What a surprise turnout!
It has been quite some time since Clay and I hosted a family event at our home.
I reluctantly agreed to host our family Easter get-together after a bit of arm- twisting from Kim, my sister-cousin. (That’s speak for double-first cousin.)
She agreed to help me host. We discussed the menu, deciding to keep it light with sandwiches, baked beans, chips and dips. And, of course, I had to make a tray of those deviled eggs. I’ve been told that I make “the best” deviled eggs, even though I don’t like them and don’t eat them. My grandbabies love them and can practically eat a whole tray by themselves. Only made the one tray, not expecting a big crowd and paying about $8 for an 18-count tray.
I created a Facebook event and sent out the invites. Only four people responded and I received a call from another. So, I thought, it would be a light crowd of 20 or so, with four of those being my grandchildren — the only ones who would hunt for Easter eggs.
I had begged Clay for several weeks to mow the yard, but in his defense, he had not felt well and we have been pretty busy with work and other projects, as well as a camping trip in between. And if you know me, you know the camping trip was way more important than mowing the yard.
My aunt repeatedly asked us not to mow the yard. She didn’t want it too short and wanted the children to really have to hunt for the eggs.
I just couldn’t stand it any longer, so while Clay was running his paper route last week, I hopped on the mower and mowed all but two large squares in the middle of the lawn so that hunting would be a little more challenging. At that point, I would say the biggest challenge would be dodging the ant beds. Those things are horrible!
Turns out we had 42 people to show up, with 12 of them being children with their baskets in tow, ready to hunt eggs!
Since the price of eggs is so high, I didn’t purchase any to dye this year and opted for the plastic. After seeing more than my own grandchildren present, I quickly sent my daughter uptown to purchase more of the plastic variety. She then came back and stuffed them with candy and money.
Oddly, I don’t remember any egg hunts from my youth and I certainly don’t remember any plastic eggs that contained money or candy. I’m pretty positive that any eggs that were hidden were the real variety, brightly colored, and once found they were quickly eaten or stored for pickling to be enjoyed later.
Once lunch was over, the kids were insistent that it was time for the hunt. The young adults did the hiding for us. We lined the littles up according to age and soon sent them out the door, staggered, two or three at a time.
It is always so fun to see them all take off and scatter across the yard looking for those brightly colored pieces of plastic. Clay had used little yellow flags to mark the location of many of the ant beds to avoid. (Thankfully, I did not hear of any ant bites.)
When the children were satisfied they had found all the eggs, we gathered around to count them — awarding prizes to the one who found the most, the one who found the least, and the one who found the queen’s nest. Then, other prizes were given to every child.
Usually during our Easter get-togethers, we play a game using boiled eggs in a bag, but with two or three being raw. Players reach in the bag, pick an egg and crack it on their head. Several get surprised with the raw eggs and win a prize. We opted not to play this year with eggs being so expensive.
Since we’ve lost quite a few family members in the last couple of years, the family gatherings have not been as frequent, and those we have had were small. While talking about how good the day had been, one relative stated maybe we were finally getting back on track and things were getting “normal.”
While we missed those who weren’t there and have gone on to Glory, we also missed quite a few who couldn’t make it to the event for one reason or another.
All in all, it was a great day with beautiful weather, a slight breeze, lots of laughter and wonderful food. But I’m told I might be fired from hosting next year’s Easter event because I only made one tray of deviled eggs.
But did I mention the price of those eggs?
