"Lives again our glorious King, where, oh death is now thy sting?"

I can't have a religious holiday without a hymn reference...what song is that title from?  It is an obscure verse of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today", the classic Easter song which I used to play on my trumpet in church on Easter.

I love a late Easter...there is at least a chance of wearing nice spring shoes to church and not winter boots and coats.  This year was a warm one and it made the holiday very enjoyable.  We had a fun but hectic weekend.  We did our own egg dying on Wednesday while Milo was sleeping.  Sorry Milo...one year olds who like to climb on tables and throw things are not allowed to dye eggs.  Maybe next year. 

I bought each kid a dozen eggs for themselves to dye.  There are always bargains on eggs this time of year so it was $.88 cents well spent for the extra pack for the entertainment and lack of fighting.  Ben was a very careful and precise egg dyer this year.  Is "dyer" the way to spell it?  Or is it "dier"...that's definitely wrong...dyer it is. 

Tessa did pretty good.  She finally understood that you need to slowly lower the eggs and not drop them into the cup from six inches above. 

The inevitable happened and Tessa finished hers way before Ben because she had multiple cups in use at once and he was doing one at a time and she said, "Ben, can I have one of your eggs?"

I had a few extra in an old carton so I did my favorite shrink wrap method.  I love the satisfying moment when the wrap clings. 

Good Friday was a very warm day so we walked to the park.  It is a about a three block walk from Justin's mom's house and me and Grandpa L made the walk with them.  Of course, the inevitable whining about being hot (it was 70...) needing a drink and being tired ensued.  The whining was mostly on the way home.  Milo loved the big twirly slide and went down over and over again. 

The kids had a second round of egg dying.  Notice the true red one on the left...if you want that color add red food coloring. 

Milo got his own baby Easter egg hunt.  It was cute...he actually figured it out. 

On Saturday morning we went to the Grand Forks city egg hunt which, as I have described in past years, is not really a hunt but more of a grab.  It is nicely done though.  Each kid gets a bag and once it is full they are done so no one can hog more than their share.  The candy was even a step up from the usual cheap "parade" mix of hard tootsie rolls.  There were lots of gummies.  That's what I like to see.

We got some fun prizes including one of the "good prizes" which was pancake mix from the North Dakota State Mill.  That one was more for the adults...They each also won a cheap baseball set so they were happy. 

After the hunt I took Tessa to my cousin's farm in Northern MN for a family get together.  I have been there a few times before but I have never paid attention to this huge a$$ cottonwood tree in the yard.  That thing must have been one of the first trees in that area.  I love a good cottonwood even though I spent my teenage summers pulling tangled cotton seeds out of the swimming pool filters where I worked every day.  They seem to really stand the tests of time and most of the biggest trees in the farm shelter belts are cottonwoods.  

We went to church early on Sunday morning in my hometown and it was...a struggle.  The kids were wild but Ben and Tessa participated in the Children's message and obtained yet another plastic egg containing an Easter message.  At the end of the service there were wooden crosses lined up at the alter and the kids were asked to carry them out in triumph and Ben carried one out in the crowd.  I know kids need to attend church to learn how to behave but taking a one year old...it is just not a very enjoyable or reflective experience.

I tried to take a few pictures of the kids in dress clothes before they went outside and got all dirty.

Hmmm...pretty good...

Our attempted cousin picture was not so successful. 

My brother and sister-in-law planned an egg hunt (the kids had three over the weekend...lucky children...) and my mom got out all the baskets from our youth.  The one Tessa is holding here is one of the first I remember when I was very young.  I was probably five years old.  That basket is almost thirty years old!  Be careful with that thing!  I'm sure my mom bought them at Woolworths or Pamida.

My brother did the hiding...nice work...

Ok, I have to go sort through the buckets and bags of candy that have taken over the counters.  I always rolled my eyes at people who take their kids' Halloween candy and freeze it so they don't eat too much junk but the problem here is me eating too much junk so I may have to do just that for my own health.  The kids aren't even asking for too much.