Easter weekend was busy in the Herron household. This year it overlapped with a longstanding tradition: watching the opening weekend of the NCAA men's basketball tournament with our friend Todd. We began watching the tournament together way back in our college days while staffing a model United Nations conference. Since our move to Kansas, Todd has visited (almost) every year to watch the games. Carter had great fun with "Uncle" Todd, and Todd got a chance to hone his Seuss-reading skills. 
After lots of basketball on Thursday and Friday, we took Carter to an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday. Since neither Erik or Lea had ever participated in the free-for-all, we were not familiar with the finer points of preparation. Our key error: we brought no Easter basket. Erik retrieved a gift bag from Ivan Franko National University that was in the back seat of our car, and it served as a satisfactory substitute. The children lined up, energetic and buzzing with anticipation. 
The toddlers were released first, followed by kindergartners and then older children who madly dashed about collecting their bounty of plastic candy-filled eggs. Carter was far more deliberate in his egg identification and acquisition process, prompting us to conclude that this Sunday comic is predicting our future. Afterwards, Carter had an opportunity to meet the Easter Bunny. Instead of posing, however, Carter would only offer his bag of eggs as a tribute. He was rewarded the next day with an Easter basket full of train tracks, as well as One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and a little bit of candy. Carter was a real trooper this weekend, handling basketball, a crowded Easter mass, and lots of other action like a pro.A final note: Carter once again made it into the local paper, this time in a photo with Erik at the Spring Slavic Festival (the chocolate pie on the plate is for Carter, not Erik).
