It’s been a wonderful mix of work and family this weekend.
This time of year is busy around this house, to say the least! It’s end-of-semester for me at school, and Music Festival for the kids. Throw in a couple of courses I’m taking, spring yard work, and the return of “guest season” and there’s never a quiet moment – we were happy for the forced slow-down that comes with the Easter holiday!
We’re lucky to have D’Arcy’s brother and his family live on our street; the cousins got together on Good Friday and spent some quality time playing outside in the Spring sunshine before we took dinner to D’Arcy’s parents in Halifax. Because all of our days seem to be scheduled with one activity or another, we don’t get there to visit as often as we’d like, so it was nice to be able to take our time and relax with them, having a really great visit. We took lasagna, salad, homemade brown bread and blueberry cobbler. Everything was a hit and we were even able to pack some leftovers in containers and store them in the freezer so that they can have a meal again another time.

The seven Truro McDonah cousins enjoy the Spring sunshine and greening grass
Saturday was a work day. Olivia had been invited to a birthday party at the movie theatre. We have to take some extra precautions at the movies because of her allergies, so we had prearranged with the birthday girl’s parents that one of us would go with her. Because I had a mountain of marking to do, D’Arcy took her and the two of them enjoyed Rio 2. (At least D’Arcy enjoyed the parts he stayed awake for!)
On Easter Sunday, the kids have to wait until all four are up and awake before they’re allowed to go hunt for eggs and that was close to 8:30 this year! Back when Olivia’s food allergy list was extensive (peanuts, treenuts, eggs, soy, dairy, and many fruits as a toddler) there wasn’t any safe candy for her, so the Easter Bunny started to hide loose change in plastic eggs; a tradition which continues. It always amazes me how close their totals end up being – this year the range was only $6.50 between the most and the least. Because we didn’t have any guests, the bunny also set the table in the dining room for brunch and left treats on each plate, as well as nine new fish in the fish tank. Unfortunately, four of them didn’t survive their journey…

About to unlock the door and begin the egg hunt!

Some eggs are easier to find than others

Reading the Easter Bunny’s note and learning about “new friends”

Sarah got a lucky egg – not too many have toonies!

The Easter Bunny set the table!

Some treats at each place – the first time Olivia has ever had a chocolate bunny!
After the hunt was over we had brunch of cinnamon rolls, yogurt, and casserole made from sausage, red pepper, onion, potato, cheese and egg (no egg for Olivia, of course!) before going to Easter Mass. At the church, the kids used some of their Easter money and lit candles for Uncle Dick and Mr. Mailloux, whom they are missing this year!
We spent the afternoon watching curling, playing outside, marking, etc. before going to my parents’ house for dinner. (I may have even had a short nap in a spring sunbeam…)
We had a yummy dinner of roast lamb with a mint/gin gravy (yum!), vegetable casserole, and a stewed tomato dish with lemon dessert. My mother creates a scavenger hunt for the kids each year, and it was fun now that they can all read and are a little older that the hunt could be more involved. First they had to run all over the house and find magnets that spelled out “Happy Easter”, then they had to each complete a crossword puzzle. Next, they had to pair up into teams with an adult and we competed in a tossing game. That produced lots of laughs as we made up team handshakes. Eventually they each got a gift which they were able to trade with one another. They had little dollar store games in them and were a hit!

The boys share some laughs before dinner

Ginna tries a new recipe for mint/gin gravy – it’s a keeper!

A beautiful table setting in the Spring sunshine

Easter 2014

Laughs before dinner with a Who Am I? game

A little massage out of the blue!

First task complete!

Reading the next clue

Concentration

Alex is hard at work, completing his crossword puzzle

Finally they get to their gifts!
It was a wonderful evening and we feel fortunate that we were able to spend quality time with both sets of parents this weekend.
Happy Spring!