Easter Egg Hunt

Reason #436 that my mom's group (now, more accurately, our neighborhood families group) is awesome: one of the moms organized an Easter egg hunt for all the kiddos. Thanks to the incomparable Casey (Lucia's mom), on the day before Easter about 25 kiddos got to experience an egg-stravaganza at our local playground. While the adults noshed on potluck brunch and sipped coffee and mimosas, the kids got to hunt for 400 plastic eggs that Casey had filled with fantastic treats like stickers, play-doh and mini-bubbles. I wasn't sure at first if our group of 1.5-2-year-olds would know how to hunt for eggs. Boy, did I under-estimate them. They had a ball. And when they were done, many of them dumped their eggs and went and found them all over again. It was a hoot.

We showed up early to help hide the eggs.

We sequestered Riley in the playground while his pops dropped eggs all over the lawn. It was not such a bad place for a kid to be stuck, and Rilz was pretty patient, but we knew he was itching to tear into the action. Finally we set him and the other kids free, and the hunt was on.

"Come on, GiGi. It's time, it's time!"

While other kids combed the grass, Riley and his friend Jack challenged themselves to find eggs hidden among the plants.

Riley also perfected a technique for opening the plastic eggs we like to call "The Karate Kid."

One of the cutest elements of the day, was seeing the neighborhood kids dressed in their Easter finest, including fashionista Beatrix, adorable Lucia -- the inspiration for the event -- dapper Owen and bunny-eared Fiona.

Once the kids filled their baskets, they started checking out the awesome goodies inside. Here's Murphy, bargaining with Trixie for one of her play-doh eggs.

The kids' attentions eventually turned to other finds like the gorgeous calla lillies decorating the park and the inflatable chocolate bunny (which Riley rode, hugged, wrestled and pounded for at least 10 minutes).

Riley also ate a ton, as chronicled here on the blog of one of his best pals, Fiona.

The party was pretty much a dream come true for these kiddos. A million thanks to Casey, whom we can only guess is a high ranking ambassador to the Easter bunny. And thanks to Jack's dad, Simon, for taking several of our favorite pictures above. It takes a village, and we're thrilled with ours.