Joyous Easter 2010

Alastair does not want to sit!

UPDATE:  Alastair just looks so serious and even unhappy in the photos from this wonderful day.  So I have decided to include this picture.  I managed to capture one of his happiest moments in this blurry photo.  While we were getting dinner on the table, he discovered that the easily opened old oak wash stand in the kitchen housed a box of garbage bags with unlimited fun potential.

Alastair, anticipating a LOT of garbage after Easter dinner.

He was allowed to enjoy himself but was never left unsupervised with the potentially dangerous bags. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alastair has places to go and eggs to hunt.

What a lovely, joyous celebration we had today!  We are so grateful that both of our children and their families live near enough that we can be together for holidays and often just to be together.

When Ryan’s family arrived, Robert was perfectly happy to swap out his huge shirt for this one, version 2, which is more fitted than version 1 but still too large.   The wash and wear shirt and polycotton blend featherwale baby cord shorts were the only pieces in the Easter wardrobe which were truly modern projects for this old fashioned Nana.

Also made of baby cord, Alastair’s bubble is mostly easy care, but the “chameleon”  lace and the duck handloom all need to be ironed.  Still, it is relatively low maintenance.

I snapped a few pictures of the grandchildren together wearing the outfits I made.  But I am no Olan Mills and my yard is no studio.  Thirteen month old Alastair needs a professional photographer and a degree of confinement in order to get the kind of cooperation required for a good shot of three children.

ready to hunt

So what's this?

 First, we tried sitting them together on a quilt.  Laurel and Robert were models of decorum, but Alastair needs something more to keep him still than his parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle making faces and silly noises.  “Excuse me, please,”  said his little face, as clearly as if he could speak.

So is anybody going to open this for me?

Then, we tried having them stand together, but Alastair had places to go and eggs to find.  Even with Cousin Robert’s vice grip on his little hand, he was leaving.  It was clear that these were the best and only group of three shots we were getting. So they hunted eggs and we captured what we could as we chased after them.

Where should I look now?

Robert is still for a rare moment.

There are so few pictures of Robert.  He is not a big fan of the camera and he is so hard to catch!

note the fluffy chick in the right front corner of the basket

After the egg hunt, we sat down to dinner with the fun centerpiece that I knew they would enjoy.  A basket was loaded up with tulips, purple and white angelonia, African violets, Easter grass and jelly beans.  Added to that were  gorgeous feather butterflies, realistic bumble bees, grasshoppers and ladybugs, all sent to me by a dear friend in a big box of Spring!  The greatest treasure was a set of three little chicks, so lifelike that I think I heard one cheep!

The children also enjoyed the bunny cake. I abandoned my plan for lemon meringue pie dessert because we had too many dishes requiring oven space.  So Plan B was strawberry shortcake.  The berries were sliced and steeping in their juices, shortcake was made and it was ready to be served.

But at the last minute. I decided that the children would enjoy a bunny cake more.  So I scurried around and made it up specifically for them.  The funny thing is that only my dear husband ate the strawberries.  Everyone else had bunny cake.  Go figure.

Laurel had been gently admonished to keep her dress clean.  She ate so carefully that her dress was spotless at the end of the meal.

After dinner, the guys played football while Alastair napped.  Later, Rebecca and Harvey took Alastair to visit her godparents down the street while my precious, nature girl daughter-in-law pulled weeds….for fun!   No one wanted to be indoors.  John and Susanna, our friends of 35 years dropped by and had dessert—-bunny cake!

It was a glorious day with family and friends.  I hope your Easter celebration was wonderful.

P.S.  You won’t have to look at or read about these garments any more!