I'm finally learning how to keep the holidays as simple as possible. For the first time ever I made sure not to go overboard while putting together the kids Easter Baskets. It's a constant struggle trying to make sure that the kids understand the meaning behind each individual holiday & it's a lot of work trying to make sure that they don't grow up to be spoiled & unappreciative.
Each basket contained a small carrot shaped bag of Reese Pieces Candies, a Hollow Chocolate Bunny, a Chocolate Marshmallow Bunny, a couple of plastic eggs filled w/ a few Jelly Beans & 3 very small "dollar" items; Kyle got some Star Wars Sticky Notes, Ninja Turtle Stickers & a Ninja Turtle Coloring Book, Bella got a container to put bugs in, some Horse Stickers & an Animal Coloring Book and Savannah got a squishy ball, Horse stickers & a Hello Kitty Coloring book.
As I had anticipated, the kids woke up earlier than usual on Easter morning. They were thrilled with their baskets & couldn't wait to start the days festivities! Carole came over & enjoyed a simple breakfast of toast & scrambled eggs with us before we headed outside for our annual Easter Egg Hunt. This year the Bunny was especially creative, leaving very few eggs out in the open. She hid them in bird feeders, under cars and behind flowers! The kids had a blast running all over the place, filling their baskets with brightly colored eggs. The Bunny utilized Mike & Joan's yard too, where Spring Flowers quite literally bloomed overnight in their yard, providing plenty of hiding spots for the eggs!! Mike & Joan also gave the kids some pretty thoughtful Easter "Buckets" containing sidewalk chalk, visors (perfect!) & eggs full of chocolates.
When we were finished with our Egg Hunt we hopped in the car & headed over to St. Brendan's Church for Easter Mass. I couldn't believe how packed it was inside the church! We were lucky to have found seats, as 10 minutes later there were people who were standing up in the back of the church with no seats to be found! As usual, Fr. Codega gave an excellent Mass that was both interesting and inspiring. We were back home in time for lunch but decided to just pick on some delicious Sweet Bread (thanks, Mike and Joan!!) since we knew Jim's parents would be having a mini feast at their house later that afternoon. Savannah took a lovely nap while the rest of us sat in the yard, soaking up the sunny day. Bella, dressed in her beautiful Easter Dress, spent much of her time pulling worms & roly poly's out of the ground (at least she wore her "bug gloves")!
When Savannah woke up we went over to Jim's parents, which is where we spent the rest of our Easter. Gatherings at the Vargas Household are always full of people, food and laughter & this holiday proved to be no different, with 11 (!!) kids in attendance & multiple adults everywhere! The food was plentiful & delicious (turkey, stuffing, potatoes, salad, pies, cookies..every pregnant woman's dream come true!!), as were the amount of Easter Eggs (well over 100!!) everyone contributed to the Vargas Easter Egg Hunt! I think the guys had just as much fun hiding the eggs outside as the kids did finding them :)
All in all it was a special, fantastic Easter spent with loved ones! Here are just a few of the pictures I took:
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