Easter 2018

Easter already feels so long ago! We’ve had a whole spring vacation to California since then that I can’t wait to share, but holidays with a 2-year-old are too special and adorable to pass over. Would you believe that this is what Oden looked like last year?

And the year before, he was less than 2 months old…

This year, we were blessed with a warm-ish, sunny weekend and made the most of time outside! The first big activity was an egg hunt at a local park on Saturday morning. Being our first time, we didn’t know what to expect, but I’m glad we arrived a few minutes early. Oden would participate in the egg hunt for 1-3 year olds. The grassy area was already lined with toddlers and their parents, eying the rainbow of eggs scattered over the field. When the kids are 3 years old or younger, there’s no reason to hide them. Nonetheless, Dads were intensely talking strategy to their kids. The tension was real!

We made our way to the far end of the field where there seemed to be less people and snapped a few photos. We explained to Oden that when they said, “GO!” it was time to stick some eggs in his cute little pail. I certainly wasn’t prepared for the madness that was about to ensue. Someone counted down from three and suddenly, it was game on. The parents were more into the situation than most kids, frantically shouting things like, “GET MORE EGGS!” and “OVER HERE! THERE ARE MORE OVER HERE!” Oden strolled past a dozen eggs before realizing he should put one or two into his bucket. The whole thing took less than two minutes! Oden ended up with five eggs, which made him super happy and was fine with me since they were full of chocolate. It was super cute to show him how to open an egg to see the treasure inside. He gleefully enjoyed his first Hershey’s kiss.

The Easter Bunny made an appearance and Oden seemed set on meeting him…until we got within about 5 feet of him. He got freaked out and backed up and was content to just wave and say, “Bye, Bunny!” This is such an amazing age to watch. Oden is his own little adorable person.

We played on the slide and watched the even MORE insane egg hunts for the bigger kids before finding the car (not without a monstrous candy-fueled tantrum). After lunch and a nap, Oden was ready for more fun. I prepped an egg-coloring station and we made a glorious rainbow of eggs on the back deck in the sunshine. What a joy to see Oden’s face! He loved it.

The plan for the evening was to attend the same church that we did last year, but Oden had the start of a cold and I didn’t want to be “that mom” who brought a snotty baby to daycare. So we stayed home and enjoyed the rest of the weekend as a family. John set up the bike trailer and Oden had his first ride around the neighborhood. (Mama tried out her new Christmas bike, too!) Little bits of green in neighbors’ yards and sun on my shoulders made spring fever kick into high gear!

On Easter morning, the Easter Bunny hid a basket of springtime goodies for Oden in my bedroom. After breakfast which included a special smoothie, we explained the process of seeing if the bunny had visited and left anything behind. He was so cute, peeking under things and saying, “Nope.” “Nope.” Then he spotted the basket, shrieked, and yelled a version of “Easter Bunny!” John and Oden spent a little while going through the basket before we decided to get dressed and bike to Easter breakfast.

Our new home’s proximity to town is part of the reason we moved into it. It took just minutes to ride over to one of our favorite breakfast spots and it was so much fun! Oden was very well-behaved at the restaurant and chowed down on a bunny-shaped pancake. We took the long way home through our neighborhood and spent the rest of the day playing in the backyard (which is the other reason we bought this house!). Oden discovered extra hidden candy-filled eggs throughout the day.

For our Easter dinner, I made a delicious spring frittata with asparagus, shallot, crispy prosciutto, tomato, and Gruyere cheese. We put Oden to bed and enjoyed a quiet little meal and chatted about what a fun weekend we’d had, just our little family. Oden will only be this age once and these years are fleeting- I am soaking them in!