At the end of March, Bob joined the old man's club. He had cataract surgery. Now he sports reading glasses and performs an odd dance of back and forth with his phone in order to see it. On the plus side, he can tell the difference between black and blue & orange and pink. This made it the perfect opportunity for the boys to test his new lenses with a little egg dyeing.
We started our egg dyeing on the light colored counter of our rental house. We quickly moved to the table where things could be a little more stable and contained without threatening our security deposit.
The table worked perfectly. We were able to give each of the kids two colors and let them monitor their eggs. They loved it. Michael kept trying to "scratchin'" his eggs. In April, Wild Kratts and the Sea Turtle movie were big players around our house. The boys loved to watch the eggs hatch and the baby animals come out, so when we dyed the Easter eggs, Michael especially kept tearing them apart looking for the animal. Ryan liked to eat the insides of the egg, so it worked out, but we started with two and a half dozen eggs and finished with a lot fewer.
Egg dyeing is a very intricate process involving measuring, pouring, dropping of colored tablets and stirring. The boys really liked the stirring part. We've finally wiped the table enough that the fruits of all that stirring have disappeared off the table, but the cute shirts my buddy Anne gave us will never be the same again.
After the stirring, we performed the very delicate and often bungled egg drop. We used big spoons, but still the art of finessing the egg into the water was lost on two year olds.
The best part of the whole egg process is seeing the finished product. Michael admires his yellow egg and contemplates making it "scratch."
James waits patiently for his egg to turn the proper shade of green.
Ryan enjoys doing the dip and retrieve method of egg dyeing. It makes for great splashes and cracking.
Daddy makes a great director of egg operations. In previous years, this role has been filled by Grandmas, but this year, we dyed as a family of five.
Ryan has begun his process of auditioning for the Blue Man Group.
The fruits of our labor. So bright and beautiful. Watch out blue egg in Michael's hand, you're about to be "scratched."
Blue egg scratched and Ryan gets in on the action with a yellow one.
James admires his handiwork. He looked at each one and said "how cute" with this adorable face and his shoulders scrunched up holding the egg in two hands. How cute.
We bought religious stickers to put on the eggs, so Ryan helped me to decorate the eggs with crosses.
Good Friday was good for dye eggs and testing out our new lawn mower. Bob's best helper enjoys getting the job done. Ryan is such a "helper" that it doubles Bob's lawn mowing time. During Bob's last long trip, Ryan would hear the lawn mower going outside and start yelling "where's my dad?"
Good Friday was good for many reasons this year. Not only was it a day to commemorate our Lord's sacrifice, but also the Opening Day for the Rangers - to be a bit sacrilegious, it was two religious experiences in one for my best bud.
Michael spent most of the day sporting his Ranger gear and hanging out in the lawn mower box. I'm not sure why, but he spent a lot of time with the tea kettle. Months later, I went to use the kettle and found several missing toys inside. All of the boys wore their Rangers World Series jerseys in honor of the big event. Ryan and Daddy are two of a kind. I'm pretty sure his love of baseball (especially the "Jack-son-wheel Suuunnns") is almost equal to the love of Star Wars much like his Darth Vader father.
The boys are unusually large for their age. Most people think that they are four if not older, but they are still little no matter what their bodies say. I wanted to put them in those cute little short and jacket outfits, but not only did the stores not have a single thing in their size like that, but I just couldn't bring myself to spending $150 on an outfit the kids would wear once. Thus, I spent weeks searching for Easter outfits to no avail. Finally, on Saturday, I found some dress shirts in the boys department at Walmart (who knew I had to leave the toddler department behind) that would work. When the kids tried them on, James called them his work clothes because they looked like Daddy's work suits. He loved them. Michael wouldn't pose for a picture, but Ryan and James thought they were hot stuff in their "work clothes."
In the morning the Easter bunny arrived with all kinds of tasty treats. I would have posted pictures of this, but the kids were in odd states of dress during the basket reveal that I know would cause them some future therapy sessions, so I erred on the side of good mental health. We left carrots out for the Easter Bunny, and he left us lots of treats. Ryan tried to leave the Bunny carrots on Sunday night, but I had to explain to him that the bunny only comes once a year.
The egg hunt was a good idea in theory, but in practice, there's a lot of fun stuff to do in the back yard. Especially when you get a new bubble machine from that bunny. Michael found a couple of eggs but didn't get really get interested in the process of egg finding until there were only a couple left.
Ryan was our best egg hunter. He unfortunately felt he must eat the contents of each egg before placing it in the basket. I guess that's one way to keep all that candy to yourself.
James bubbles the yard while Ryan bogarts the candy.
After candy and eggs, we put on our work clothes and went to church. Not having a fireplace in this house (really, what's the point in Florida), I wasn't sure where to take our family photos. I think the bench was a nice idea, but the blinding sun seemed to make things a little more squinty.
Grandma & Papa with their young men.
A true family photo - Mom and Dad attempting to contain the mass chaos that is triplets.
After church, we went to our first baseball game. The boys were so excited to hunt Easter eggs and to see the Suns play. Michael carries his basket for the hunt.
Post hunt candy consumption.
Michael exudes an aura of super cool kid.
Ryan and Papa sporting their Ranger gear. Go Suns, Go Rangers.
James and Daddy. Those cinnamon candies are pretty spicy.
Because the boys were under three, they hunted eggs before the mass chaos that occurred on the field. Here James and Ryan watch how the other half hunts.
James and Daddy checking out the baseball field. They probably don't remember getting to watch the fireworks on the field after the Ranger game, but thanks to Dennis this wasn't his first trip out of the stands and into the grass.
Ryan admires Suns pitching staff. Minor league is pretty up close and personal.
Michael munches on popcorn. It's not peanuts and cracker jacks, but it baseball food.
One of the most amazing parts of our Easter extravaganza was that James chased the Easter Bunny across the outfield with the big kids. I was so proud. He ran all the way across the field and wasn't even the last kid to make it across. That kid is a runner!
One of the boys' favorite parts of the Suns game involved the big posters where you stick your face through. They must have spent 20 minutes going from hole to hole and hamming it up. Michael is gonna be a great catcher.
James is gonna be a great mascot once he grows into that costume.
Two for one special - will Michael hit this one out of the park or will James catch it?
We had a wonderful Easter first half of April. At the end of April, the boys and I took a trip to Louisiana and Texas all on our own while Daddy worked, so we enjoyed our time at home with Dad before our long drive. This is my favorite two headed monster.
Michael sports his baseball monkeys while hanging out with Daddy.
Everyone wants to be like Daddy. Let's brush our teeth and make a big mess in the sink!
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