Celbrating Easter

Kevin's family always has a big get together the Saturday before Easter.  For the last few years it has been at Kevin's Uncle Charlie's in Jasper, Texas.  This year Charlie and his wife moved to a new place, though still in the Jasper area.  The new house has quite a bit of land for the kids to explore, as well as a large covered pavilion area that provided some much needed shade.

We headed to Jasper Saturday morning, and despite the 100+ mile drive the kids were great on the car ride.  They pointed out various sights along the way including cows, and various cars.  Ryan was particularly pleased to see several Volkswagen beetles just like his "yellow bug car" that he carries with him everywhere.

When we arrived we could hear music coming from the pavilion area.  Kevin's Uncle Charlie and his band had set up their instruments and were entertaining folks in the pavilion.

After a potluck lunch we set out to explore the area. 

We had been told there was a nice little creek that ran through the property just a short distance away so we headed that way to check it out.  We had gotten just past the gate when we glanced back and saw Trevor, Carol Jo's 3 year old as well as his grand mother, headed our way.  So we waited for them to catch up before heading off again. 

Before long the boys were racing down the trail.  Luckily the boys listened and stopped before plunging straight into the creek at the end of the trail.  Deciding not to press our luck while we still had 3 dry boys we turned around and headed back with the boys once again racing a head.

When we got back Ryan, Trevor and Cameron played with a ball while Connor spotted the "big" kids and decided to tag along with them.

After exploring the area around the pavilion they made their own trek down to the banks of the creek.

Meanwhile, I encouraged Ryan to rest a few minutes and have a drink in the shade of the pavilion as he was starting to turn a nice lobster red.  While we sat and enjoyed the nice breeze he got his Easter basket from Grandma and Grandpa.

We opened it so he could pull out the car and handful of candy.  The other kids had made their way back from the creek so while I went to get the baskets that I had brought for everyone I told Grandma and Aunt Diana that he could have TWO pieces.  I think their definition of two was a bit more liberal than mine...

Connor opened his basket first.  He was so funny.  He had to pull every single thing out and look at it - including the paper stuffing in the bottom.

We let the boys have a sucker from their baskets for dessert (or second, or third dessert... ).  In the meantime Aunt Debbie was passing out cups filled with various treats as well.  While the kids were entertained with their treats and bubbles the guys hid Easter eggs for the annual hunt.

After a short list of the rules they were off.

Ryan and Connor had a special "little kids" section at the top of the path all to themselves as Trevor had had to leave early. 

The boys did a great job finding and picking up the eggs this year.

They found eggs left and right. 

After they had cleaned out their section, they began searching the path down to the creek for any of the eggs the big kids may have missed.  They actually found a couple on their own.  And with a little help from the adults, they found a few more.

Ryan was particularly excited about a Lightening McQueen egg he had found and had to show it everyone.

By the time we made it back both of the boys had almost an entire basket full of eggs.

While the kids prowled through their baskets and took stock of what was inside their eggs Aunt Debbie setup a cookie decorating station with various gel icings and pens for the kids to decorate the cookies with.

The kids had fun spreading the icing on and enjoying their masterpieces.

Afterwards we took the kids (along with Cameron) on a golf cart ride down the creek and for a short trip around the rest of the property.  The kids really enjoyed the ride.  Especially Ryan who pretended to steer the whole way.
 

While the boys played with some of their goodies we spent a little time visiting and catching up with folks that we don't see very often.

With a long drive back, and the clock already past 5pm we decided we had better say our goodbyes and get the boys settled into the car for a long overdue nap.  After their adventures of the afternoon it didn't take either of one of them long to drift off as we headed down the road.