Just like old times

I find that holidays are much more draining as an adult than I remember them being as a child. As a kid everything was fun and games, playing with cousins, feeling carefree. I still love holidays with my family but I find things... different now.
But while Trey and his cousins were hunting easter eggs, I got a flash of that carefree spirit again. It was almost like an out of body experience. I felt like I was watching myself run through the yard with my cousins. I heard the same laughter and squeals of excitement. The eggs were being found in familiar hiding spots. But the smiling faces were not my cousins'. They were my niece and nephew and my cousin's children.
I was sad for a moment to realize that we adults had lost that reckless abandon we used to possess. But my sadness quickly dissolved into joy as my eyes locked with my husband's and we shared a smile while Trey announced "I found another one!" That shared joy was not the same as a child's but much better, much deeper.

P.S. I like this picture of the kids with their baskets after the egg hunt. Each of their personalities and quirks seem to be shining through perfectly. -Notice my little anti-social man standing off to the side looking smug.- Mommy wants to brag that his easter basket was just as full as the big kids!