Manthe Easter

 Whew!! It took me about an hour to just get the pictures on here! So, settle in for a long blog post! :)

We have been planning to spend Easter with Joe's family ever since we knew Josh and Val would be in the States this year. They spent Christmas with Val's family, so we made Easter our big Manthe holiday for everyone to get together. It was a full house! :)

We were so excited that the weather was gorgeous all weekend long. A few weeks before when we were gathered for Grammy's funeral, it was cold and snowy and everyone was sick, so we were all couped up inside the house. This weekend the kids played outside almost all day long, and we had the windows and doors open!

On Friday, Joe and some of his brothers (and the wives with no kids) went to shoot some guns. Katie and Val and I took the kids to a park to play. They loved it, and we loved watching them! I just love park pictures...

Kylah and Bella had it figured out to have Mackenzie push them on the swing. :)

 Don't you love watching these "twin cousins" grow up together?!

 Kylah took a picture of Val and Katie and me (this was the second one...the first one almost had our heads cut off...)

 So cute.

 When the guys were done shooting, they met up with us at the park and we headed to have lunch. First, we all piled in the back of Josh's truck to drive get in the other cars (don't worry...it was just on the other side of the parking lot.)  The kids were quite excited when I told them to hop in the back of the truck.

 Josh made the trip pretty fun for the kids (and I got carsick...)

 We headed back to the house for naps while Joe and a few of his brothers went to play golf.

I put Norah in her Kansas outfit when she woke up (which was a good thing because this turned out to be the last game for Kansas in the NCAA tournament...)

 When the boys were done golfing, the sister-in-laws headed out for some much needed shopping (without kids...well except sweet baby Leah...)  And by "much needed" I mean browsing through Forever 21 and Charming Charlie's for good deals. :)

Meanwhile back at the house, the guys took on the task of helping the kids dye Easter eggs. I had to sort through about 100 pictures on my camera because I told them to make sure to take some pictures. Was that you taking all the pictures, Jake? :)

On Saturday morning we all got ready and headed to get family portraits taken. Since this was a rare time that we were all together, we did this as Jennifer's early Mother's Day gift. Below you will see Joe's parents, 6 sons, 6 daughter-in-laws, and 11 grandkids. And we were all cramped in a small, hot room, running late, with lots of hungry kids (and adults). But, we survived, and we actually got some really good pictures.

Our family picture turned out really good!

And, of course, I love the kid picture. Norah's sweet smile just yells "stinker" to me. :)

After pictures, Joe's dad and all the brothers took the kids on the rides and games that were in the middle of the mall we were at. It kept them occupied and not thinking about their hungry tummies while Jennifer and the daughters-in-laws picked out the pictures.

Then we headed to Golden Corral. Golden Corral would not normally be on my choice of places to eat, but the free cotton candy and yummy salad bar lured me in. :)

After eating a late lunch, we rounded up the kids again and headed to Science City which is at Union Station in downtown Kansas City. We had been talking to the kids about doing something fun, so even though us adults all wanted to just go home and nap, we rallied (and drank some caffeine...) and headed to Science City. It ended up being really fun.

The kids all fell asleep on the 15 minute drive from the restaurant to the museum, so they were refreshed and ready to go. I love these cousins, and they love each other so much!

 While Josh and Jake were getting the tickets we let the kids run around the Union Station. They needed to burn off some of that cotton candy, and there was almost no one there.

 Cotton candy crash????

Inside Science City were a ton of fun and interactive activities.

 The older kids (and Josh and Val) enjoyed making water dams and rivers. Norah and Naomi just enjoyed splashing and playing in the water. :)

 There was a fun dinosaur dig and Kylah looked like a real (cute!) scientist.

 One of the favorites was the giant tug-of-war.

 The ropes were connected at different levels on each side making one side much more difficult, so the daddies actually had to work to beat the kids.

 This tunnel slide was simulating underground tunnels and was a windy slide that was pitch dark. Can you tell Norah wasn't a fan of not being able to see?!  (My flash caught her face as it was in the dark.)

We only had about an hour and a half at Science City before it closed, but that gave us just enough time to keep the kids moving fast through all the exhibits and keep all the adults awake. Joe and I were proud of ourselves that we didn't lose Norah.

Back at Grandpa and Nana's house we made some quick sandwiches for the kids before baths and bed. They were ready to relax.

 And apparently they had burned off all the cotton candy because they were hungry again. Don't they just look exhausted?!

After the kids went to bed, the girls all got busy stuffing eggs for the Easter egg hunt the next day. Jennifer outdid herself with all the candy and eggs and baskets. The kids are loved (and spoiled!) :)  Of course all of us girls may have snuck a few pieces of candy as well...

 The next morning we let the kids hunt for their Easter baskets (the egg hunt was to be later in the day.) Norah dug right in to her candy. And proceeded to want to eat candy all day long.

I just love sleepy eyed children eating candy. True Easter pictures!

 Joey is wearing a baseball jacket of Joe's from when Joe was about 9. Joey was pretty excited to wear something that was his daddy's as a child.

I love this picture of Caleb. I looked over at one point that morning and saw Caleb sitting in a corner all by himself with a few pieces of candy (unknown to his mother...) and smiling the biggest smile.

 We headed to church at Joe's parents' church. The kids went a little early with Joe's parents so we waited until after we got home from church to get an Easter picture. Between everyone being hungry, it being really sunny and the wind, this was the best picture we could get. :)

 Having Joe behind me helped the kids smile a little better for this one...

After nap time, Jake and Jason hid all the eggs, and the kids finally got to have their Easter egg hunt. There were plenty of eggs for everyone, so it was fun to see them all run around the yard like little crazies.

The older kids had strict instructions to leave all the yellow eggs for the little kids (so they could still get plenty of eggs.) Norah did just fine and got plenty of loot. She ate candy as she was hunting eggs...

 Kylah is a girl after my own heart and loves her candy! I think she had already eaten three eggs full before I could even take a picture of her!

The three little kids had fun playing with the empty eggs and the empty swimming pool. They kept transferring the eggs from the swimming pool to the bucket and back again. Seemed boring to us, but it kept them entertained for a long time!

 These three had a fun weekend together. They got to end Sunday night by playing in a bubble bath together while the older kids were with the daddies. Val and Katie and I were commenting on how quiet it was with just these little ones!

 We had such a fun weekend! It may be pure chaos when we are all together, but we wouldn't have it any other way!  We love being together!

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In other news, Kylah got her ears pierced yesterday!  This was one of the things that was promised to her a long time ago if she would poop in the potty, and the time had come to fulfill the promise. Joe took her after school yesterday, and she has been so excited. She has shown everyone, and keeps wanting me to put her hair in a pony tail so everyone can see her earrings. :)