Easter 2019

When clothing manufacturers design Easter dresses for little girls, they basically ignore the fact that it is usually well below 70 degrees, often raining, and typically windy on Easter in the PNW. Many a PNW girl has a parka over her adorable Easter dress and has blue toes sticking out of her Easter sandals. No, spaghetti strap dresses and barely-there sandals are not what our sweet (and usually a bit soggy) PNW kiddos require on Easter. Usually.

This year, Easter's weather was GORGEOUS and we didn't freeze. Why? We lucked out. Also, having Easter at the end of April didn't hurt. March Easters result in much more frostbitten egg hunters.

Our Easter fun started out at home the day before Easter when we finally found some spare time to dy our Easter eggs. This year's efforts were quite creative; Eric decided to use candle wax to control where the dye was allowed to touch the egg shell. Annika and I tried used rubber bands to create stripes on a couple of eggs. Conor played with creating multi-colored eggs, and even made an Irish flag egg. It always feels a bit sad to crack into the pretty creations, but the deviled eggs we enjoy on Easter eases the pain a bit.

Some of our eggs

Easter morning's festivities started with the kids digging into their Easter baskets and discovering what goodies the Easter bunny left for them. (Eric and I happily slurped our Easter coffee as the kids plotted out which candy would start their sugar highs.).

Loot!

After baskets, the kids and I got spiffed up (aka out of our PJs) and headed to 10:30 mass. We needed to be there a bit early because Annika was slated to be one of the altar servers. I took advantage of our early arrival and snapped a couple of quick pics of the kids in their Easter attire before mass, just in case rain came in any time soon. (The spirit of a true PNW person ... do it now, who knows how long the rain will cooperate with us!)

Quick pre-mass photo

Annika altar serving during mass
(I didn't get struck with lightning for taking a photo during mass, so I'm guessing God is OK with it)

We caught our collective breath at home for a few minutes after mass. That might be a bit of an over statement. We went home after mass, which started "Destroy the Pretty Eggs" phase of our day. Eric and I feverishly peeled the eggs, many of which resisted our efforts and didn't make it onto the plate of deviled eggs. I did get enough yolks to fill the egg whites that didn't look like they were doing golf ball impersonations with the number of divots (or "diggots" as Annika says) they wound up having. I beautifully piped the yolks into the whites, dusted them with paprika, carefully covered them loosely with foil, and proceeded ti flip the plate of eggs over onto the eggs as I loaded them into the car. Yup - I'm THAT impressive. Fortunately, the foil kept everything together .... just a bit more smooshed than I'd hoped for. Oh well...  they still tasted great!

Once the smooshed eggs and the rest of our meal contributions (hot crossed buns, bunny-shaped dinner rolls, and lemon bars) were loaded in the car, we headed across Lake Washington to celebrate Easter with some of our extended family. My brother (Troy) and sister-in-law (Staci) graciously hosted the family Easter dinner. Lucky for us, Mother Nature decided to be kind and gave us a day that made us want to be outside and enjoy the deck. Cousin Ian set up a little egg hunt for the kids (an Easter must at this point), which will be sorely missed once Ian spreads his wings and heads to college next year. (Unless he comes home for Easter, than all is saved!)

Easter egg hunters

Our little bunnies

We ate our fill (and then some), toasted the holiday and beautiful weather, and had fun catching up a bit. My sister (Suzanne), brother-in-law (Randy), niece (Anna), and nephew (Robert) were also on hand to celebrate Easter. (Once again, I cannot begin to express how much we love having Frisches living here in Western WA!!! Four out of six so far ... now we need to work on getting Abby and Emily up here!)

 

My loves

The kiddos and their mama

Troy, Randy, and Eric toasting the day

Anna and Robert's inventive method for cooling their beverages

We drove home in a food-induced daze and practically fell into bed upon walking through the door. Thanks to everyone who made the day fun and filling. Now. to clean up the Easter decor and put the baskets away until next year.

Easter 2015 Recap: Baskets, Bikes, and Family

Whoever doesn't believe in miracles doesn't know what happened on Easter morning ... yes, the original Easter morning was pretty darned miraculous, but I was referring to the Easter of 2015. What was this year's miracle? BOTH of our children slept past 8 o'clock in the morning! Yes, folks, you heard it here first. Conor "I refuse to sleep past 6" Olson slept until after 8:00 AM. Will wonders ever cease?? Annika awoke shortly after Conor did and was content to return to bed until she was reminded that it was Easter and there were Easter baskets that required the kids' attention.

After excitedly discovering wonderful treasures in their Easter baskets, it was time for church. Due to the basket fun, we left a bit late, which wasn't ideal, but do-able considering we live so close to church. On the way, I mentioned that it might be harder than normal to find parking because more people tend to go to church on Easter and Christmas. At this point, my internal judgmental voice made a few snippy comments, when Conor piped up, "Maybe they just want to celebrate with us." I then felt in my place and realized who am I to judge how often people go to church. Lesson learned....

