A Super-Late Spring Break and Easter Recap

We limped into the week before Spring Break with a horrible respiratory virus.  Jacob missed 3 days of school; Frank missed a day of work; Carter even missed his Easter party at "school!"  Judging by how long it took us to get over it, I'm thinking we might have actually had the respiratory flu.  So, no fun.

The kids were supposed to spend Sunday night (the Sunday before Easter) with my parents, but I delayed it another day, hoping to give them another day to recover.  They did end up spending some time in Watseka (Jacob's "What I Did Over Spring Break picture at school says, "I went to Taco Bell.  I drove Grandpa's Yukon." It stands out quite nicely among the pictures of beaches and zoos. :) ), but we did try to do some fun things during Spring Break.

The weather wasn't very cooperative, so we headed over to the Children's Discovery Museum one morning.

(Why does he look 16 here?!?!)

(Carter's new favorite shirt... It says, "Time Out." It's perfect for him, don't you think?)

After the museum, we met Frank at the Subway near his office for lunch, which doesn't sound all that entertaining, but considering a) we rarely eat lunch altogether; b) we rarely eat lunch at a restaurant and; c) the Subway is approximately the size of my closet.  It was actually a pretty entertaining event.

Dinner was an enchilada casserole indoor picnic in front of the TV, another activity that the kids enjoy just because of it's sheer novelty.

On Good Friday, Frank took the afternoon off, and we went to the Scovill Zoo in Decatur... or we tried to go to the Scovill Zoo... as it turns out the zoo didn't open for another week.  But it was all cool because they have a great playground outside the zoo grounds which entertained us for a solid hour.

We colored Easter eggs

and participated in the Hudson Lions Club Easter egg hunt.

Then came the main event-- Easter!!  I tried so hard to get a picture of both kids in their Easter outfits, but all I got were a buncha shots of crazy:

My table, however, did photograph beautifully.

For dinner, we had ham, mashed potatoes & gravy, mac and cheese, roasted carrots, peas with bacon, fruit salad, and rolls.  For dessert we had Peeps brownies, apple pie, cherry pie, and chocolate pie!

This pic of Seth at the grown-ups table might be one of my all-time favorites:

The kids were anxious to get the hunt underway, and the adults were anxious, too, as it was beginning to look like rain. I don't know how all the boys ended up being so matchy-matchy, but I guess great minds think alike?  :)

And a couple of randoms, just because they're cute:

Before dinner, we managed a semi-decent family pic.  I really try to get all four of us together for pictures during holiday and events.  Ten years from now, none of us will remember that Frank was actually trying to track down the credit card that was left at TGI Fridays the night before, or that I was sweating and yelling at Jacob to put on shoes and hoping that the rolls didn't burn while we took this picture.

Time has a way of smoothing over those imperfections, remembering only the good, and becoming the bar by which the standard is set.  When my kids are all grown up one Easter morning, maybe hiding Easter eggs for their kids, or smelling a ham in the oven, or helping an older relative with their plate, I hope they think,

"Oh, this reminds me of Easter at mom and dad's.  Our holidays were pretty awesome when I was growing up."