Cutest Easter ever

As most celebrations do, our Easter began with lots of preparation. First, we started hinting that a big, fun holiday was around the corner, complete with family, tasty treats, and bizarre customs that none of us could live without. Kalina became properly excited.

Then, we began talking about the meaning of the holiday and making crafts.

Daddy likes to play "fighter
pilot" with Elise. Elise likes it
too.

And finally, Daddy dragged out the extra-large pot, filled it with water and eggs, and officially kicked off the Easter holiday. Having attended an Easter egg dying playdate earlier in the week, Kalina couldn't wait to get started. Elise, who had been up for hours the night before with a cold and hadn't napped well, managed a posititve attitude nonetheless.

Matt and I decided to divide and conquer: I would mix up the dye with the toddler while he and the baby prepared a spot on the deck, the playdate having convinced me not to attempt this project on the kitchen table unless I just wanted to stand around telling Kalina "no" the whole time. (No splashing! No smashing eggs! NO pouring out the dye!!!)

Kalina enjoyed watching the 9 dyes spring to life, and then putting on her "Easter egg dying clothes" once everything was ready. We gathered my camera and a few other things and handed it all out to Matt on the deck. Then, and only then, would I let Kalina head out as well.

The girl knew just what to do. As Matt and I stood back and interfered as little as possible, the girl began picking up several eggs at a time and plopping them into the dye, and didn't stop until she had one in each cup.

Then she put them back in the carton to dry, continued with the 5 additional eggs and was finished. Three minutes had passed. We had 14 lovely Easter eggs, only 2 of which were cracked.

But wait! There was still much work to be done as Kalina created a veritable egg factory. Dyes had to be mixed, eggs had to be put back into the dyes and switched around, and some dye, even, needed to be dumped out.

The empty cups (from dye that had been poured either into other dye or onto the table) were handy, too, as egg storage facilities for eggs in transit to other colors.

Quality control, unfortunately, was not a big priority in Kalina's egg factory. Crack! A blue-y purple egg was dropped in to an empty cup. Crack! A greeny-brown egg met the bottom of the mug. Crack! A rare orangy-pink egg split its shell before being added to the coffee-colored dye.

Only the strong colors survive in Kalina's factory. Pink, yellow and orange were the first colors to be fully obliterated, while blue, green and brownish often won out. Nevertheless, we ended with 13 reasonably colorful eggs (as long as you consider browny-purple and orange-y green-blue to be real colors), and 1 blueish-green egg that had gotten cracked and smooshed beyond recognition. Our nine cups half-full of springtime-colored dye eventually became 1 full-to-the-brim cup of greeny-bluey-brown water.

I was planning to make deviled eggs out of these, but changed my mind, as nothing about this project was appetizing.

And then came the challenge of cleanup. All of Kalina's extremities were green.
 We hosed her off (which she didn't mind) and then gave her a bucket of soapy water to play in for a while. She washed a rock, a stick and a dandelion, and in so doing, managed to get a little of the dye off her hands.

After some more scrubbing in the bathroom, I no longer worried about little green handprints and footprints covering my house.

Elise, by the way, simply enjoyed the show.

And the Easter eggs were dyed, and we could then focus on the next day's events.

Kalina needed quite a few reminders that the next day would be Easter:
"Kalina, what day is it tomorrow?"

Blank stare.
"Kalina, what special day will it be tomorrow?"
Blank stare.
"Easter!" I answered my own question. I'm pretty sure she'd have gotten it right if it were her birthday.

But on Easter morning, the girl only needed to be told once. She trooped down the stairs and we began the hunt for the Easter baskets: one for her, one for Elise, and one for Gray, all of which it was Kalina's duty to find, being the only one whose intellectual development matched her locomotive skills.

Elise's was the first one found: under her Exersaucer seat. Kalina was happy to hand it over, perhaps expecting hers to be more grandiose and possibly knowing that the books inside would be read to her, anyway. In addition to the books, Elise received the family bunny ears (they were in Kalina's basket last year) and a small stuffed lamb so that she can build her own entourage of "friends," just like Kalina's, if she so chooses.

The baby showed immediate interest in her basket (next time I picked it up, the handle had a mouth-sized wet patch) and no objection to the bunny ears, which fit her perfectly and were among the very few objects that could add to her cuteness. She then watched her sister continue the hunt.

Kalina had a little trouble finding her own, but was that much more exhuberant on recovering it. Inside, she found a small assortment of candy, including a lamb Pez dispenser, and an Easter dress for Gray (it didn't fit in Gray's Easter basket, which held one of each color of jelly bean except black).

Our next steps were to:
1.) Sample one of Kalina's jelly beans (she, too, had one of each color except black)
2.) Sample the chocolate bunny
3.) Dress Gray in Gray's Easter dress
4.) Find Gray's Easter basket
5.) Sample a chocolate egg
6.) And finally, open the Pez dispenser and eat two of them. Why is it that I could easily load those things as an 8-year-old, but fumbled with it for quite some time as an adult?

After some low-key play and Elise's nap, it was finally time for the Easter dresses. Kalina happily submitted to hers (she's growing up!), which she'd picked out for herself weeks ago. Elise, who did me the favor of waking up exactly 2 minutes before I was going to have to, reluctantly, rouse her, squirmed up a storm as I stuffed her into hers. She must have sensed we were in a hurry as Mommy really, really, really didn't want to be late to Easter church, but also wanted to take the time for a quick family photo, courtesy of Grandpa.

And then we were off to the main event. Kalina sat as good as gold in her seat the whole time, probably a bit intimidated by the rules Mommy regrets imposing on churchgoing (whispers only, no loud noises, no running away--nothing difficult but I should've realized that Kalina didn't really need them and would only worry about them the whole time). She commented later that she enjoyed the songs.

Elise, for her part, cooed and blew raspberries at the music and anyone who so much as glanced in her direction. I let her sit in her carseat for all of one minute before I couldn't resist scooping her up and holding her the entire time. She and I headed to the cry room together during the sermon, where three sets of parents with little boys watched her the entire time, no doubt enchanted by her wide smiles, intent play, happy squirming and adorable dress.

After lunch and naps, we then headed up to Grandpa's place for an Easter dinner and the big Easter egg hunt. Kalina, who remembered the hunt from last year but had forgotten all of the best hiding places, had a blast. Her favorite foods were ham and homemade ice cream with Aunt Nancy's carrot cake, and I do believe she would've celebrated all night if we hadn't had to get home so her little sister could get to bed.

Elise also "found" a few Easter eggs, with help from her Daddy, and got to try mashed potatoes for the first time. Her favorite thing, though, was playing with the blocks I'd also played with as a small child, and looking irresistably cute the whole time. Even Kalina couldn't stay away from her (see photo of the girls playing nicely together!).

I couldn't be prouder or more grateful for my two adorable, sweet girls. Hopefully we managed to do the holiday justice. Either way, we'll be celebrating for the rest of the week as Kalina's already planned for Gray and Gray's kittens (formerly known as "the cats") will be hunting Easter eggs and packing Easter baskets for days to come. Maybe I'll even let Kalina have another jelly bean!