Without further adieu... a Tale of Three Visits from One Beloved Easter Bunny!
On Friday morning, Nana and Bop drove down to the Rock to celebrate Easter with the Cox Fam! We were so excited they were coming to visit and of course Caden had been YEADY for days! After the initial hugs, hello, how are y'alls and of course Caden showing them around his playroom (as if they had never been there before) we were ready for the first of our official Easter Bunny celebrations!
Oddly enough the Easter Bunny made a trip through Waco a bit early, but he gave very specific instructions for Nana and Bop on how they would have to hide the eggs themselves, seeing as he would be preparing for his big NIGHT of Easter festivities! So Nana and Bop followed directions well and went out to the back yard and did some damage...
Now for the hunt... Caden had plenty of helpers to guide him on his way... you could say that Nana and Bop were like his "egg-dogs" the equivalent to a bird dog for Easter egg hunts! :)
Such a serious boy when it comes to hunting...
Once we cleared the backyard of all of the eggs it was time to come inside and start cracking them open! The Waco Easter Bunny was SUPER sweet and put all of the candy inside ziplock baggies to ensure that Caden didn't lose a thing. EVERY egg he opened had jelly beans in it and he'd say, "More jelly beans!" "More jelly beans!" "More jelly beans!" Let's just say we are STOCKED on jelly beans!
Then Nana and Bop set out the other goodies that the Waco Easter Bunny had gathered for Caden and put them on the kitchen table by his new big boy seat!! (We got the kaboost... a booster that lifts your kitchen chair to the height of your table... SO cool and Caden loves it!!)
Check out ALL that loot... but of course he wanted a piece of the chocolate Easter Bunny FIRST... duh!! Even Elmo had to wait... and that's a pretty big deal!
After our morning of hunting and snacking we headed out to a yummy Mexican food place up in G-town and topped our lunch off with a decadent cupcake from one of our favorite spots... oh man was it good! After all that food, fun and excitement the Chade settled in for a nice long nap. Meanwhile, Nana and I hung out on the couch and chit-chatted while the boys went shopping... I know that must seem backwards, but it was actually just what we all needed... get the boys OUT of the house and let the girls hang out and RELAX! The boys came home with several surprises, but best of all was a new grill!! Justin's birthday came early this year and it is sitting beautifully on our back porch, allowing us to get the other grill (a well-used eyesore) into the garage!! Thanks Nana and Bop for adding some extra fluff to our outdoor patio!!
On Friday night we attended the Good Friday service at our church. They did not offer childcare so we weren't quite sure how long we would make it, BUT I am very pleased to report that Caden was GREAT. He did so very well and made it through the entire service with minimal correction... I'm telling y'all... the spanking spoon has CHANGED some things around here! :)
On our way home Nana and Bop thought that our sweet boy needed a treat so they bought him a special chocolate milkshake... that he finished in the 2.1 miles it took us to get home from Steak n Shake... and then he was FIRED up and ready to SHOW off his skills in the backyard and around the house! He didn't make it to bed until 9pm that night!!
The next morning we all woke up early and headed to breakfast!! My child has ALWAYS followed the "early to bed, late to rise" mantra so we were not surprised when he popped up at 7:15! :)
After a YUMMY breakfast went came back to the house so Caden and Bop could go fishing! THIS time Bop brought a full box of live worms to fish with. This little advantage was SURE to get Caden his first catch! Sadly, I decided to stay back at the house and hang out while the rest of the crew went fishing! Kaki and I needed some time with our feet up and a soft cushion under our seat (if you know what I mean!!).
BUT, Daddy took lots of great pictures and I got to relive it all through Caden's telling when he got home! He was one excited boy to catch his first fish!! Check out his determination... carrying that box of worms...
I am so glad there are people like Grandpas or BOPs in our case to do things like handle worms... not my favorite thing!
Here we go...
Worm in the water... with the bobber floating...
And would you look at that?!! His first fish... a tiny one, but a catch nonetheless!
Caden wanted to pet the fish... sweet boy! :)
According to Justin, Caden was pretty much YEADY to go once he got his first catch but Bop insisted they try one more time! AND as the story goes... they had a BIG ONE on the line and then lost it... maybe next time!!
