Pre-Easter Festivities

Easter isn't a big deal holiday for me and so things like bunny rabbits and egg hunts don't occur to me.  I'm going to have to fix that before next year so I don't miss out on egg dyeing.  Luckily, Auntie Lee Ann invited us to eat ham and hunt eggs at Grandma and Grandpa's, so this year is taken care of.

Our Easter festivities this week kicked off when the kids received a package from my friend Margaret.  Margaret has given them an Easter gift each year, and this year was no different.  There was an adorable card with three little chicks, which Caroline instantly took possession of.

"Mommy! I got mail!"

Inside the envelope were three little bags, each with a bunny finger puppet.  The boys got matching ones, but Caroline liked Max's, so they traded.  They were all excited, and Daniel started chanting, "bunnywabbit!" and then "kayat?"  Took me a while to realize he wanted a carrot to feed his bunny!

Um, Daniel, you missed his mouth.

Max giving his bunny a nose tickle

Once Daniel got a carrot, everyone's bunny got hungry.  Note that Caroline put her carrot on the table and let the bunny go at it himself.

Then, on Friday, our friend Rick stopped by for a visit.  The kids know Rick, but they didn't recognize him this time since he was dressed in his Easter Bunny costume (he plays the part for his Homeowners' Association's Easter party).   We tried to get each kid to take a picture with the bunny, but much like encountering Santa, they seemed really excited at first and then terrified.

(especially Max)

Daniel and Caroline started to warm to the bunny slowly.  We thought it'd be a quick visit, but then Daniel started waving and saying, "Hello, Bunnywabbit" and Caroline smiled and waved.  Max turned his back and focused on Thomas the Train on teebee.

Daniel obviously didn't want the bunny to go, so he offered him an apple (we'll ignore that it was Caroline's apple).

As the bunny tried to return the apple, Daniel put his hand out to him and said, "Come on, bunny, sit down couch!"

which gave Caroline an opportunity to get a little closer.

Daniel and Caroline played a while pointing out different bunny face and body parts.

"Nose!"

"Tummy"

"Ears"

Max was still not impressed, though he was pleased to have inherited the apple.

Caroline brought the bunny a series of stuffed animals to play with, and Daniel wanted the bunny to meet Monkey, since they should obviously be friends.

And once Monkey accepted the Easter Bunny, Daniel knew it was ok to sit with him on the couch.

Caroline got to sit on the bunny's lap for a bit.

She introduced him to Murphy the Dog

 Then Daniel enticed him into a game of catch.

"Red tongue!" 

Max finally relented to shake EB's hand as he got ready to leave.

And Caroline wanted to make sure he didn't forget his bag!

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Surprisingly, the kids let him get all the way out the door and onto the steps before they slammed the door.  As they ran from the door to the couch, Joe and I realized with terror that they wanted to watch him walk away.  I assumed Rick would've taken his costume head off to walk down the stairs and the kids would see a headless bunny appear on the sidewalk and be scarred for life.  But he walked out with the head on, turned and looked up at the window to wave, and then crossed the street to his (incredibly in-character) white, egg-shaped VW Bug.  A bus drove by and he stood and waved and the few perplexed passengers who remained.  As he got to the door of his car, he bent to take off the head and put his glasses on, and the kids burst out laughing.

"Mommy!" Caroline said, "Bunny Rabbit's head fall off in car!"

The rest of the night, Daniel couldn't stop talking about the Easter Bunny.  Pretty cool friends we have.