Easter at the Cabin

Easter came early this year. I can't remember when the last time it fell over General Conference weekend. It worked out well.Usually we get together with my husbands family for Easter so, between being off on Good Friday, and being able to watch church/conference on Saturday and Sunday--we figured we could watch conference up at the cabin just as easy as we could at home. It was a grand weekend of wonderful weather and everyone was able to play between the sessions of conference. Even my married niece and nephew and their spouses were able to hang out with us. The only one that was missing was my dear nephew who was off serving his mission in New York. Here is Grandma with all the grandkids and even the grand-dogs. Since the kids were little we have always done an Easter egg hunt with the cousins. It seems to be something that no matter their age they have yet to outgrow. Even the married kids still want to participate. They teenagers are not so much interested in the candy these days, as they are the money and gift cards that are involved. This year Grandma had this idea, that instead of a normal Easter egg hunt, that we should have the kids break into pairs and do an Easter egg scavenger hunt around the property. She went out and scouted spots and then wrote up little rhymes to put in the eggs. It was quite the ordeal. We didn't want the kids to all have the same clues at the same time so we staggered the clues--it was crazy trying to get it all figured out and we took the majority of the evening before figuring how it would work out. The next day we sent the men out to "place" the eggs. We divided up the families so everyone was paired with a cousin--we didn't want the married couples cheating. They were each given their first clue and then they were off. At this point it was a little bit difficult to take pictures--everyone was moving so fast. The deer just stood by and watched

Even the pregnant girls were running around at the speed of light. the clues were scattered all over the 5 acre property once they found the clue they had to read it and figure out where their next location was some clues were easier to find than others--

some were hidden really well and some of the hints were a bit obscure. and then there were the kids that covered the eggs up so others would not find them.

One set of kids thought that they would just watch where others got their clues from and thought that would get them the prize--it didn't work the way they wanted.

They came in last.

but they still managed to muster up a smile

and had fun in the process.

Little man was having a good time finding his own eggs-- his only had candy--no clues involved for him

he was thrilled with the contents...so was the dog.

the dog kept hoping that a treat might be shared and find its way onto the ground.

Little man was not quite that generous

the first team came in and we proceeded to check their eggs... only to find that they were missing one. Then they had to figure out what clue they had missed. It was hilarious as i watched them run off-- in different directions--and then I heard my niece yelling my sons name as she sprinted the entire way to the last clue. (she was one of the pregnant ones)

They still came in first and with first place came the largest prize. second was close--but they were also missing an egg third place came in rather tired and exhausted from the ordeal

somehow i missed the fourth place team.

All in all I think a good time was had by all involved. The "adults" that sat and watched from the porch enjoyed the spectacle and i think the other adults that were running around had a grand time as well--although there were a few of them that were a tad bit sore the next day.

Definitely will go down in the books as one of the most memorable,

along with the one that took place in the pool-- ever been in a pool in April-- just a tad bit cold hard to believe those are some of the same kids in the other pictures-- like i said earlier, it doesn't matter how old they get-- they still love the hunt