Easter Funday

I think the fact that there is so much anticipation that leads up to Christmas, Easter ends up getting overlooked as being a really GREAT holiday. I can count on 3 fingers the number of times I have spent Easter without any family around, and this year makes the 4th. Growing up I have such fond memories of Easter with my family, and in recent years we have spent many an Easter in New Zealand having a blast with the Orton whanau, usually near the sea. It wasn't until last week that I realized we would be spending Easter alone this year, and although I would not say I was 'panicking', I was feeling a little bummed about it come Saturday... However, without any planning at all, our little family unit ended up having an absolutely perfect Easter (except that we didn't make it to church, which secretly made the day more fun...sorry Mom).
The kiddos started the day by checking out their Easter baskets and eating Cadbury eggs before breakfast. Matthew made a fresh loaf of bread and a pot of tea. The sun was shining and warm, the air was clean and fresh. We sat on the deck in our sunnies and watched the kids hunt for all their Easter eggs in under 5 minutes. The sandbox made it's spring debut, as did tea time on the deck. We built sandcastles for awhile and then packed a picnic lunch of egg salad sandwiches and headed to our favorite little spot by the river "Fort Fizzle". Diego gave fetching a stick in the water a go, and eating our sandwiches when we weren't looking. Noah never left his Easter candy too far out of sight as it was apparently his goal to eat the whole thing that day. He pretty much left the planet and spent the afternoon hours in sugar-coated la-la land. Naptime, although short, brought me time to chat with family on the phone and read a few chapters in my book while admiring the big Montana sky and remembering just why we live here. Matthew caught a few zzzzz's. We went for a long evening walk in the country, ate barbecued lamb chops and cuddled around the fire until it was time to put the sugar-crazed children to bed. Matthew and I snuggled on the couch with a movie till 11:30pm. We definitely missed both of our families and the traditions, but all in all I'd say our Easter was perfect.