Easter 2016

For Easter this year we thought about getting up for a sunrise service since the children are usually up way too early anyway (though the toddler has finally accepted daylight savings time, so he's no longer up an hour before way too early). Not being that ambitious, we went to the earliest Mass at Saint Mary of the Mills near our house. Mass started at 7:30. We arrived at 7:31 in our finest Easter outfits.

When did our toddler get so grown-up looking?

The new Easter dress

The Mass was already packed and the usher took us to the choir seats off to the right of the altar (much like our typical location at Saint Joseph's in Harrogate). One other family was already there though no choir, since it was the early Mass. The kids were great during the service, which was nice since we felt a bit more visible than usual.

Back home, we had an Easter Egg hunt indoors. The sky was nice enough for an outdoor hunt but the temperature was not high enough.

Searching our front room

Bookshelves were a popular hiding spot (since they are numerous in our house)

Plastic egg-shaped bunny

The eggs we decorated the day before

After that, we headed off to Grandmama's house for more fun and a great dinner. On the way we stopped at the Apple House, a semi-famous roadside attraction. They have an impressive selection of hot sauces and serve barbecue pork and apple-based products. The most famous is their apple donuts which are indeed delightful. I'm glad we finally had a chance to sample them, but now that we may be stopping there more often.

Apple donuts, like fasnachts after Lent

At Grandmama's, they had another indoor Easter egg hunt but I slept through it, so no pictures. The temperature did get high enough for some outdoor bubble making. Fun was had by all.

Blowing/popping bubbles

We had a great dinner and a fine time visiting with my relatives.