Easter Fever

I think the tattoos on her hands really make the ensemble

Literally.  The kid spiked a 102 degree fever today. She is sick in the photo above, but we hadn't figured that out yet when I took it. I've given her some Tylenol and her temperature is down to 100 or so. She's in her bed now, reading quietly and not wanting any of her candy (which is a sure sign that she is under the weather).

The weekend started off well enough. After dinner on Friday, we dyed eggs. I set everything up and let her do most of the dyeing. Once I pointed out that she could use more than one color on a single egg, she went a bit overboard. The end result: several grey eggs. It's all good. She must be growing up because this is the first year that she didn't toss an egg into the bowl filled with eggs, thereby cracking half of them.

On Saturday, I went to Weight Watchers (I weighed the same as last week, right down to the ounce) and then took the kid to an egg hunt at a local wildlife sanctuary. We got ten inches of snow last week and even though the snow has melted, the ground is still pretty mucky. So, they held the egg hunt indoors this year.  They allow each child to collect exactly seven eggs, so it does cut down on the chaos a bit. On the way home, we stopped at a market featuring handmade items, and I bought a lavender-scented eye pillow. And possibly a cookie that I had no business eating. (Later in the afternoon, I attempted to take a brief rest and try out my eye pillow, but Gretchen kept licking it. So much for serenity.)

The second egg hunt of the day was held at 1 p.m. at a nursing home in our neighborhood.  This one was also held indoors.  A spotted a white plastic egg covered in red hearts, so she immediately stood over it and guarded it until the hunt started. I honestly think she would have fought off Cujo to get that egg. We ran into some of her friends from school and I got a few photos. My petite lass is a head shorter than most of her homies. Looking on the bright side, most of her clothes from last summer will fit again this summer.

I was headed to a concert out of town Saturday night, so I hit the road later in the afternoon.  I didn't get home until after 1 a.m. Needless to say, the kid got up at 6 a.m. to see if the Easter Bunny had visited her. I (bleary-eyed and barely conscious) followed her around with the camera for a few minutes and then gave up and went back to bed. I wasn't hung over or anything, just tired. I bought one drink at the concert . . . to the tune of $9.00.  I told my friend that if anyone bumped me and caused me to spill my drink, I would weep openly.

A few hours later this morning, I got my act together and the three of us went to church.  A didn't seem to want any candy, which I found odd.  We kept thinking that maybe she ate more than we thought on Saturday.  P told me that she'd fallen asleep at 8 the night before. She just wasn't acting right, but we couldn't put our finger on it. She seemed sullen at church and at brunch afterward.  The biggest clue: she didn't drink the chocolate milk we ordered for her. We never let her get chocolate milk, so this should have been a jubilant meal for her. Finally, I figured out that she was overly warm and took her temperature as soon as we got home.

So, she is reading "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" and watching Thumbelina, and her dad and I are trying to stay out of her Easter basket. So far, so good.  P and I prefer dark chocolate and as such, the Easter Bunny brought only milk chocolate. Clever rabbit, aye.