Monday, May 1, 2017

Easter Eggstravaganza


 Our little community loves Easter. They've organized the Annapolis Royal Easter Eggstravaganza for the past 11 years and it has grown to include:

-Breakfast with the Easter Bunny at the Legion
-Giant Egg Hunt -  10,000 eggs hidden at the Fort
- Arts/Crafts/Family Fun in the afternoon
-Free Family Movie at the theatre

This year, the main volunteer and event founder decided that she was no longer able to continue running the event. Shock waves ran through the town. A photo of a sad Easter Bunny was circulated on social media accompanied by several call-outs for new volunteers to keep the event going. I decided I would put my name forward, and ended up being in charge of the afternoon craft/family fun events. The amazing woman who previously ran the event really took the crafts to another level. She managed to set up 12 different (and incredible) crafts (50 of each) for a total of 600 kids easter crafts!! Yikes. I knew I couldn't maintain that amount of crafting intensity, but thankfully, she handed over all of her old supplies to me and I was able to pull together a couple of other helpers and we managed to pull off a great afternoon event. Alan and I spent a few late nights prepping salt dough egg ornaments, Easter cards to paint, pictures to colour and more. Plus we had a clown and kid's zumba, so it turned into quite an action packed afternoon.


The hunt was, much to my surprise, one of my favourite parts of the day. We were so happy to have my parents and Ava visit for the weekend, and Caleb and Ava hopped right into super volunteer mode. They were up at 7 am with me to help hide the eggs at the fort, and I couldn't believe how many other community members were also up early to help. During the hunt, Caleb and Ava had a bookbag full of extra eggs and it was their job to subtly 'lay' eggs near any kids who were having trouble finding some. They were in their glory, prancing around and making the day of little kids all over the place! I was so happy when they told me the best part of their day was hiding the eggs, not finding them!


The hunt begins! Photo by Greg
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The rest of our April was filled with as much outdoor time as possible. Here are some shots:

We are loving the longer days, which means we can go to the park *after* supper! We picked up some of the Sudanese kids last week on our way there. We all had a blast, and it is amazing how well the kids are adjusting. Their English is coming along so well, and they've already mastered important phrases like 'one more push!', 'pick me upside down!' and 'let's stay a little bit longer'.

My favourite artwork from April - Caleb's class got to pick a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote for an art project. This one is going in a frame!
Alan and I bought bikes this year, and it has been wonderful going for long rides with Caleb. He no longer has to stop at each corner to wait for us! Last night Cale and I saw a snake, 3 turtles, 2 muskrats, 3 kingfishers and a bunch of  red-winged blackbirds while biking on the trail behind our house. 

Odin with his new wheels - and a pretty stylin' look.

Dinner with our good friends (and farmers)! Odin loved this ride so much, until the tractor got stuck and the wheels flung mud all over his face! It was quite hilarious for the rest of us, but he was not overly impressed!
More fun with friends.