Easter

Watching the kids participate in an Easter Egg Hunt never ever gets old.  

Here goes Austin!

 I love how excited these girls were for him!

 Next, Emma was up. 

 It's so fun to run into friends at neighborhood parties like this.

 And they are off!

Emma got lucky and found a five dollar bill in one of her eggs!

 
Hunter finished up his Easter egg hunt and gave all his candy away to a cute girl before we even got to see the loot.  Not sure what to make of that... Hunter says he didn't like any of it.  Dad was disappointed it wasn't saved for him...

 

Sunday morning we had 9:00 church!  With 4 kids to shower and get ready, we decided it would be easier to save the Easter Baskets for after church.



We laid out some new church clothes and a note for each of them that said...

Dear McInelly kid...
Your Easter basket has been stolen!
You'll have to come back after church and do the following...
Change out of these nice Easter clothes.
Hang up the Easter clothes in your closet.
Report to your Dad for your next clue.

It went surprisingly well.  We got ready and made it to church nice and early for choir practice at 8:30.  I played my flute and we enjoyed a great meeting. 

After church, the kids were anxious for their first clue.  They took turns reading the clues and along the way they had to do certain road blocks (like on The Amazing Race) before they could continue.   

Here they had to run around the swing set three times while patting their heads and rubbing their stomachs.
 

My favorite road block was when they all had to hug and kiss mom, but this dance like crazy for 30 seconds one was also pretty entertaining.

 They had to look all over for clues, even in the gross compost bin. 

 Finally!

 

After the kids had a chance to look through their baskets and check out their treats and goodies, we packed up and headed off to see Grandma Jeanne and Papa and some of the cousins.  We had a delicious dinner of ham, rolls, roasted potatoes and yummy steamed veggies with an amazing pineapple crumble cake dessert.  The best part was I didn't have to do anything but just show up and enjoy.  What a treat!

 One more Easter egg hunt!

The kids love to hide the eggs over and over again for each other.  It provided hours of entertainment for them which allowed the adults to sit on the back porch and visit the afternoon away.  It was the most beautiful weather and made for a perfect Easter weekend. 

The Wizard of Oz

My kids are super lucky to have a great music program at their Elementary school.  This year, they put on The Wizard of Oz. 

 

 Emma (far right) was a munchkin.  Aren't these girls adorable?

 The props were amazing. 

While Emma was busy learning the songs and dances, I was busy helping out with costumes.  I made over twenty skirts for the munchkins and 13 satin skirts for the fairies.  My dining room looked like this for nearly 3 weeks.

 

It was totally worth it!  Emma loved every minute and never complained about the countless rehearsals and long nights.  She loved the stage and we loved watching her!

 

Cousins

The Butler cousins came to visit a few weeks ago.  It was a quick weekend, but we made the most of every moment. We took walks, made a trip to Seattle, went out for ice cream and even fit in a fancy date night for the adults.  Here are a few pictures of some of the fun we had.

 

Gavin was so sweet to Austin all weekend, I just loved this picture.

These pictures were taken after we just missed the ferry.  Darn.  If it wouldn't have been for Emma puking at the last minute while we were circling around looking for parking spots we may have just made it. 

It all turned out okay though.  We walked across the street to pike place market and took the kids to see the gum wall.  They thought it was really cool and were thrilled to add their gum to it.
Kinda gross I know.

 

 

We also went to see the Fremont Troll.  Austin was totally scared, but everyone else had to get a closer look.

 One night we had yummy cheese fondue...

 

 ..and finished with the chocolate fountain.  Delicious!

We sure love this family and are so glad to be related.  Best Friends for Life!