Easter 2014

We're home from a whirlwind weekend trip to Nebraska where Andi, Tory, Aden and I celebrated the Easter holiday with my side of the family. Remember a year or so ago when I said we'd never again drive 7+ hours with a baby in the car? Yeah, about that ...

Driving from Minnesota to Nebraska with two little kids was not fun. Nothing "horrific" happened specifically; just a combination of Andi traveling for business the week beforehand leaving him tired and overstimulated, Tory catching some sort of illness making her feverish and lethargic most of the weekend, traffic and frequent stops along the interstate for Aden who eats every 3 hours. Our visit home was entirely too short to justify the hours spent on the road. All four of us were exhausted by the end. Perhaps we'll make the few times we do visit in a year more impactful by staying several days because traveling for a "quick weekend" doesn't work for us anymore.

Anyway, aside from the travel itself and Tory feeling under the weather much of the weekend, we had a nice time visiting with my family. We arrived just before Midnight Friday night and spent Saturday hanging around my parent's house with my mom and dad, brother and my sister's family. Saturday evening, my mom and dad prepared a nice ribeye and filet steak dinner for all of us and most of all, it was fun watching the kids play together.

All the grandkids together
Caleb holding Aden, Tanner holding Neeley, Brooke and Tory

A span of 15 years to 5 months old

Easter Sunday, we woke up very early for the 6:30am Sunrise Service at church. My family attended church together, then went to Easter breakfast held in the church basement. The breakfast was a fundraiser for their church's parochial school of which my sister is School Board President. (Personally, I'd have voted for a later morning church service since the hours of 5:00am - 7:00am seem to be the only time my children actually sleep these days ... but we all went together and it was nice.)

While we were at church, the Easter Bunny stopped by my parent's house and left Easter baskets for the kids. Tory was so excited about her basket and squealed with delight when she discovered her Doc McStuffins figurines and her automatic bubble maker. Aden was a big fan of his Sophie the Giraffe teether.

Tory and Aden's Easter Baskets

Brooke and Neeley loved their Easter baskets, too. 

...and more pictures just because I can't get enough of these cuties.

Neeley (20 months old)

We tried to get a group photo of the younger kids together in their Easter outfits. It proved quite difficult to get everyone to smile for the camera at once.

There's one photo in this series which I won't share here capturing my Easter dress pulled up around my middle and my rear end in place of the children's adorable faces. We all had quite the laugh as Andi noticed the photo he'd snapped by accident. Basically, it's the story of my life right now: always in a hurry, straightening the kids' clothing and trying to get them to smile; half-dressed most of the time due to nursing Aden. A funny memory, but my underwear isn't exactly blog-worthy so I'll spare you the photo. 

Anyway, later my family went to my aunt Cheri's house to celebrate Easter with my extended family. Cheri made a nice lunch for everyone and we exchanged Easter gifts amongst the kids. The weather was beautiful Sunday and it felt so lovely being outside in the warm sunshine. I also adored my kids' matching Easter outfits (probably because there's only so many holidays I'll be able to get away with something like that) and I'm happy we got a nice photo of us all together. 

Unfortunately, somewhere around Noon Tory started to feel sick again. I'm not exactly sure what was wrong with her this weekend. She'd seem fine one minute and the next would spike a 103 degree fever. For a mama with little experience with babies and fevers, they really make me nervous. Tory was suddenly burning up and I felt so sorry for her. Andi and I decided to split early and begin our drive back to Minneapolis. We missed the Easter egg hunt and spending quality time with my relatives.

So, our Easter was a blur ... but there were some great memories sandwiched between all the driving, sickness and general chaos. Tory seems to be in good health since we've returned home and Aden, Andi or I haven't felt sick. Let's hope whatever bug she caught stopped with her. 

We're meeting up with my extended family again in Des Moines, IA over Mother's Day weekend, so thankfully it wasn't "good-bye" but "see you soon" this past weekend. Looking forward to catching up with them all again soon.