I don’t remember my family having Easter egg hunts when I was young. Oh, the Easter bunny hid our baskets but for some reason, I always really really wanted an egg hunt. So, when I got older, any chance I got, I would organize a hunt for my nieces and nephews, my Girl Guide troop, and of course, my own daughter once she came along.
Later, after my dad had remarried and we were then having big blended family holidays, he decided that a great way to bring the families together was with a huge backyard Easter egg hunt. He would spend hours filling plastic eggs with goodies and hiding them all over the yard. He even dyed some real hard boiled eggs and hid those too. (Of course, we always missed at least one and weeks later there would be quite the odour emanating from the yard!)
One year, on the day of the big hunt, it snowed. I mean, it snowed like crazy. We got to my dad’s house and all the kids immediately began clamouring around him excitedly wanting the hunt to begin. He explained that due to the weather he had hidden the eggs in the family room for them. An indoor hunt, they said? Their faces fell. We all tried to reason with them about the weather, that it was too cold and snowy for Papa to be out there hiding eggs in the backyard! What we didn’t realize was that while we were explaining it to them, Dad had gathered the eggs from the family room and trudged out back to hide them out back as usual, despite the snow!
Now you have to understand, all of this was somewhat out of character for my dad (especially setting up an Easter egg hunt in the snow!) – he just wasn’t that into all those holiday traditions but he did it as an act of love for his family, new and old. He loved to see the smiles on their faces and hear their giggles and squeals of delight as they found their treasures. And now it’s a treasured memory for all of us, even though he’s no longer here with us.
Tomorrow, we’ll be headed to my nephew’s house, equipped with some Kinder Egg Hunt Kits and other goodies to have an Easter hunt with our extended family. With ages ranging from 4 to adult, we’ll team everyone up – a little one with an adult to make sure that things are fair. At such an event in our family, there’s sure to be lots of laughter and lots of fun as we scour the backyard (oh please weather, be good!) for hidden treasures. And as we do, I’m sure that memories of my dad and Easter egg hunts of years past will be on our minds.
I’m a #KinderMom and we love Kinder products in our family. Not just because we love their chocolate but because of the good they do. This year, once again, Kinder has partnered with the Children’s Miracle Network and will be providing 12 baskets to CMN hospitals. As well, Kinder® will be donating another $25,000 to help support this non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children’s hospitals across North America. This has even more of an impact on our family this year, knowing that our friend, sweet little Katie Star is one of those very hospitals, recovering from a stem cell transplant to save her life from leukemia. Katie is doing better all the time and we have sent her Kinder treats from time to time to lift her spirits. It does my heart good to know that Kinder Canada is helping other children, just like Katie.
Be sure to head on over to the Kinder Canada Facebook page – they regularly have deals and contests that you’ll want to get in on!
“Disclosure: I’m part of the Kinder® Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own”
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