our paper wreath that symbolized the significant event of the day.  I want to make this an Easter tradition, and i'm excited to be more diligent in teaching my children the gospel.

easter fun

The Easter Fun all started with an egg hunt at Little Hearts.  I totally missed the memo about bringing a dozen filled eggs, so after drop-off, I had to run to Target and buy supplies to fill eggs and write names on each egg for the kids in Brookie's class. Parents were invited to come back and watch the hunt that afternoon, which I did.

They even invited the residents of Watercrest (the Memory Care facility behind Little Hearts) to come and watch the kids hunt for eggs.  I absolutely love that her school makes a monthly visit to see the residents because I imagine it gets really lonely for them.  (You can see them at the top of this picture.)

Colby had fun playing with his buddy Lawson, whose brother is in Brooke's class.  We've spent a lot of time with them at the park after school this year, which has been pretty great. Their mom, Kelly, is super easy going and a lot of fun.

On Good Friday, we met Kinley, Aubrey, Auntie Mel Mel, and Grandma at the nail salon to use our gift certificates from Mother's Day, haha.  I don't know why it was so hard to coordinate a time to get together, but since Kinley had the day off school, it worked out perfectly. 

Brooke was so excited to get a pedicure with me, and I loved sitting next to her and seeing her sweet face as the nail techs talked to her.  She gets shy at times, but she seemed pretty confident in telling them that she wanted bunnies painted on her toes. 

I opted to go for matching hot pink nails with my girl.  It was a special treat, and something we rarely do because it's so expensive!  I used the whole $100 GC for Brooke and I to get manicures and pedicures! I did gel on my nails, but still, so expensive!!

We loved our girl outing, and everyone's nails looked great.

Meanwhile, Colby had a man-date with Papa, haha.  Papa even had to change a poopy diaper, so he won mega points as babysitter. When we showed up, Colby was out vacuuming leaves for Papa to earn some money and he was eager to show me his two dollars.

The next day, we headed to the Walnut Ridge Egg Hunt.  I took the kids last year and had a blast, and Brooke has been asking about this event for months.  All the activities are free, and the grande finale is a gigantic egg hunt in the grassy field.

Colby even experienced his first fire truck!  Brooke was too nervous to go inside, even after the fire fighter offered to let me climb inside as well, haha.

Their favorite event was probably the bunny pen, even though our time inside was limited.

Brooke also did the giant inflatable obstacle course, and found a school friend inside the bounce house.  Colby was content to wander with Daddy :)

Kevin and I decided to divide and conquer for the egg hunt so we could each keep track of a kid. They were both totally into it, and Colby was huffing and puffing as he tried to quickly put eggs into his basket.  It was seriously hilarious.  Kevin said he could barely keep up with Brooke, and her basket was completely full within 5 minutes.

It was another great year at Walnut Ridge, and I'm sure we'll be back again next year to take another picture by that cute bunny. 

matching

I just couldn't help myself when I saw these cute and colorful Easter outfits!  I found the dress online as I was perusing the Gap Kids website, then quickly realized that they had both coordinating shorts and shirts for the Colbster.  Not knowing how they would fit, I ordered the plaid shorts, a plaid shirt, and this aqua shirt.  Once they arrived and I tried everything on Colby, the shorts were the clear winner.  So stinkin' adorable!!

Since Easter fell on Conference Weekend this year, I planned on having them wear their clothes the Sunday before. Then, one day, I had the crazy idea to try and take their pictures at the nature park we were already going to. I knew better because we were getting a late start and the lighting wouldn't be very good, but they were up for it, so we gave it a shot.  I was able to get a few cute pictures, but as I figured, the lighting was too far overhead and I was getting weird shadows.

So, we finished our nature walk, then headed home for lunch and Colby's nap.  The rest of the week was supposed to be super windy, so after nap, I decided to go back to the park to try again, haha.  I knew the early evening lighting would be perfect, and I had high hopes of getting some cute shots.  

I'm also trying to figure out my new-ish camera, and there has definitely been a learning curve!

One of my favorite pictures of my two little people.  I just love the way the sun is kissing their sweet faces.