How do you hunt in the rain??

So, if you live under a rock and didn't know... it has been raining here for a good month straight.. UGH! We knew the Easter egg hunt would be a challenge but my mom said we hunted eggs inside many times as kids. The kicker is not to hide the hard-boiled eggs :) According to my momma, they are not fun to find a few months after the hunt!

We started the holiday weekend at my parent's house. We figured why not celebrate Easter a day early so we don't have to scramble (no pun intended) around on Easter morning.

First up, egg painting. While the ladies were in the kitchen getting the dye ready, my dad and I were in the back cooking up a silly plan. Dad decided to get a can of paint, gloves and a big brush for Chaz. When my mom walked in he said "Ok Gaga, I'm ready to paint eggs" He though he was very funny!!
And then the real dye came. If you remember we have let him color eggs ever since he could sit up right. This was last year which was pretty tame.. but the year before? Oh THAT was a hoot!! I did find these nifty rabbit tongs at Target. See them there on the right? Yes, they worked great. I actually wish I would have bought a few sets!

Chaz was very excited to dye eggs. As usual, he wanted to do it all by himself....and for the most part, we let him!
See.. those tongs came in handy!!

Chaz only let the eggs sit in the dye for about 2.5 second so we had a lot of white eggs with just a hint of blue or green. Daddy decided to step in and be of some assistance.
The Hamlins brought over this cool tie-dye thing (I am reluctant to call it a "machine") It took a little muscle but produced very cool looking eggs. Chaz was memorized when Kelsey brought it out.
Then Michelle brought out these "dye sticks." Which is basically a Q-Tip filled with dye. You snap off the top and the other end fills with dye. Chaz was very content with painting the eggs this way. He wanted every inch of the egg painted. He made sure we all knew it was for his Gaga.
and, of course, Gaga thought it was the best egg EVER!!Our masterpieces!!

And then it was time for hiding and hunting. You know, you have to get really creative when hiding eggs in the house. We limited it to two rooms at the back of my parent's house. We figured that would make it easier for everyone. What we didn't realize is there are only so many places to hide eggs indoors. And we had A LOT of eggs to hide!

We hid them in the rocks of the fireplace. *Notice the awesome Easter wreath I made for my mom. We hid them on end tables and under the TV.

We hid them in the based of lamps, in the sink and on top of picture frames. *note: The crooked "K" in Grandkids was not originally intended to be that way. It recently fell and we haven't gotten around to fixing it. However, in raising a 3 year-old I have to say, it seems appropriate as is.

Once all the eggs were in place, we let the cattle out of the gates. Chaz kept yelling "I'm cheatin'!!" It took us a long while to figure out why .... but it all goes back to this picture. Kelsey said she was going to cheat and start to hunt eggs before him. When he beat her out of the gate
he decided HE was cheating. (check out the video below)
He found his first egg and was content just opening it up and checking out his loot. We had to push him to keep looking for more. Notice that didn't take much. Just look at his red, sweaty face from all the hunting!

The loot! And OMG did this kid get some LOOT! He had a TON of candy (which my coworkers are so thrilled about :) and enough change to start a college fund!Then it was time to open the basket from Gaga and Papa's Easter bunny.

He was super excited about the race cars, monster truck and pirate!

Oh... and the "strings." He loved the "string" or grass as us commoners call it.
and then, what he had been waiting for all.day.long. He was more excited about this then he was about the egg hunting (shocking, I know) He even sat still for a few cute pictures as we prepped for the "special" fun event. Isn't he just a doll?!!??!
With his Aunt Michelle
and the "special" event. Decorating cookies. He was beside himself with excitement. He loved the sparkly cookie paint, cookie pens and multiple varieties of sprinkles!!
These are the first two creations. The one on the left--Chaz's. The one on the right - Michelle's.

Chaz was so proud of his creations that he had to hand them out to.. uh, unsespecting victims.. Papa was first. Chaz took extra time to make Papa's cookie just right. Needless to say, he didn't eat it. And then he made one for Daddy. It was equally as "beautiful." Trust me. Again, no eating took place. He also made one for Gayle, another for Papa and one for Gaga. All were beautiful but I am pretty sure none of them were ingested.

There was a slight incident in the middle of decorating cookies. As Chaz was returning to his spot he stepped on a cookie. Unfortunately, it was already frosted so we had some icing on the toes. Good thing we had a dog present. Chaz kept saying "EWWWW, Kyle that tickles" It was hilarious. I wish I would have gotten it on video.

Artwork by Michelle. Sprinkles (minimal) by Chaz. Melt.my.heart.
The next morning I had the most fantastic plan. Not to toot my own horn but I am pretty proud of this one. You see, right after Christmas Chaz informed us that Santa forgot something mentioned. If he were 8, I would think this was incredibly rude but seeing as he is just 3, it is still cute. He wanted the Aircraft carrier by Imaginext. (or "airplane thingy" as he calls it) I decided to make a scavenger hunt for him. I started with an egg that had a little picture of his little chair.
It took him a minute but soon he figured out he needed to go to his little chair and grab the next egg.
Next up was the ice machine, then the cookie jar. By this time he understood what was going on and was SOOOOO excited. He had a grin from ear to ear.

Then we went to the farm table barn, the rocking chair...
The tinkertoy bucket, the fish tank...
The last stop was the bathtub. I split from the rest of the crew in order to get the perfect picture. The last picture in the bathtub egg was of my parent's bed. I was ready and waiting when he came flying down the hallway. Gaga, Papa and Daddy couldn't even keep up with him. And this is the shot, he couldn't even slow down long enough to focus on the "airplane thingy" that was sitting on the bed.
As soon as he figured it out he started yelling "THE AIRPLANE THINGY!!!!" Later he told me the "Easter bunny and Santa must have talked..." Yes, that is probably what happened..
He jumped onto the bed and almost took a header into the airplane thingy. Very comical.
It took a very short time for him to drag his daddy into the playroom to unpack the airplane thingy. He played with it for hours! Note the money in the background. Yes, all of this came from the egg hunt the night before. For the love! What kind of bank account does this Easter Bunny have???!?!?!?!
Next up: The Hills. Same story, different house.. But LOTS of kiddos!!! We had to hide the eggs in the house because it was still pouring outside. The kiddos were so excited to hunt at MahDah's!
The were literally just running around like crazy people trying to find all the eggs. I am pretty sure the noise level woke any and all dogs in the neighborhood.
And this.. THIS is why we had to hunt in the house. Blech! Go away rain!!
And then the inevitable happened. One of the eggs dropped and the candy went everywhere. Notice that every kiddo came in to help Brandon pick up all the candy. They didn't eat or steal any of it. What great kiddos!!!
Chaz was so helpful to his cousins. He would find an egg and grab one of the younger boys to tell them where they were. What a good older cousin!!Super proud of his loot!
Telling me about his loot.

And then we decided to get a picture of all the cousins. We do this almost every time they are together, sometimes more successful than others. I took about 16 pictures but these are what I would consider the best! I tell you, these kids are the best.....and quite hilarious!

Anna had these marker-like things... which are really glorified bingo blotters but the kids loved them. I think they colored 50 pages in the coloring book.

Why wouldn't you make your Easter bunny plates dance?!?!?And what do we do right before it is time to go home and go to bed?? We ramp up the excitement and make the kids crazy!! Every.single.time.Don't feel sorry for mike, he does this to himself. ;)We always have such a good time at Easter. You want some more? How about this? Still need some more?? How about this one?? Ok, maybe just one more... because I like you guys.