Easter...The Sequel Blog

I figure I better catch up on this blog!  "Easter- Part Two" has been pending for almost a month now, and I've got a 12 year old party blog to do next.  So here we are..

Easter Day

I carpooled with my sister and the following items to the designated Easter Brunch House:

   * 4 Kids

   * 150 deviled eggs

   * 10 Easter Baskets with chocolate, sugar and toys

   * Several salad type food items

   * Decorative Vases with Peeps and flowers

   * 6 Dozen hard boiled eggs 

I give you...The Easter Baskets:

 I give you...The Vase Decorations:

I give you...The Deviled Eggs:

I give you...a sampling of the eggs for the "Easter Bunny" to hide:

 I give you...A motley assortment of nieces and nephews to share the day with:

Once the crowd had devoured their way through 150 deviled eggs PLUS other assorted appetizers...

It was time for the Easter Bunny to do his thang.  We hunted inside.  This may have had something to do with mild concern about mixing the backyard, the pool, 6 dozen eggs and several toddlers.

And the children reacted accordingly:

 Later on, while I enjoyed a STUNNING floor show of talents unknown to me...

I decided to ask of the crowd assembled...."Which one of you professes to be 'Easter Bunny'?  Stand and show yourself!"

 10 Points goes to the movie fan who identifies the film quote....

But I digress...things were moving rather slowly for some, I WON'T SAY WHO, after the whole "egg hunt", "free food", and "Easter games" activities - it was obviously time to move on...

To DESSERTS!  Somebody, I WON'T SAY WHO, was keeping an eye on the "eggcakes" all afternoon:

 There was also a delicious Strawberry and Red Velvet Cake (this recipe later stolen by Martha Stewart and used for her June Issue of "Living"):

After that, the kids were forced to survive on their MODEST Easter Baskets alone, as modeled below:

Once the sugar rush set in...so did photo opportunities such as this:

and this...

For some reason, we didn't get any video footage this year.  That's the LAST TIME I leave the videography in the hands of THIS KID:

Here we have the rare and elusive "camera auntie" caught on film in her natural environment - camouflaged by kids, of course.

Finally, as the day ended and sugar was being scraped off of kiddie faces, couches and various pets, I found the Easter Bunny!  He was slumped off to the side of the yard, looking a bit worse for wear and trying to bum chocolate off the kids:

Sad.

Prepping for Easter and PAAS

Ah, Springtime and Easter...a time to think of lovely, farm fresh eggs...

...and little bunny rabbits...

...and fine candies to nibble...

 

OR, AS IN MY CASE...the annual DP vs. chocolate bunny smackdown...

The attempt to take "artsy photos" of Easter deco being interrupted by Smoky, the stalker cat:

...the amusement of watching Killer Diller attack the Easter grass...

and finally...the boiling of some 8 dozen eggs for dyeing and deviling:

Sadly, not all eggs could take the pressure of the holiday:

Now, each year, my friend and I like to celebrate the holiday by purchasing the "latest and greatest" inventions for dying and decorating Easter eggs. This is because we have no children and can do this without too much mess and drama.  Each year, we are treated to abject failure and copious amounts of rage and indignation as these kits fail to deliver the advertised results.

Was this year any different?  Well, here's the 2012 scorecard:

While we struggled with our "fancy kits", DP took charge of the "normal process" - dye, vinegar and water:

 DP's results were pretty good:

 DP is so creative with that tape:

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table...several eggs were attempting to escape as we tried desperately  to tattoo them...to no avail...

KIT USED ABOVE: PAAS EggToos
PRICE: $1.99
RESULTS: Eggs broken by our pathetic attempts to transfer tattoo designs onto the egg.  Not one tattoo transferred.

KIT USED ABOVE: PAAS Stencils kit
PRICE: $1.99
RESULT: Another perfectly dyed egg ruined by the paper stencils that don't stay in place and the runny paint that didn't stay on the (provided) sponge wedge.

More evidence of Tattoo kit "egg abuse" (that's the stencil stuck on the egg below the crappy "transfer"):

Now on to better results:

KIT USED ABOVE: PAAS Neon colors
PRICE: $1.99
RESULT: Awesome! Easy! Dye tablets in water, 3 tablespoons vinegar and you are ready to go! Colors very bright.

The hands down winner of the day is this kit though:

KIT USED ABOVE: PAAS Eggarounds
PRICE: .99 cents for 12 Eggarounds
RESULT: AWESOME! EASY! Place plastic wrap around egg, dip in hot water and in 2.5 seconds...plastic cover shrinks down to cover egg. Next year maybe I will do just these.

NOTE:  we were unable to test the "Molten Magic" kit.  When reading the instructions on the back, step two indicates the eggs must be freshly boiled and still hot.  We'll save this one for next year...

After the arduous task of testing pathetic PAAS kits passed...it was time to denude some 6 dozen eggs:

A short time later, band aides protecting my raw thumb, the eggs....were...ready.

Let the deviling begin!

Finally!  It was time to pack up the car and head north for an hour's drive with 2 dozen colored eggs and 150 deviled eggs.
Next Blog:  The Easter party... the kids, the eggs, the food, the baskets, the horror and humor of the holiday in all it's glory!

Small Fry dance antics on a Saturday morning

This weekend, I had the honor to escort the youngest two small fry nieces to their weekly ballet/tap dance class.  Of course, Auntie felt the need to photograph them at every opportunity.  Here we have some urban style photographs of the two dancers in front of their garage:

The little posers had no problem striking poses for auntie:

Yes, very impressive.  Right?  Right.

Moving on...we arrived at the class on time, full of energy and spirit!  Unfortunately, the older girl's hairdo lost it's energy and spirit about 2 minutes after entering the studio.  Auntie unloaded the dance bag, coats, boots, and snacks and picked up her camera and video.  I got right to work:

The youngest - at 2 and 1/2 years old - appeared to be the smallest in the class, but she clearly made up for this lack of height in a bold display of spirit and dance authority:

These "Toddler and Tiara" wannabes took some time to learn some popular dance steps (points if you know the show I'm quoting...) :

As mentioned above, the smallest of the small fry has no issue leading in any situation.  She has 10 older siblings/cousins to boss around, so she's no slouch in this area:

 A contemplative moment for the tiny dancer:

One of the most important parts of the class is learning some kind of toe/shuffle/heel maneuver.  Apparently they will be using this step in an upcoming dance recital.  After observing the chaos involved in getting these tiny dancers to do this step, I realize that this upcoming recital is a show I won't want to miss:

Points again for the show reference...

The class had many elements to it...(besides mothers on their phone, mothers on the dance floor with their kids, mothers talking in the background, and one auntie taking copious amounts of photos and video)...the girls did some kind of "playing with scarves" thing:

Corner time for some kind of bunny hopping to a cabbage patch doll exercise thing:

Then it was time for the typical ballet stretches and postures.  I got these great shots of my niece doing a great job, and then noticed all the background action in the shots when I got home:

I was unclear on the concept of the girls playing with hula hoops:

The last part of the class entailed some sort of "hula hoop train" that went all around the little center the class is held in.

After the hour was up, it was clear that a fun time had been had by all!  Auntie had at least 100 photos and about 20 minutes of video to memorialize the event.  The girls had spent a good part of their daily energy, and it was time to head home.

Here is a parting shot of the girls in their dance duds:

Superstars!!