Easter Weekend Recap

Our Easter weekend was filled with warm sunshine, family fun, and of course, copious amounts of sugar.

Here's a recap (not for the faint of heart, but I want to remember these days):

Good Friday
This was our first day off since January, but I guess we forgot to remind Ellie, who insisted I get up with her at 6:30 (thanks, kiddo). Despite the early start, we had a wonderful day. Josh got some work done around the yard in the morning, and the girls and I dyed and decorated Easter eggs. I was a little disappointed to find we were out of vinegar, so the colors weren't as vibrant as I would have liked, but the girls didn't seem to mind.

After lunch, we went to the seventh layer of Hell Wal-Mart to pick up the swingset we had ordered. A thousand years later we left with the swingset, a few odds and ends, and about 50 more grey hairs, and Josh decided the best way to celebrate our survival was with a Dairy Queen. I was a little nervous about how that would go, since our last visit coincided with Ellie's first, awful bout of the stomach flu. She obviously remembers strawberries being involved in her illness because she spit out the bite she was offered, but a chocolate cone hit the spot.

After Dairy Queen, we dropped Josh's dad's truck off and headed to Shore Acres so Elaina could get her fill of seashells. I think she could spend all afternoon on the river bank searching for her little treasures. We played on the playground for a while afterwards and then headed home. I made dinner while Josh attempted to fix the girls' Innotabs, and after we ate, we surprised them with Frozen (not sure Elaina has ever been that excited---lots of screeching, hopping, and giddiness).

Elaina gathering her treasures

Saturday
This morning, of course, when we had to get up and get on the road, both girls decided to sleep in. Figures :) After a quick breakfast, we headed out for a day with my side of the family, first at Mom and Dad's, and then down at the farm. (This was especially pleasing to Elaina, who had been asking how many day's til Gramma and Pampah's all week long.) As we got going, we discovered that all of Josh's hard work to get the girls' Innotabs up and ready to go hit a snafu, so a portion of the drive was a bit tense, but thankfully Ellie and Elaina didn't seem to mind, the weather was sunny and cheery, and we made good time--all in all, a success.

Once we got home (do you ever stop calling the place you grew up "home"?), we mostly just spent time together, and that was the best part. Elaina regaled her grandparents with a rousing rendition of "Let It Go", I got to have some cuddle time with Nehemiah, and Josh talked gardening with Jeremy and Dad. After lunch, the kiddos got to have an Easter Egg hunt, and soon after, it was time to head to the farm.

Mom's forsythia

Cousins ready for action

And they're off!

Rachel got the girls "hoopa loops"--Ellie was excited, despite her expression here!

Ellie fell asleep on the way, and for awhile I got to rock with her on the porch swing and chat with Gramma.

That was probably my favorite part of the whole day. It didn't hurt that the weather was absolutely gorgeous --sunny, with a slight breeze, not too warm for jeans and not too cool for shorts. I had such a nice time with my family. We had strawberry shortcake, visited the cows, Elaina chased her cousins, and Josh even found a few minutes to dig up some wild blackberry plants to join our growing berry garden. He said this way, I get part of my family's farm at our house--which I think is a pretty awesome sentiment. We also had another Easter Egg hunt, which I didn't get to take pictures of because by that point Ellie was glued to my hip.

Ellie modeling Uncle Todd's hat

After the hunt, we headed to the cemetery to give some flowers to Grampa, who has been gone from us 10 years now. Gramma and I talked about how hard it is to believe so much time has passed, but we looked around and saw reminders of him everywhere, especially in that little glint of red in Ellie's hair.

It was a full, busy day. But it was good.

Easter Sunday
This day started off with a giggly Ellie, a happy Elaina, and a delicious breakfast cooked by Josh. We gave them their Easter baskets afterwards--pretty simple, really: bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and Easter cups for both (mostly because I was tired of them arguing over the one "bunny cup" we had from two Easters ago...), a puzzle for Ellie, and My Little Pony pens for Elaina. We watched Frozen (again) while Josh got some tilling done, and then it was time to get dressed for church. Josh was kind enough to indulge me in a few pictures before we left.

Lou-Lou in her Easter finery

Our service was at 11:00 and had plenty of pep. (I'd be lying if I didn't say that it is on the holiday Sundays more than any others that I miss the traditions in which I was raised, particularly in the music. It just doesn't seem right to not sing "Up From the Grave He Arose" on Easter morning, and nothing Chris Tomlin writes will change my mind on that.) After church, we headed to Mario and Rita's for (another) Easter egg hunt. Danielle did a spectacular job preparing the eggs, and I had fun setting them out with her for the girls to find. They were, of course, thrilled to be able to have a hunt with Arcadia.

We came home, changed, and were off to another family get-together, this time with Josh's extended family.There was one final Easter egg hunt, and it is safe to say we will not need any candy until roughly Halloween, so that timing works out quite well.

Batter up!

When we got home, Josh worked on the garden, planting a few spots of carrots, peas, and herbs that didn't come up, and the girls played and gathered bouquets.

It was a busy, full weekend. Exhausting. But full of love.