Easter Weekend

After making it back home on Friday evening, we really hit the ground running for Easter weekend. I helped organize the Easter Egg Hunt at SGP on Saturday which was a great time, and my first event of the year.  My personal goal was that no child would show up and not find an egg. After last year's disappointing hunt, anything would have been better. So we devised a plan where the eggs would be hunted and turned in for candy before being run back out to the field for hiding, thus keeping them in constant rotation. It was a little messy at first with all the eggs scooped up and the kids waiting in line to get their reward. But after about 20 minutes, things calmed down and from what I could tell, everyone seemed to be finding eggs and having fun.  The day was bright and sunny, though not terribly warm (high in the upper 50s), which made it all feel springier than the past few weeks.  Nacho brought the girls on his own since I was already there helping set up, and I have to give him kudos for following the crazy toddler around while I kept checking back in with the volunteers.  As for our two, Carolina didn't care about the eggs at all, but she was happy to be out and running free.  And after Elisa found her eggs and got her candy, she played my little helper throwing the eggs out on the field for more kids to find.  So yeah, I'll call this hunt a success! 

Afterwards, we came home for a rest and while Carolina napped, I boiled up some eggs. Yes, I was going to make this a full-fledged Easter extravaganza. And unlike last year when I felt a little conflicted about how to deliver this holiday message when so much of it seems wrapped in the Jesus-died-for-you cloak of Christianity, this time I was just happy to color some eggs and call it a day. The eggs. The bunny. It's springtime. There is just a natural urge to beautify things and celebrate all the newness of life. I might not have worked in the resurrection theme, but that's okay. We'll get there one day and maybe then my kids will surprise me with their own interpretations. So for now, we're cool with the Easter Bunny paying us a visit on Sunday morning and hunting eggs in the living room. Nacho was working all day, so I had the girls to myself to entertain.  Fortunately, they slept til a little after 7 a.m. so the day was starting off pretty good and we went to check and see what was in their baskets and hunt more eggs in the living room.  Again, Carolina was pretty clueless about finding the eggs or caring, really. And Elisa might be the only kid I've ever seen get mad about having to find eggs. She started off all giddy at the prospect, but after a couple of minutes, she was cursing ("Tartar sauce!"--thanks, SpongeBob) and actually humpfing around upset because there were still more to uncover. What a weirdo.

After our little hunt at home, it was time to bake a few cupcakes (I stole the idea for the Peep-topped confections from something I'd seen at the SGP event) and head over to Carmen's house for an Easter lunch and our third and final egg hunt. Yes, this was starting to feel like quite the Easter weekend afterall. The roasted lamb and fresh pasta lunch tasted great, and Carolina chowed down on some of the meat. That girl can put it away when she's hungry much to Carmen's delight. The wine was flowing and we had a nice roundtable of ex-Pats (I was the only American) all discussing their traditions, some politics and NYC schools. Of course, schools are never far from my thoughts this season so there was lots to talk about.  But then the kids were begging for more eggs, so off to hunt we went...

And after a few eggs were found and shared (the big kids seemed to be swapping eggs to make sure they each had a variety of colors), we came back in for dessert. I busted out the cupcakes and Gianluca offered up the wonderful Italian dessert, a pastiera, that he bought from La Guli bakery in Astoria. We drank some port and I almost forgot I hadn't taken Carolina home yet to nap. Yeah, it was that kind of day--a rare deviation from the nap schedule--that I can only chalk up to her easygoing attitude and willingness to hang with the big kids. It was really kind of amazing. After Nacho got off work and swung by to get us, I was reflecting back on the day as we quickly fed them dinner and threw their butts in bed by 7 p.m. It had been 12 hours with 2 kids and NO naps, and I hadn't lost my mind. And just for that brief minute, I had hope. Hope for a future where I am not a slave to naps and being at home for part of the day. And then just as quickly, it was dashed as both girls woke up multiple times crying through the night.  Elisa did her usual no-nap craziness moaning and shouting out before I could run in and soothe her with the comforter.  But poor Carolina was just plain sobbing and so out of sorts, she really didn't know what to do. They both finally caved around midnight and after that, it was a pretty quiet night. So yes, in the future, we will frolic and play and not worry about heading home to rest. But for now, I'm still trying to sort out our lives and make time for all that we want to do and that which we must do. And this past weekend was a bit of everything...and a lot of chocolate.