Sunday in the park with Coal. And Kelly.

Sunday night, when we got home from small group, the weather was just begging us to enjoy a walk. Katie was just begging us to spend time with Aunt Kelly and Coal, so we managed to placate both beggars! We met Kelly and her pooch at the "Mommy Park" and enjoyed a quick walk right before dark.

Coal leads the way...

Katie takes a turn holding the leash (a tough job!)

Kings of the Mountain (or at least of the dirt pile)

Let's go...

...fly a kite!

HCC's got talent.

The fifth annual HCC Talent Revue has come and gone, and once again, it provided plenty of entertainment!

The adult ensemble rehearses at the Friday night run-through.

M runs through his song, "Folsom Prison Blues."

The Heavenly Wrappers order up some fast food.

Of course, this isn't our actual audience! These folks are
waiting for their turns to rehearse on Friday night.

Ever the artiste, Tami gives me three
seconds to get the camera out of her face.
(At least Pam was happy to pose!)

Such concentration! This rehearsal thing must be hard work!

Actually, while John did the heavy lifting, I was checking
out the Texas-Stanford game between acts.

From the actual show: the Church Ladies show off their "blinky-blink"...

The Heavenly Wrappers rap for their supper...

And the band rounds out the show.

The picture I didn't get? The PowerZone kids performing their melodrama. Ryan and his buddies did a great job telling the story of the blind man's healing.

Good show, everybody!

Oldie but goodie.

I'm not an American Idol devotee, but I did manage to catch a little of last night's show. The theme? The finalists sang songs from the year of their birth. OUCH! Yet another reminder that I am O-L-D, old! I remember so very well when those songs were new.

I mentioned my old-fogeyness to one of my students, and he asked if I saw David Cook's rendition of Billie Jean. I had missed it, but thanks to YouTube, now I can say I've seen it—and loved it!



(And yes, I understand this interpretation is actually Chris Cornell's.)

A-hunting we did go.

Even though we planned to hunt Easter eggs at Nana and Papa's later in the afternoon, Ryan decided we should also hunt a few in our own backyard to warm up.

The kids humored me by using the bunny baskets they've had since they were babies.

Here Katie re-enacts finding an egg in the cassette slot of our old radio.



Since the kids still had one last egg to find, Ryan asked Brett for a clue. His tip? "It's in the backyard, Buddy!"

Brett found a KitKat!

And I found a spot for another self-portrait!

Katie took advantage of the sunroom windows, too.

Later we headed to Nana and Papa's for the traditional Easter lunch.

It was wonderful!

We feasted on ham, mac and cheese, corn salad, green beans, and Nana's famous fruit salad.

For the big egg hunt (part 2), the kids had to wait until the Texas basketball game was over (we're in the Sweet 16!!!).

Finally, it's time to HUNT!

Run, Katie, run!

Run, Ryan, run!

Ryan laughed when he found the "bad egg."

Ew!

See the egg?

Katie entertains the family with a story.

At long last and after several clues, Ryan and Katie simultaneously found the prize egg, the one egg with a $5 bill inside.

Since both kids spotted it at almost exactly the same time, both kids were awarded $5 bills!

Happy Easter from the Dubs!

A tisket, a tasket...

It's the Dubs' Easter baskets!

Ryan and Katie weren't the only ones to get a visit from the Easter bunny!

ChaCha was happy to see her basket, and she and KitKat shared their special holiday treats.

After church, Ryan and Katie got to fill the plastic eggs for their egg hunts later that afternoon.

They had a great time creating special theme eggs, like a pink one filled with all pink candy. They also made a "jelly bean jackpot" egg that was packed with jelly beans and a "bad egg" that was a tribute to Willy Wonka—one egg you wouldn't want to find!

To dye for.

Our Easter Eve tradition: Memaw spends the night, we dye Easter eggs, and then we enjoy an Easter treat (this year—bunny cake!). We also capped off our night by watching Enchanted together. Great fun!