The Easter Bunny Visits

Long has the been the Easter Bunny's tradition of yarn and the baskets.  He was sneaky again this year and hid every one's treats in secret locations.  It didn't take as long as the marathon hunt of last year, but the kids loved every second wrapping their string around their assigned spoon until they discovered their hidden treasure.  Even Zach appreciated the fun of this hide and seek type game.  Zach got a Lion Webkinz and some candy.  The girls got Barbie dolls and new pencils and paper, Matt got Star Wars toys, Josh got two baseball video games and Trey got a DS game (Plants vs. Zombies) and the third book in the Tunnels series he's been reading and of course a chocolate bunny and some candy. 

While the Bunny's visit is something the kids look forward to every year and is a highlight of this holiday, Rich and I both thought this event would be better if it was not on Easter Sunday.  I think from now on we'll be putting out our baskets on Friday night with the hope that the kids can see a clear line between the world's view of Easter: eggs, treats, hunts and bunnies and the real reason we celebrate Easter:  The Life, Death and Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Egg Hunt

Anderson Township holds an annual Easter Egg Hunt on the Saturday before Easter.  It's a low key affair.  You pay $2 per child and they get to hunt for eggs and get a prize.  You can take your time and get photos and video while they gather their haul.  Not a bad deal since you get to avoid the race and frenzy of a 'take your mark, get set, GO!' hunt.  In fact my little nephew Michael nearly froze to death a few years back at the Salem race and didn't get get an egg.  He hates egg hunts now.  Tragic.

It was held at some baseball fields out in Newtown.  They had age zones roped off.  Zach went first.  Since we were probably the last ones to come through, they told us to forget about the 5 egg limit and just get as many as they wanted.  Zach had quite an audience while he picked up his eggs.  He knew just what to do and was quite proud of the eggs in his basket.   In the end they had to dump the eggs into a bucket and gave you a prize in a sack.  Kind of a let down that the eggs weren't filled with candy or prizes, but the kids liked the little trinkets they ended up getting, so it was fine.

The whole thing was simple and fun and Trey managed to win a $5 Dunkin Donuts gift card, so we earned back half of the money we spent.  It was by far the best prize of the day.

Dyeing for Eggs

Preschool class parties

Brynn and Kaitlyn had class Easter parties on Wednesday, April 21.  Brynn's teacher invites all parents to come to all the parties.  Kaitlyn's teacher only lets the parents that were assigned to help attend. 

Zach and I loved watching Brynn hunt for eggs, paint an Easter bunny ornament and dance the Bunny Hop.  Zach even got in on the yummy cupcake treat.

We were so happy when we got to pick Kaitlyn up and snap a few pictures all together.  She excitedly showed us her basket she made and pointed out the class photo of their Easter hats they made the day before.

It was a fun way to start out our Easter celebrations.

(Brynn and her boy buddy Jacob)

Happy Easter!

Anderson Township Little League Opening Ceremonies

It was cold, windy and early, but Rich and Josh braved the weather and went to Josh's baseball opening ceremonies last Saturday morning.  The little league teams paraded around the park.  Josh is on the Mariners, but the biting wind made him keep his Stanford sweatshirt over his uniform.  Rosie the Red from the MLB Cincinnati Reds was there.  The league president spoke.  ATLL is the largest little league in Southern Ohio.  Who knew?  Then they brought out the big wigs, the real reason Josh and Rich were there:  MLB Hall of Fame 2nd baseman Joe Morgan and 'The Voice of the Reds', for the past 36 years, Marty Brennaman.  They listened a bit, took a few pictures, then Josh said his body was numb and he'd seen enough.  They came home for a hot breakfast and warm shower.  A morning of classic Cincinnati.  Good times.

Rosie the Red

Joe Morgan

Marty Brennaman

Joe Morgan Info:

Joe Leonard Morgan (born September 19, 1943) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990. Morgan is currently a member of the Cincinnati Reds front office.


After joining The Big Red Machine in November 1971 after a trade, Morgan's career reached a new level. This includes eight consecutive All-Star Game appearances (1972–1979) to go along with his 1966 and 1970 appearances with Houston.


Morgan, along with teammates Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Pérez, and Dave Concepción, led the Reds to consecutive championships in the World Series. He drove in the winning run in Game 7 of the 1975 World Series, now ranked as one of the greatest World Series of all time. Morgan was also the National League MVP in 1975 and 1976. He was the first second baseman in the history of the National League to win the MVP back to back.


Morgan was an extremely capable batter—especially in clutch situations. While his lifetime average was only .271, he hit between .288 and .327 during his peak years with the Reds. Additionally, he drew many walks, resulting in an excellent .392 on-base percentage. He also hit 268 home runs to go with 449 doubles and 96 triples, excellent power for a middle infielder of his era, and was considered by some the finest base stealer of his generation (689 steals at greater than 80% success rate). Besides his prowess at the plate and on the bases, Morgan was an exceptional infielder, winning the Gold Glove Award in consecutive years from 1972 to 1976.


After his career ended, he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1987, and his jersey number 8 was retired. He was honored by the Reds by throwing out the 1st pitch at the Reds 1st spring training game at Goodyear Ballpark (in Arizona) on March 5, 2010.

Play Ball!

Sunday Snapshots