earth day egg hunt

yesterday we shared a most magical egg hunt with some dear friends. it was a damp, cool day in the mountains and we gathered at sweet tracy's home for some fun.the land across the street from her home is a very special place. it is on the national historic register and there rests one of the oldest cabins in buncombe county. the children wondered through field and forest gathering eggs in their baskets.

though we pulled this together on rather short notice, the crafty and clever mamas involved still managed to create a special hunt for the children. there were dyed eggs as well as plastic eggs filled with simple treasures. among the goodies tucked inside were earth balls (it was earth day after all!), a couple of other natural candies, home made nut butter balls, shells, stickers, special stones, shark's teeth (jasper got two!), marbles, and bits of nature. do you see the blue egg in the picture above?

the passing rains left the moisture kissed greenery glowing with new life. i love the smell of these mountains after the rain.

there was even a boxwood hedge maze. the children had so much fun winding through these tidy hedge paths!this path opens to the previously mentioned ancient cabin. it is kept in beautiful condition and is used as a family retreat. jasper was ecstatic to find these two marbles in one of his eggs! he clutched them, along with his bunny (below), for the remainder of the hunt. once we returned hone, all of his prizes went straight into his treasure box. ;)
when each child had collected 10 eggs, they came to tracy to collect their felted egg full of goodness. this is how we distributed the hand mades. each child received one felted egg filled with a wee peg bunny, a wooden spring token, a beeswax walnut candle, and a special message. tracy made these adorable bunnies!! love them! a few of us mamas contributed felted eggs so that each child would have one. the one pictured above was actually made by this woman. i offered it to the cause, but was delighted that it ended up coming home with us again.
spring was in full show for the event. the dogwoods in bloom above us and these gorgeous white bells dotting the landscape below (anyone know what they are?).
to run and be free with friends of shared values is invaluable to me. i cherish the community we are creating together. we are all looking forward to our next hunt already!
if you find yourself hiding eggs or hunting them, have yourself a beautiful day.