Happy Easter! Hope everyone who celebrates had a great time with loved ones! We had a great week(end), filled with lots of Easter festivities and precious time spent with family.

Last week, I decided to take all three kids to the farm for all the Easter festivities by myself since hubby had to work and the Easter festival was going to end. I braved through it and with proper planning, it was actually a successful adventure. (Tip: I fed them really really good before. They asked for snacks once, about 2 hours after eating breakfast which is rare because they’re always snacking.) All in all, we all had so much. We did the Easter egg hunt, took photos with the Easter bunny, played all sorts of games, rode the pony, fed the animals, and so much more. I was really happy of the outcome.

The next day, all the grandkids got together at my parent’s house to paint and decorate eggs. My mom and I dyed all the eggs using only natural dye colors from foods - beets, spinach, onion peels, blueberries, turmeric spice, and coffee. Then, had the kids go at it with glitter, stickers, paints, etc. In between egg dying, we played games, made sugar cookies, and danced to every Cardi B and Maluma song there is (obsessed).

Then, on Easter Eve, the last day of Lent, we got together and had a feast with fish being the main course for dinner. Not sure if this what all Orthodox Christians do, but we’ve had this tradition in our family forever.

On Easter Sunday, we spent the day with family again. We went over my in-law’s for brunch, then over my side of the family for dinner. And, the kids were on cloud 9 with all the fun and exciting activities with their cousins. On Monday, they slept 3 hours past their usual wake up time (Mama like).

Our Easter festivities were a week long and it was nothing short of amazing. Easter is one of my favorite holidays, following Christmas. In the midst of all these Easter traditions and festivities, we have to pause and be reminded and also teach the kids what Easter is really about. The egg hunting, the bunny, the chocolates - those are not direct definition of Easter. And, my son who is now almost 7, understands the difference between the meaning of Easter and the symbolic history behind all the festivities. It’s very important to teach our little ones the meaning behind these holidays and not get consumed up by the symbolic celebrations. Easter is about Jesus - not bunnies, not eggs, or chocolates. Bunnies and eggs are originated as pagan symbols of spring and rebirth and merged together with Easter throughout the years - they represent new life and remind us of the new resurrected life we have in Christ.

Here are a couple of books I love for kids to understand how eggs and bunnies fit into Easter.

Below are photos from our visit to Underwood Family Farms and we managed to take one family photo on Easter Sunday, all the way at the bottom.

xo,
Salpie

Easter Weekend