Hippity, Hoppity, Easter's on it's Way?!?
It's amazing how we link the weather, seasons and holidays together. I think you know what I mean....For all those of you who live up north, the snow has melted. The yard and vehicles are dirty brown. The windows are open to let in the fresh breeze. You are stocking up on chocolate and candy, daffodills and tulips. You are starting to plan Spring projects to tackle and you will eat at least one big meal this Easter weekend. Down Under, we are one month into Autumn and have turned our clocks back. It is now completely dark at 6:30 pm but the temperatures are hovering around 30C. (Not complaining, just saying!) Some leaves are turning yellow and the stores are filled with chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs....not many lollies on the shelves and jellybeans or marshmallow candies....hard to come by! Honestly, the Easter treats and hot cross buns were on the shelves here in January when we arrived in Griffith and things don't feel much different this week than they did back then. The Jackson 6's internal clocks and calendars are seriously mixed up! Doesn't feel much like Easter but we are trying to get into the spirit just the same! Enjoy everyone!
Decorating eggs is not common Down Under. When I asked my class of 20 if they had ever decorated eggs at Easter, only 5 said they had. (That is about to change tomorrow!! Wish me luck!!) There are zero egg decorating kits in the stores and I really wish that I had brought a class set of kistkas (I think that is what they are called) to teach the older kids how to decorate Ukrainian Easter eggs. Anyway, our family did our eggs last night (Monday) and they turned out ok. We had to use brown eggs and regular food coloring but that was better than nothing at all. We will be away for Easter so gave almost all of our creations to the boys' teachers and our friends. We kept a couple to admire and, tonight, Colt created yet another paper Easter basket to fill with 1 real and 1 chocolate egg to give to the Easter bunny. (Kind of like leaving milk and cookies for Santa!) Colt says he's packing that in his suitcase for Tasmania! I don't know what security's rules are regarding rabbit treats??!!
Easter on the Farm
The lucky boys each got a bag of Easter treats from Mom and Dad before we left on vacation.
Easter at the Hotel Grand Chancellor in Hobart, Tasmania
Looks like the Easter Bunny can swim! Or hop a plane! Or drive a boat! We're not really sure how he made it over here but we're greatful that he did! There were a few frantic moments searching in our two hotel rooms this morning! Khye was the funniest of all as he stood on the bed checking the room over to see if he could spot any treats before the "Easter Bunny hunt" began. (We were waiting for Dad, Cody and Kent to come from their room!) He did spot one under a chair and was so excited but didn't tell anyone. You should have seen Cody's face when Khye pulled that white chocolae bilby from under the chair! (Cody is the ONLY one in the family that likes while chocolate!) As you can imagine, they made a trade when the hunt was over!