"Mommy, it's Easter morning!"

There's very little that makes waking up at 6:30AM worth it. One of those few things, though, is waking up to the bright face of your five year old as she stands beside your bed, half naked, bed head hair, whispering "Mommy, it's Easter morning!".
The sound of that sweet voice, filled with excitement.
"The Easter bunny was here", she said.
"How do you know that?", I asked.
"He left jelly beans", she answered.

That whisper is like no other. That voice is like no other.
Soon, Fred began to stir in his room.
"Fred's awake, Mommy!", she announced.
We went to get him and tell him the Easter bunny had been here.
"Fred, the Easter bunny left us jelly beans", she told him.
Rarely has he ever popped out of bed so quickly.

A jelly bean trail!

Ethel remembers last year when the Easter bunny left a trail of jelly beans from the bedroom doors, down the stairs, leading to the Easter baskets. It's all new for Fred, having just turned three. The magic is the same for both. It never gets old. Ethel points out the colors. She finds colors that the bunny didn't put in the trails last year. She notes the colors that he left in Fred's trail that aren't in hers, and vice versa. Fred thinks this is very cool.

We all head down the stairs, following the Easter bunny's jelly bean trail. At the bottom, we find the Easter baskets that he left, filled with goodies. Inside each basket is also a note from Nani.

Ethel was like a little teacher, showing Fred the jelly bean trail, telling him all about the Easter bunny and how he left the trail from their bedroom doors. Explaining to him which trail was hers, which was his.





Just as Mommy suggested that we open the cards from Nani, Ethel reminds us all, "Mommy, the Easter bunny hid our Easter eggs!" So we go get the Easter baskets and the kids wander the house looking for eggs. Fred is amazed that these tiny little jelly beans are edible, and just wants "one more". Over and over. And over. Ethel is hard at work searching for eggs. The Easter bunny was quite clever this year, adding stickers to the eggs, indicating whose eggs were whose. Ethel and Fred had each picked out egg coloring kits. Ethel chose Tinkerbell, and Fred chose Cars. We couldn't get the stickers to stick to the eggs when we colored them, but the Easter bunny is wildly skillful and made it work. Wow is the only word possibly for such brilliance.

Ethel was very good at collecting her eggs and directing Fred to his. Fred became good at placing the eggs gently into his basket so as not to crack them. Yes, the Easter bunny hides the real eggs here.

In the end, Ethel and Fred were thrilled by the wonder of the Easter bunny. Their baskets filled with small goodies and eggs, their tummies filled with jelly beans, and their minds filled with excitement.