Happy Easter

I don't think I ever realized how non-traditional we are until I started to upload pictures for this post. No fancy Easter dresses, no morning church service, no ham dinner. We went to church on Palm Sunday and chose to skip the Easter crowds. The kids got to stay in their pajamas as long as they wanted, and we had brunch instead of dinner. That's my kind of holiday!

I was trying to remember what Easter was like when I was a kid. I'm pretty sure we had a ham dinner, as my Mom always put on a nice dinner for the holidays.
However, several years ago we decided we would change tradition and started having an Easter BBQ! That first BBQ of the year became well known to our family and friends. Everyone looked forward to it. In fact, an old friend just sent me an email the other day telling me how this time of year always makes her think of me and that wonderful picnic we used to put on! We always made a point to invite anyone who had nowhere to go or no family to celebrate with. Those were great times. My sister continued the tradition this year by hosting a huge gathering of extended family at her house.
Our kids won't know that family tradition (although Easter is late next year so maybe we'll do it here!) but we've started traditions of our own. The important thing is that we were together, happy and healthy. That's what they will remember.

We do baskets with very little candy...mostly small toys, books, and one movie each.

Nonna and Papa had to leave for a flight back to Rochester on Sunday evening so we had a laid back afternoon. The girls played with the new water table that Gia got for her birthday (birthday celebrations will be a separate post). It was a very windy day but they didn't seem to care!
Overall, we had a wonderful, non-traditional Easter. Our family is blessed!