What an exciting way to wrap up our visit with Nana and Bop... with a FIRST CATCH! Thanks so much for visiting Nana and Bop and of course thank you for delivering all of the goods that the Waco Easter Bunny dropped off for Caden! :) We love y'all!!Wash, rinse, repeat... time for Easter Bunny #2... this time the Easter Bunny made a pit stop down south and dropped off a basket of loot for Caden in San Antonio too... and sweet the Easter Bunny got Miss Kaki a full basket of pink as well!! :)
KK and Albi arrived just before Caden got up from his LONG nap on Saturday! And he came downstairs to discover that the Easter Bunny had IN FACT visited yet again...
Let's see what he brought me this time...
Albi helped Caden sort through all of the loot... he of course had special instructions from the Easter Bunny too... on how to work certain things/toys!
AIRPLANES!! When Caden was in San Antonio last weekend he LOVED playing with Uncle Josh's old airplanes... so Albi and Kk got a message STAT to the Easter Bunny and told him to pack a few planes!!
Check out Kaki-pant's stuff... LOTS and LOTS of pink... LOVE IT! And check out that sweet doll... it's her very first Madame Alexander!! :) I remember my first...
After lots of playing with all of his new toys we headed out to eat some dinner and then came back for the REAL Easter fun... CASCARONES!!!I have been SO excited about doing CASCARONES with Caden... this is one of my favorite traditions...
It took Caden a bit to get the hang of it... but before long we have gone through 2 DOZEN Cascarones and our backyard looked like we had just had one raging party! :)
It took Caden a bit to get the hang of it... but before long we have gone through 2 DOZEN Cascarones and our backyard looked like we had just had one raging party! :)
Got Albi!!
It was a FUN night on the porch both before and after Caden went to bed!! :)The next morning Caden got his third and FINAL visit from the Easter Bunny... and ran downstairs to see what he had brought!
Checkin' out all of the goods...
A new Mickey Mouse shirt... SO COOL!
Then it was time for another Egg Hunt... the San Antonio eggs were added to the Round Rock eggs so Caden had a full load ahead...Right out of the shoot, Caden opened an egg and we had a bit of a Robin Egg cleaning party to attend!! 
And then once he understood that we were not going to open every egg as we went he was ready to go...
Off and running...
Looks at all those eggs...
His bucket was getting a little heavy...
Kk treated us all to a yummy breakfast before church! We had a BUSY morning so we didn't have a chance to snap any pictures before church, BUT we did manage to get a few afterwards! We had a good window between church and brunch which worked out great!!Check out my boy in his Easter duds... (with pretzels in his mouth and a plane in his hand... you do what you HAVE to do to get a good pic, right?! )
Hmmmm... to pull or not to pull??!!
Hmmmm... to pull or not to pull??!!
Say cheese...
Say cheese and SMILE... that's better!!
An attempt at family pics... not too bad...
Especially considering I was literally dripping sweat during church... a pregnant girl can stir up some serious heat in a crowded congregation... bless my heart!! And everyone around me who had to focus through my fanning with the bulletin! :)
The dress AGAIN... I wasn't planning on wearing this for Easter, but when I came downstairs in my original attire it was confirmed that it more closely resembled a swimsuit cover-up rather than a dress... that 'ol belly of mine is making everything shrink on up! My dresses are all too short!! SO I decided to order some maxi dresses from Old Navy yesterday just to get me through... :) I love this pic of KK, Albi and the Chade...
Little stinker with his tongue out... hahaha! He and Albi match... in fact, as we were walking out of the restaurant after brunch later that day we heard a lady say, "Aw, look at that Dad and son, matching on Easter!" She was talking about Albi who was holding Caden... YIKES! And who did they think the Momma was, KK and I both wanted to know?!! You must be lookin' good Albi! :)We had a YUMMY brunch and a FUN morning with KK and Albi! We were sad that all of the Easter fesitivities had to come to a close when we said goodbye to Kk and Albi in the restaurant parking lot... BUT when I think about the excitement and hope of Easter's to come I say let's let this one rest and keep on chuggin' ahead! We love you KK and Albi! Thanks for coming to visit us!!
I know it may seem like this Easter was ALL about the Easter Bunny and his gifting, BUT we certainly are thankful for the ULTIMATE/FINAL/BEAUTIFUL/AMAZING gift of Jesus that we are promised through His death, burial and resurrection. And it is all by grace that we have received our most precious gift. I pray daily that Caden will be able store all of these "Easter gifts" up in his heart as a deposit for the day when he decides to ask and receive the GREATEST gift of all! He is risen, for He is risen indeed!!
Happy Easter!
