Technically my Easter falls on the same day as Eadlyn and Ahren's birthday.

Happy Easter everyone!


Photo #60: Hop, Hop, Hop!

Eadlyn knows why her parents preferred her and her siblings when they were younger. Minus the excessive noise, there were so many more options on what to do in order to have fun. There was so much more make believe in the childhood mind (and it was easier to convince their younger selves into doing ridiculous things).

Easter was one of those times. All the pastel colors, flowers, (Eadlyn and her father loved chocolate), and all the activities; egg hunt, waiting for the Easter bunny. All of those were so much more fun when they were children who still believed in the illusion of the Easter bunny.

The next photo shows one of their Easters when they were still children. The longer Eadlyn looks at the photo, the more she has to rub her eyes. Not because she has tears or anything like that, she just doesn't believe the Easter Bunny being there.

-o-

"I still don't understand how these children could be so hyper," Maxon says, struggling to get a picture of the kids where none of them are all blurry.

"They're children, Maxon," America replies with the brightest smile on her face which only compliments the sunny day, "they're excited and full of sugar."

Maxon snickers. "They can't be full of that much sugar..."

America nudges him. "What are you talking about?" She thinks she knows the answer and immediately nudges him harder. "Maxon!"

"What?" Maxon questions, grinning as if he hasn't done anything (when America knows he has).

"You ate all the chocolate, didn't you?"

"Of course not, dear..." He looks away for a bit. "Carter had some as well."

America rolls her eyes, resisting a smile Maxon knows is there. He kisses the side of her head to break her ice. America raises an eyebrow at Marlee who gives the look to her husband. She crosses her arms at Carter who shrugs sheepishly.

Meanwhile, the Schreave and Woodwork kids run around the yard to see who can find the most Easter eggs - or even better, The Easter Bunny. The rule made was that whoever found the most eggs obviously won but whoever found the Easter Bunny gets the victory, regardless of how many eggs were in their baskets. They were going to work as teams divided by siblings, but even with Osten mysteriously not around, the Woodwork kids were still out-numbered so now they're playing as solo teams.

"You're cheating!" Kaden yells at Josie.

"Am not!" Josie yells back.

"You can use eggs straight from the kitchen! Those don't count!"

"Who says they don't? They're eggs."

"Josie!"

"You didn't make the rules!"

Josie sticks out her tongue. Kaden sticks his out in response to that. The two of them run their separate ways. (Josie's eggs wouldn't count anyways unless she miraculously painted them to be all colorful. Nobody would know).

"Kids, play nice!" Marlee yells from the distance.

Easier said than done.

Eadlyn scans the gardens for some eggs to add to her basket. Her eyes examine every square centimeter to find even the slightest detail out of place. Her parents and the Woodworks did an excellent job at hiding the eggs, that's for sure. Then something catches her eye: a lime green dot in the center of a purple balloon flowers. She immediately starts to run over to the spot and claim the egg as hers. Ahren is suddenly running at her side, aiming for the same egg.

"Not today, Eady!" Ahren yells at her.

"Not ever, Ahren!" Eadlyn yells back.

At the same time, the twins dive forwards with out-stretched arms to grasp the egg. When they land on the ground, they ignore their mother's scolding for dirtying their clothes. When they look up to grab the egg, they see that it's gone. For a moment, they think that it was a trick of the light this whole time, but it was a trick from someone else.

"First come, first serve!" Kile exclaims, placing the green egg in his own basket.

"We were here first!" Eadlyn and Ahren yell at once.

Eadlyn and Ahren huff in frustration as they get up and brush the dirt and grass off their clothes. They both separate to continue finding eggs.

Kaden stops running and hides behind a tree at something he suddenly finds in the trees. He stands behind a tree and takes another peek, this time more cautious and stealthy - like a predator to its prey. Kaden's eyes open wide at the sight of a gentle white animal with long ears and a bushy tail.

He can't believe his eyes.

Kaden turns around and waves his arms around frantically. The other kids look and he waves them over. They all run over but slow down due to Kaden's actions. They all crowd behind the tree and slowly peek over to see the same fuzzy animal. All of them gasp and feel their excitement build up.

"Could it really be?!" Josie exclaims before everyone starts shushing her.

"That's - " Ahren starts, trying to think of an explanation for what he's seeing " - I think it really is."

"Easter Bunny!" Josie exclaims, starting to chase it.

"Josie!" The others yell as they begin trailing her.

The bunny begins hopping as fast as it could, which is shockingly pretty speedy for its tiny legs. Josie catches up and tosses her egg basket to the side to pick up speed. She sees her father and once the Easter Bunny gets closer to him, the bunny dives through his legs and rolls on the ground for a bit before getting up again. Carter jumps a little and when Josie is about to do the same, Carter picks up Josie and swings her around.

"No!" Josie exclaims as the Bunny scurries away. "Daddy! Put me down!"

"Josie, you could've knocked the wind out of me," Carter jokes.

The other kids whizz by, still on pursuit of the Easter Bunny. They skid and side-step people, their eyes never leaving that bunny. As they near Maxon and America, the bunny crawls underneath the skirt of America's dress. America jumps a little with a small scream, grasping her heart. Maxon laughs a little as the kids stop in front of them, all panting.

"Mom," Eadlyn says, catching her breath. She wheezes, unable to finish her sentence.

"I know," America says, still startled by whatever crawled underneath her dress.

America lifts the hem of her skirt and the bunny rolls out. That's when they realize that the Easter Bunny is actually Osten wearing a bunny costume.

"My baby, you're so cute!" America exclaims, picking up her son before he could squirm away. She begins kissing his cheeks. Osten tries to loosen her grip around his waist.

"What are you wearing?" Ahren asks.

"And why?" Kaden adds.

Osten smirks with a little laugh. "I thought it would catch the Easter Bunny."


Honestly, I have never done an egg hunt but I have eaten a whole lot of chocolate.

Stay Tuned - an (un)original song for his dear.