Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's

We were so lucky to have a little cousin gathering this Easter. Matt flew in from California with his kids - Lauren, Nathan, Kate and Madison. We finally got to participate in Grandma and Grandpa's annual Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had a lot of fun and we were armed with enough cameras to be a small group of the papparazzi!

The before picture; before the hunt, the sugar high, the colored sugar dribbled on sweaters, the tears from missing eggs, before the excitement and the obvious signs of friendship!

Nathan and Jacob had an immediate bond. I think they were commiserating that they were the only boys in families of many girls! Nathan was really sweet and took great care of Jacob. I got to snap this one when Jacob was trying to snuggle into him with his head on Nathan's shoulder.

Nathan was awesome! He took Jake around and helped him find all of his eggs (the green ones), hand in hand!

Madeline had found all her eggs but one. She'd searched long and hard and it was no where to be found. Just as she was beginning to feel discouraged - viola! There it was. I love it when you catch genuine excitement!

Lindsey was the hero of the day! She had found all 12 of her eggs and everyone was eating and enjoying when Landon was sad because he couldn't find his last egg. Lindsey said "I know where it is!" It had fallen inside one of the juniper bushes (the really scratchy pine kind). Uncle Paul parted the bush and she went in and got it. Way to go Binz!

Hailey was so cute. She quietly went about collecting her purple eggs. I don't think I heard one word from her the whole time. She was just content to be on the hunt!

Jacob - you could tell he was mostly excited to be doing wheat the big kids were doing. I was glad he didn't know there was candy in there until the end.

Even at an early age all the girls gathered in one spot and the boys in another. No one said anything like "Eeeeewe! Don't sit over there by the boys!" They just did it!

Butterflies and Crazy Hair!

Madeline got to "hatch" butterflies in her second grade class. She was so lucky to take them home! Since it was the Friday before Spring Break there weren't many kids there (yes, everyone was off to their exciting vacations except for the McCauleys) Madeline got to take home 2 of these lovely creatures. The next day we took them to Aunt Megan's house and they started to act a bit lackadaisical so we thought it was best to selflessly release them into the wild. It was a hard decision. . . . . . for some.

Madeline's last picture with her and her lovely friends. They say they are butterflies but they look a lot like moths. Whatever they are they're outside now!

It was crazy hair day at school this past week. The girls woke up very excited and it helped them to dress and eat a little faster - thank you Deerfield! Lindsey asked for pony tails all over her head!

Madeline wanted a surprise! She felt very spunky and it was a little scary, she reminded me of a teenage punk! I'm glad to know she is a sweet, tender one and won't actually be a little punk!

Two cute sisters! I have to admit Madeline's idea for this pose brought back many memories of doing silly things with my own sisters and posing for the camera in star-quality ways! They are fun little stars!

Jake fell asleep on the floor like this. I find him kickin' back with his hands behind his head a lot, especially in his car seat. He's such a fun little guy!