Hoppy Easter!

I tried to sleep in this morning, but even though I knew the Easter Bunny wouldn't be visiting me, I was just too excited. I finally got dressed in my favorite peach skirt and white Swiss lace blouse. It was chilly and windy today...but that's the only really spring-appropriate good outfit I have. My summer dresses are both sleeveless.

Made simple Buttermilk Pancakes with egg whites and applesauce and half a grapefruit for breakfast, since I knew I was going to be having more fattening foods for lunch and dinner. Called Mom after breakfast while I ran Daffy Duck's Easter Egg-citement and It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. Got Dad initially, but eventually talked to Mom as well. Both were fine. Mom was setting up the big basket of goodies she was going to give her grandsons later in the day.

I switched to the last hour of the Breakfast With the Beatles show on WOGL while I decorated the Hot Cross Buns with the last of the icing I used for the cupcakes. They were a little wobbly at first, but I finally got the hang of it. I think they really came out quite well.

Headed over to Dad's after that, passing a couple of families coming back from an Easter Egg hunt and roll at Veteran's Park on my way. I met Dad, Jodie, Jessa, Uncle Ken, and Dolores at the house. Dad, Jodie, Jessa, and I drove up to Washington Township on our own. Though we left later than Uncle Ken and Dolores (we had to go back because Jess forgot her driver's license), we arrived before they did.

Uncle Ken's daughter (and my cousin) Samantha had apparently organized this because of Uncle Ken's recent surgery. Karen and Jim, another set of grown cousins, have the biggest house, so we all opted to meet there for Easter dinner and an egg hunt for Samantha and David's 12-year-old son Matt, 10-year-old son Ethan, and 3-year-old daughter Faith, and Karen and Jim's 2-year-old son CJ.

I had a wonderful time. I played "shoot the monsters" with the boys and their plastic cap guns. I watched YouTube videos with Jessa and Jim's daughter from his first marriage, 19-year-old Taylere. I tossed balls with Faith and watched her hide in a colorful nylon tent she was really attached to (when her brothers weren't chasing monsters out of it). I watched the Masters golf tournament with Uncle Ken and Jim and chatted in the kitchen over crudites and tortilla chips with the ladies and Dad.

Dinner was delicious. Karen and Jim made the sweet ham and a key lime meringue pie. Jodie brought yummy seasoned asparagus wrapped in bacon. Dad brought corn. Dolores and Uncle Ken brought Uncle Ken's famous Apple Pie (made with real white wine). Samantha and David contributed au gratin potatoes and "pineapple bread," a yellow cake-like bread made with drained crushed pineapples. (Sam never has to worry about waste at her house. She told me asked her boys who wanted the leftover cup of drained pineapple juice after she finished making the bread. Matt apparently drank the whole thing in one gulp!)

After dinner, Taylere, Jessa, and I went outside to Karen and Jim's huge backyard to hide plastic eggs. Samantha and Karen had filled them with mini Reece's Peanut Butter Cups and Krackle Eggs earlier. We made sure to spread them around the yard and put them where both the toddlers and the older boys could find them. We then took the kids outside for their hunt...not an easy task on a slippery, wet green lawn on a very windy day!

There were several surprises when we came back inside with our hauls. We found out why Uncle Ken and Dolores were late when I saw a line of pre-wrapped Easter baskets sitting in the living room. The older boys got regulation-sized basketballs and soccer balls in their baskets. CJ got a mini golf-set. (He, like his father, is nuts about golf.) Faith received a pretty Barbie fashion-style doll dressed like a fairy and several dress-up jewelry sets.

But the biggest surprise of all had my name on it...literally. A small cake with bright neon-colored icing and mountains of sprinkles on the side sat on the table. Dad and Jodie had bought it for my birthday. I could have died from happiness and pure shock. That was sooo sweet of them! Though my birthday isn't until Tuesday, everyone sang "Happy Birthday," and I even got to blow the candles out. Uncle Ken and Dolores and Dad and Jodie gave me cards with money. Dad made his card himself! (He does that all the time. He loves playing with Paint Shop and similar programs.) We had the pie and Hot Cross Buns along with it.

The kids ran around a bit longer after that while the adults watched the Masters. Taylere left right after dessert to go back to Rutgers New Brunswick with her boyfriend. (She's a journalism and communications major there.) Uncle Ken and Dolores left after her so Uncle Ken could rest. Samantha and David left with their tribe about a half-hour later. The rest of us had a pleasant, cozy chat about golf terms and Jessa's possible college choices while watching the Masters and CJ's attempts to ape the master players in the Masters.

I think that was just about the best Easter I ever had. Certainly the most surprising! I hope all of you who celebrate it had an equally wonderful holiday!