Easter basket fodder

Now that he's 5, Conor gets gum... even from the Easter Bunny

Annika decided Conor should practice doing head stands after brunch

 

 After church, we enjoyed some lovely Eggs Benedict for brunch and then some nice down time. Unfortunately, Eric was overwhelmed by the cold he had been fighting and laid down to take a nap for about an hour before we headed to my brother and sister-in-law's house. Unfortunately, his cough and congestion got the better of him, and when I tried to awaken him, I quickly realized him staying home and sleeping more was the better option. So, the kids and I packed up and headed to Sammamish sans Eric.

Our Easter celebration was quite nice... would have been nicer with a healthy Eric, but we can't control all things, can we? Our family friends, the Wilsons, were at Troy and Staci's house, which made the day even more special. Tony Wilson was the one who married Eric and me, so he definitely holds a dear spot in our hearts... and always will! It was a joy to catch up with Laurie Wilson and be embraced by her sweet words and gentle spirit. She is like a spa treatment for the soul... she is calming and serene.

Annika's favorite part of Easter (aside from the basket fodder) was the olives

Oh, and I made Easter cookies

Fun Easter with my big brother

One bonus bit of excitement for our Easter was Conor learned to ride a two-wheeler bike thanks to Annika and Ian! 

We had a lovely dinner as a big, extended family (really ... isn't that what holidays are really about?) and headed home in time to watch the sun set over the mountains. A lovely ending to a lovely day.

Easter & Conor's Birthday Party

We quickly realized that the people we would have over for Easter were the same people we'd celebrate Conor's 3rd birthday with; so being the smart people that we are, we decided to combine the two occasions.

The day started out as a typical Easter morning: baskets and then church. We let our visiting nieces (Emily and Anna) sleep in ... waking them up for 8:30 mass seemed plain old mean. (They went to 12 mass instead). At 2:00, Eric's parents, my brother and his family, and my mom all began to arrive. Our house quickly became a hive of energy and noise (thanks, mostly, to my side of the family!) :)

Our nephew Ian decided to host an egg hunt for Annika and Conor, which they thought was the best thing ever. They had a grand time running around the front yard scooping up the eggs that were scattered to and fro! It was a great treat to have a warm, sunny day on Easter ... egg hunts in parka and under umbrellas just isn't quite as enjoyable!

After stuffing ourselves with an early Easter dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes, salad, rolls, and carrots, we turned our attention to the birthday portion of the day. We all gathered in the front room to watch Conor open his presents and then stuff ourselves even more with chocolate dump truck birthday cake. (Don't worry, the cake construction will get its own future blog post.)

It is sort of funny how one present can take on a life of its own. This time, it was the spiky hat that Eric's parents gave to Conor as part of his present. The hat is insanely cute and really fun to wear. Whenever Conor wears it, he roars loudly, so we've dubbed him "spiky-a-saurus."

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made Easter and Conor's birthday celebration so much fun!

Annika investigating her basket goodies

Chocolate bunny!!

Egg hunting we will go!

See what I got!!

Egg hunting fun

Present time!

 

Spiky hat boy!

Kat rockin' the spiky hat

Troy adding some cool to the spiky hat

Conor looooooooves the football from his big cousins

It is so hard to be the non-birthday kid!

Cake time

Conor blowing/spitting out his candles

More Easter Pictures

A few more gems from our Easter preparations to share! We had such fun preparing for Easter with the kids and teaching them some of the traditions that go along with the holiday. They love doing projects, so this was a win-win day!

Annika creating her pink egg

Conor watching his "lellow" egg's transformation

Eric teaching Annika how to make two-toned eggs

Waiting is so hard at times!

Conor admiring his orange egg

Learning the importance of "gentle"

Half pink, half yellow

Ta da!!

Here are MY Easter eggs ... and sheep ... and bunnies .... and carrots

Easter Eggs

The day before Easter, we taught the kids how to dye Easter eggs. They were very excited to choose the colors for their eggs and watch the shells transform from white to the selected color. We found out on Easter that the kids are much more impressed with dying their eggs than eating them. Oh well! 

Annika and Eric inspecting the pink egg

Conor willing his egg to turn yellow ("lellow")

What a wonderful Easter we had yesterday!! The weather couldn't have been more ideal and the day had a great pace to it ... steady but not frantic.

After everyone was up and dressed, the kids got to dive into their Easter baskets and discover what the Easter bunny brought. "Candy!" became the most commonly spoken word the rest of the day.



The kids and I went to 8:30 mass (PACKED!); the original plan was that we would go to the Jesuit parish (about 25 minutes away) for 7:00 mass with my brother and his family, but I didn't sleep well and realized that waking up at 5:30, getting out of the door, safely driving to St. Joseph, staying awake during mass, and making it back home wasn't in the cars. (Sorry, Nelsons... I'm a slacker!). ;)


After mass, the kids and I high-tailed it back home. While we were at church, Eric's folks (aka Bestemor and Bestefar) came down from their house so we could have Easter together. After a yummy brunch of hot crossed buns, frittata, fresh fruit, and bacon, we broke out the mah jong tiles.

The weather could not have been better yesterday!! After Bestemor and Bestefar headed back home and after Annika's swim lesson, Eric, the kids, and I headed out to the front yard to play. We kicked the soccer ball around and decorated our front walk with sidewalk chalk. I even took advantage of the good weather and tried out a few of my new photography skills ... now to see if any of them turned out—stay tuned!