6.11 Stranger - Danger, New Hiding Spaces, and Four Square

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the eleventh day of the month is "Stranger."

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We made the executive decision on Saturday that we would bring Hannah the Dog with us to Iowa to celebrate Easter. It was supposed to be nice in the Quad Cities and it meant that we wouldn't have to run around like maniacs to get home in time to let her out. We made this decision knowing that it meant one of us would have to be outside with her at all times because my father-in-law is anti-dog. But, we also anticipated that most of the activities would be outside and we'd just switch off who was eating inside during the food portion of the day.

This rock was hanging out by the fire station a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was really cute.

Hannah did so-so on this trip. It was ten adults and seven children, which is a lot for a dog who rarely sees more than two people a day. She got a little riled up when the kids all started running at the start of the egg hung and then she really got angry when my very tall BIL was joking with me and he started moving his hands in a running motion and Hannah took it as a threat and she started growling at him and putting herself between him and I. Eek. It's a good thing my BIL is a dog person because he knew immediately that Hannah was in danger mode and he immediately stopped and just sat down on the ground to become less of a threat. 

But she was really good with all the kids and took treats and mostly just laid around. 

We had brunch. It was carb heavy (cinnamon buns AND donuts AND French toast casserole), but I said I would bring a green salad (as opposed to a Jello salad, which is something you have to specify in the Midwest). I made The Pioneer Woman's Green Bean Salad (minus red onions because gross and minus nuts because of allergies). Everyone who tried the salad thought it was delicious, but I heard "the olives make me nervous" and "I thought the beans were uncooked" as excuses why people didn't try it, so maybe it's a more controversial salad than I thought it would be. I thought it was quite good, but if I make it again, I will half the amount of dressing because it didn't need nearly as much as I made. 

My FIL and his new wife moved into this new house last fall, so this is the first time we've been there for Easter and it was interesting to hide eggs in a new environment. The kids are getting older, too, so we have to be more creative in our hiding spots. No just putting them out on the lawn anymore. It was a challenge and it was fun to see the kids get competitive about finding them, too.  I was watching Hannah during the hunt itself, so I didn't take any photos and Dr. BB hasn't yet gone through the photos on his camera, so although I promised photos of the egg hunt, I am a liar. 

My FIL's wife has so many stuffed rabbits everywhere. It was probably best I was not inside very much.

But the surprise hit of the day was that everyone was playing Four Square in the driveway after all the formal festivities - adults and kids! This is not a game I am familiar with, but apparently my husband and his siblings played it in school and now the niblings are, as well. Basically, it involves bouncing a ball and trying to get control of a square, but I just thought it was fun to see the kids making tough calls (was that on the line or in?) without needing an adult referee.  

And that, my friends, was that. 

Did you have a fun Easter? Did you have multiple carbs and plenty of candy, too?