Easter Weekend in NC

And now it's April!  The cousins, who had spring breaks at various times, are back in school or will be on Monday.  Larry/Gpappy and I had a quick and enjoyable trip to NC to see the chica cousins over Easter weekend. So pleasant to see flowering trees and bushes while it was still quite brown in MN. The rain over the past week has greened it up here, though, so we're on our way to spring, too.

We were greeted at the airport on Friday evening by these two adorable kiddos.

Our first stop on Saturday morning was Bouncing Bulldogs. H and V are wizards at Double Dutch and all sorts of other tricky rope-jumping feats. 

Afterwards, Elisabeth and I went with Hannah to her piano lesson while Evan, Vivi, and Gpappy went to A Southern Season to pick up yummy food for lunch.

The neighbors got together for an Easter egg hunt on Saturday afternoon, and although I don't have pictures, I can assure you it was a great success. Lots of kids, lots of plastic eggs, lots of candy inside the eggs.  

Coloring Easter eggs after the fun with the neighbor kids was highlighted with an attempt by H and V to crack eggs like Ramona's father did in the book and movie, Ramona and Beezus. We decided it must take a lot of practice to do just the right amount of cracking on the top of one's head to be able to blow the egg out of its shell. Fun to try, for sure!

Playing puppies is a cousin thing, no matter where the cousins are or in which combination. This time, Hannah took on the role of new puppy owner, and Vivian was her little dog, Fifi. Great name for a Vivi-dog, don't you think?!

Evan, Hannah, and Vivi collaborated on grating potatoes to make yummy cheesy potatoes for Easter dinner. Ham on the grill and fresh green beans were other featured items. I was more than content to observe, photograph, and enjoy the deliciousness!

Cousin Linda was kind enough to let us invade her apartment in Raleigh on Sunday afternoon. The weather wasn't cooperative enough for a hoped-for trip to a local park, but Linda provided a substitute outdoor venue under the canopy on the pool deck of her apartment building. It was the perfect spot for enjoying cupcakes and taking pictures. Thanks, Linda, for the lovely time and for the photos!

On Monday, we went to the local library so H and V could return books and check out another mountain of titles. The library is huge, bright, and cheerful. Outside, these fun sculptures invite kids to climb and play. And read.

Home for lunch, a trip to A Southern Season and to a nearby park for some play time, and then off to the airport. Thank you to Elisabeth and Evan for a great visit! It flew by, but we managed to get a lot of time with Vivi and Hannah, which was what we wanted to do!