Easter at the lake

One of my favorite traditions we have started is our Easter Egg hunt at the lake. With so much space and lots of trees it is the perfect place to have a hunt! We have had a couple years in the past with some pretty cold weather so we were thrilled to end up with some great weather to only be the end of March. 

A little preface to the day: Hadley and Hudson had soccer at 11:00 and we packed up the car with everything we needed so we could go straight from their games to the lake. We were already a little behind everyone else when a car in front of us on the highway quickly swerved to miss a folding chair in the highway causing us to hit the chair. Thankfully, we were in Matt's lifted truck but it still got wedged underneath his car and embedded in the mud as we pulled off the highway. After Matt layed on the shoulder of the highway and kicked the chair until it broke we were off again only to feel like his car was running a little strange. Rather than getting any further from our house we decided to head back home and switch cars. We were pretty thankful to have been in Matt's car because in mine we think it could have easily come through the windshield!

So we made it to the lake and everyone was ready to eat!

Who needs food when you can start with cookie cake instead? This was about day 2 of our kids consuming almost nothing but sugar.

Heading outside to begin the egghunt. My mom spent hours filling over a couple hundred eggs with candy and money. I am sure we will be finding eggs over the next year in random places.

All the kiddos ready to hunt!

Hadley humored me by stopping to smile each time I yelled her name.

Hudson was scared from the start by the car horn telling all the kids to run and then was even more confused when everyone took off without him. Poor guy had to be helped a little bit at the beginning to stop the tears but soon figured out that finding the eggs would just get him lots of candy!

Papa helped Hudson by pointing out some eggs for him.

His basket started getting a little heavy...

Mama said, "Hudson, can I have your candy?" He was quick to reply "No" as he shielded his basket.

Love this picture of Buck throwing the football egg.

Looking through his loot.

After the egg hunt Mama and Papa brought out their new four-wheeler and all the kids took turns. Hudson was so excited and I have a feeling it may be hard to keep him off it this summer. First thing on our list of to-do's...get him a helmet (as well as the rest of us)!

Audrey hadn't had a nap and though she was so good, I was not able to talk her into giving me a smile.

Teddy's first holiday. She is looking exactly like her big sister, Story!

"Won't somebody take me for another ride on this thing?"

So blessed this Easter!

This girl has the most contagious smile and laugh and melts my heart every single day...

Blowing dandelions...

Hudson was so good all day and full of laughter. I think we all needed some time spent outside after being cooped up all winter!

He LOVES his Uncle Ryan!

It was such a fun day for all! The weather was perfect, food was great, and we all enjoyed the family time relaxing at the lake. The kids played all day long and were obviously worn out on the way home. This is evident by the following pictures...keeping in mind that our kids NEVER sleep in the car.