In Your Easter Bonnet

This was quite the eventful Easter weekend, celebrated partly in Blanding and partly at my house. The first event was a "Hat Party" planned for my sister by her daughter, my 9-year-old niece. Everyone wore a hat, and we played hat-themed games. My nieces even made a hat-shaped cake! It was actually a really fun idea, and I think I will use it in the future. My sister got a lot of new hats to wear when she loses her hair - which has already begun to fall out from her chemo treatments.

On Easter morning, my parents and I joined my sister and her extended family for a before-church brunch. My sister's in-laws are amazing and they have always treated me like family, too - I guess they inherited the spinster aunt as a package deal.

We all headed back up north Sunday night. Monday was my sister's birthday, so we had a family breakfast at the local IHOP - quite the adventure with 7 little kids and 6 adults.

We topped off the Easter weekend with an easter egg hunt at Grandma & Grandpa's house in the backyard. I got the idea from a friend to have all the kids look for a different color of egg to ensure that everyone got an equal number and the same types of candy and toys. It worked brilliantly, and they all seemed to have fun.

Happy Easter!