busy easter weekend

This may have been the busiest weekend of our entire marriage, and to that point Ashley could not have been happier. She has an insatiable appetite for adventure, events, fanfare, jubilation, sociality and good times.  We had an impromptu, action packed itinerary this weekend that started off with an easter egg hunt.

Like most communities, Bozeman puts on an Easter egg hunt that is probably more akin to a food riot than it is an easter egg hunt.  50,000 eggs gone in 2 minutes.  No joke.  They separate the age groups, which is nice.  You'd think that would mean that George would have a fighting chance to get some eggs... well... not exactly when he's competing against parents doing all of the "hunting" for their kids.  The place was a zoo.

George was holding his own... ok.  Between the mob of egg-hungry helicopter parents George was able to get about 10 eggs.  He was pleased with his effort, but as you can see in the next image the competition was pretty stiff.

This shot perfectly captures the insanity of the event.  A random mom almost clocked George in the head with a basket that is now close to weighing more than her child because of the amount of eggs she had procured on behalf of her child.  Totally nuts.  I don't know if I ever want to do something like this again.  Community events perfectly exemplify the economic principle dubbed the tragedy of the commons. People get crazy when something is being given away for free.  Even if they are plastic eggs with abnormally sized lemon heads in them.  Our private hunt with the neighbors was much more enjoyable.

As soon as it started, it was over. You can see George's bewilderment in what just transpired. It was truly a sight to see. One minute there's a mob, the next George is left to reflect on his narrow escape from blunt force trauma to the head.

Lest you think I'm exaggerating the mania, I put together a panorama of the event just after the crowd had reached its peak in activity.  Click to enlarge!

We were all smiles after the event.  I'd reckon that George's sugar-intake this weekend rivaled any of his young 2 years of living.  The little man sure has a sweet tooth.

After the toddler mosh-pit egg hunt we hit up the bouncy castles.  George had a pretty fun time, despite being the youngest one in the castle and who's trajectory was heavily altered by older patrons of said castle.

Later in the afternoon, we dyed our hands easter eggs.  Ashley made a brilliant call and decided to take operation egg dye outside.  The weather was absolutely heavenly, and as I told anyone who would listen, was probably "the best weather we've had this year."  It was gorgeous.

Here's a cute picture of Ashley.  She was the mastermind behind most of the fun this weekend everything went off without a hitch... well... except one...

George wasn't really interested in using the flimsy little dipper sticks and opted for the more direct approach, his hand.  Exposure of varying colors and times gave George's left hand a lovely Hulk/corpse type hue.  It was absolutely lovely.

Following the sun pattern behind our house, we decided to stretch out the fun and get to work clearing our back yard so we could start our garden and begin phase one construction on our fire pit.

Did I mention how nice the weather was?  It was so nice, that George and neighbor Jackson stripped off their duds and helped their Dads in the mud pit.

George contemplates the garden plans and ultimately decided that we should go with eggplant as opposed to summer squash.

George's vegetable preferences inevitably fell on deaf ears and was clearly perturbed at his father's plans to grow a field of poinsettias instead.

The next morning we did an easter egg hunt before church, just for Jackson and George.  George was a big fan of the eggs.  In fact, every time we transitioned him from his car seat (asleep) to his bed for nap time, the first words out of his mouth would be something to do with eggs or treats.

At one point George's enthusiasm for his egg collection led to a jubilant "shake" of his basket.  Like many times in parenthood, the heavens were opened and I was given a vision of what was just about to happen.

BINGO - eggs everywhere.

A little rushed to head out the door to church, but we had just enough time to take a family picture.  The boys were in matching pink shirts.  It was a great easter weekend and a lot of fun.  We are exhausted.  We hope you all had a great weekend as well.