Easter festivities

Easter arrived as a gray, dismal, dirty, windy and cold day–none of which could dampen our celebratory mood!  Since none of the adults wanted to venture outside, the annual kiddo Easter egg hunt (in which about 10 adults with cameras frantically run after four small children just trying to find a few eggs) was moved indoors.  Other than that slight change in plans, everything went off without a hitch.

The Clements eagerly anticipated having Lucy to celebrate with them at all future Easters.

Ra Ra (Sarah, a former teammate) came into town to join in the fun.

Robb was showing off his recently acquired tattoos, which read “trust” and “obey”.  He got the tattoos right here in our small China city.  Yes, we all think he’s crazy.

The gang patiently awaited the somewhat late Sunday dinner.  Tiny toaster ovens + large groups of people + general acceptance that things never go as planned = holiday meals never served on time.  Wu apparently was checking to make sure his deodorant was still working.

(Enter a brief intermission while we chowed down on foods not frequently consumed in China such as poppy-seed chicken, bacon green bean bundles, foccacia bread, pecan pie and cheesecake.  I was too busy eating to even think of taking pictures.)

After dinner, pre-household-Easter-Egg-hunt, we attempted to get a decent shot of the kids.  We began our attempt with just three of them.

Three kids who find it exceedingly difficult to pose normally for longer than one second (if even for that long).  Trust me; they were not asked to assume these poses.

As if we weren’t already failing in our attempt at a semi-presentable photograph, we added the fourth kid to the mix.  And things disintegrated even faster.

At this point parents are pleading, “Please just stand up!  Ok, smile nice!  No, not like that.  A normal smile.  We are not looking for eggs until you stand still and smile nicely.  Now move closer…”  (You can probably guess said parents’ locations based on where each kid is looking).

The kids quickly tired of these instructions.

And (once again) things disintegrated into mayhem.

Ummm…I think we’re done with the group photo shoot.

With all hopes of four kids standing upright and smiling nicely abandoned, the kids headed off to our homes for the Easter egg hunt.  As usual, a large contingency of camera toting adults followed them to capture every triumphant find.

After searching high and low for eggs (the real kind…not stuffed with candy…it’s a tough life living in China) everyone retreated to their respected abodes for a nice long nap and dreams of flowers and green grass and new life.  We can hope right?