My youngest child is obsessed with the woods

Most days he rushes through his schoolwork (ugh), finishes his chores (mostly), grabs a rifle and heads into the woods.  Believe it or not, he often comes home with a skinned squirrel or some other terrible thing for me to cook.

Alas, it’s all part of the life.

He isn’t always hunting.

He works on his fort.

He plays in the creeks.

This past Sunday, he prepared a ridiculous Easter Egg hunt that had all six of us roaming around the back 20 [acres] of the property searching for undiscoverable eggs.

Easter without an Egg Hunt

The kids are all teenagers now (except for the youngest, who will be 13 in June – so he’s almost there) and since we no longer have small children, I felt an easter egg hunt would be a little juvenile.

Even though we did not have an egg hunt on the schedule, we still had plans for a memorable Easter at home.

I stuffed four brightly colored baskets with straight sugar and planned a special Easter celebration that included a YouTube church service, Easter egg dying, and a dinner feast [complete with Roasted Cornish Hens, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, and homemade yeast rolls].

Quarantine Easter, done.

This did not properly execute Easter for my 12-year-old, who apparently, wanted an egg hunt.

While we were all in the kitchen finishing off our french toast, he rummaged the only (non-chicken-produced) eggs in the house.

All four of them, to be exact.

He snatched the four treasures and crept into the woods without anyone noticing.  We are accustomed to this guy disappearing into the woods on a regular basis, so no one suspected anything.

As I was straightening the kitchen midmorning, he returned rosy-faced and announced his surprise for the family.

Can you even imagine the expression on my other three children’s faces when their 12-year-old, little brother told them that he made them an Easter egg hunt IN THE WOODS?  He explained that they all “get to go” search the ENTIRE woods to find four eggs (that were empty, by the way).

Now, for just a minute,

Imagine trying to find FOUR eggs HIDDEN in over 20 acres of woods.

This is the needle in the haystack, my friends.

Like good brothers and sisters, all the kids joined the small one on the impossible quest.

We hiked up hills.  We hiked down hills.  We removed jackets and sweatshirts as we traversed the terrain on our futile expedition. And if the small one hadn’t been there marching alongside us, giving us clues, I think we would still be in the woods searching for those dang eggs now.

Yeah, good times.

After an expansive journey, we eventually found our treasures, much to the small one’s delight, and headed back to the house for naps.

Although I missed seeing my extended family, it was a truly sweet Easter.

Unlike any other, that’s for sure.

🙂

-Candi