Eggs, playdough & the empty tomb

Backtrack to Easter with us! After careful research on boiling at 6000 feet, we made a big pot of hardboiled eggs and experimented with traditional dip-dying first. The kids found it mildly interesting but the process and colors were a little anti-climactic, even my fancy rubber-band trick.

So we moved on to a painting technique, using brushes and liquid watercolors. This gave the kids much more immediate control over the eggs and the colors were vibrant. Luke especially was hooked.

He wasn’t alone. I just love the way the colors swirled together and the paint highlighted the slightly bumpy texture of the eggs. To be truthful, I couldn’t take this gorgeous bowl off my dining table until it started to smell a little. (:

I can’t wait to make more watercolor eggs next year. Another tradition that we hope to continue is making an Easter tomb scene. This year’s was very simple, but there are all sorts of ways to extend this to include additional details as the kids get older. This time we stuck to the basics: crosses from sticks, a playdough tomb, and Playmobil figures for Jesus and a Roman soldier. The night before Easter while the kids were sleeping, we rolled the stone aside and took Jesus and the soldier out. The kids ran to the tomb on Easter morning and were thrilled to find it empty!

We didn’t neglect the ever-popular egg hunt either. Our neighborhood hosted a lovely one in a nearby park. We attended with friends and had such a nice time watching the kids together and visiting with neighbors. Here’s Eleanor with her sweet buddy, comparing loot I think.

What perfect weather for an egg hunt!

Eleanor was eager to pay a visit to the talented face painters. Does she look a little middle eastern here?

We left with plenty of candy so Easter morning we hid the hard-boiled eggs we’d been decorating all week. Luke was ever the gentleman and made sure Eleanor found plenty of eggs too, although Eleanor may have had trouble keeping those eggs in her bucket…

Then they opened their Easter baskets and we went to church. Usually Luke goes to Sunday School, but we decided to take him with us to the service for the first time. He recognized a number of the songs and watched with awe – all the people, the resounding singing, the beautiful instruments. As the sermon got underway he got a little fidgety, but all in all he made our hearts hurt with joy as he earnestly soaked it in. Our baby is growing up and how sweet it is to share the true joy of Easter with him more fully each year!