The only hunting we do around here...

is for eggs and treasure. Both at Easter-time.

Thinking that an Easter egg hunt would be more fun if other kids were involved, I organized a small egg hunt for the little kids at our church along with another mom. Afton was pretty excited.

You may have noticed that I am in a winter coat and Afton is in a short sleeve shirt. The short explanation is that it was 48 degrees outside, Tony and I have completely opposite internal thermostats (I'm always cold, he's always hot), and we tend to dress our kids to our own comfort level. On a 70 degree day, I frequently put sweatshirts on them. On a 48 degree, rainy day, this is what Tony prefers. (Afton was seemingly fine.)

Following the egg hunt, we did some Easter-oriented games, and that's when the real hilarity began. They had never played any of these games before and, to Afton, all of them seemed absurd. After watching her little friend (who was wearing a blindfold) pin the tail on the bunny, Afton seemed pretty stoked and plopped her tail on the poster.

Then her crazy mother made her put a towel around her head and try it again. Unable to see, she thought it was the most stupid thing ever.

And by the end, she managed to lift the blindfold up so she could perfectly place the tail on the right spot...

We also tried tossing Easter egg bean bags into an Easter basket. I placed them up behind the line in the concrete, but again, Afton gave me a look that said, "That's dumb." When it was her turn, she walked right up to the basket and carefully dropped the bean bag in.

I'll skip the pictures of the Easter cake walk we put together. But let's just say that no toddler is going to walk in a circle until the music stops and wait for their color to be called when he or she can clearly see the plate of cookies three feet away. The music started, and they walked in every direction. Finally Afton's color was called (mostly because Tony was running the music by that point and just looked to see what color of construction paper she was standing on so we could get this charade over with). Not surprisingly, she chose the pink butterfly cookie.

And what, do you ask, was Ainsley doing during this whole afternoon of Easter festivities? Hanging out with her dad, desperately wanting a nap :).

Then, despite days and days of rain this spring, Easter Sunday was bright, sunny, and warm. Sort of a fitting feeling for the celebration of Christ's triumph over death. And fortunately, no one wants to ruin Easter by meeting with the bishop, so Tony was home from church early. We took a couple pictures in the backyard and headed to Easter dinner with the grandparents.

And then, to turn Easter into a prolonged three-day event, for Monday night's family activity, Afton did her very first treasure hunt -- a tradition from Tony's family. Tony made clues (they rhymed), and Afton and I scampered all over the house, finding them.

We finally made our way to the clue in the laundry room where the girls' Easter baskets were waiting for them, carefully hidden in the dryer.
Afton particularly liked her pez dispenser with a chick on top.
And there you have it -- Easter 2011 in all its fun and glory.