Egg-stravaganza

This past Sunday, Rory invited Ardan and Natalie over for lunch and Easter egg-decorating. Here is the artist at work (more on this in a minute). 

The weather was gorgeous, almost a little too warm, but great to be outdoors and not be windy or too cold.

Le Menu:

Grilled cheese 

Celery with peanut butter 

Strawberries, mango and kiwi with vanana yogurt

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I boiled a dozen white and brown eggs on Saturday so they'd be ready to go. I prefer colored eggs with a deep hue, and have learned that the brown eggs give the best results, especially the ones with dark mottled spots. But it does take a little longer to dye them, especially for pink or yellow. White eggs are good for pastel-colored eggs, and when you make designs using a white crayon or glue.

This year's egg-decorating supplies include: Food coloring (to make red, blue, yellow, green and purple); vinegar, which also gives a richer hue; 5 Bowls and spoons; paint brushes of various sizes; egg cups; stickers, lots of them; washable markers; and kraft paper (for table).

The kids spent about 45 minutes coloring eggs - after about the second they started getting restless. Cue parents, who happily swooped in to help out or offer encouragement, such as Chris' "How about purple" after Natalie's fourth pink egg. 

Natalie was a little Monet - she painstakingly painted each egg various shades of pink and purple. Oh, to have a little girl! Ardan emulated Rodrigue, favoring blue and lots of stickers. And Rory was a little Jackson Pollock (btw way, how cool is that app?), dying most of his eggs green and going to town with marker scribbles. Myer was able to get in on the action by putting on stickers with a little help from mom. Amazingly, there was just one spill but lots of smiles.

Of course, you can't simply decorate eggs and not go all the way. The three Easter bunny dads obligingly hid eggs not once, but three times (I had plastic eggs on hand, stuffed with M&Ms and Robin Eggs). First in the backyard, then in the front and finally in the living room. Oddly enough, the three kids found roughly an equal number of eggs each time (whew!). 

In terms of celebrating the real day, I have the kids' baskets all ready to go. Rory has his soccer basket and I just bought Myer a cute turtle. Ms. Bunny is leaving a few more treats for them plus a boomerang for Rory (he's wanted one since watching Toot & Puddle) and a rolling sand toy for Myer. 

We have two eggs left - Rory ate three on Sunday alone - so I think we'll have to have one more round of egg decorating this weekend. Woo hoo!