Easter 2020

With the stay-at-home orders, Easter was a bit different this year.

We attended Mass virtually and, thanks to the situation, had good informational videos from our parish to tell us all about Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. The kids enjoyed learning new things and so did we adults. Our church had a drive-in adoration on Wednesday which we attended. The parish hall has a good size parking lot and a good spot for the Blessed Sacrament.

Adoration at Saint Mary of the Mills

The Blessed Sacrament

Our other innovation was thought up by my oldest son. He decided to put on little plays of the readings from the Masses. The other kids were brought in as characters. Mom and dad even got to be Eve and Adam! It was a fun.

Our church hasn't been providing streaming Masses, so for the past couple of Sundays we've tried out a bunch of different online options--EWTN, St. Patrick's in New York City, Sacred Heart in Winchester, Virginia (I went to school with the pastor), etc. For Easter we "went" to our old parish, Saint Louis in Clarksville, Maryland. They broadcast their Mass at 6:00 a.m. Easter Sunday morning. We watched it as a "re-run" around 8 a.m.

Afterward, we finally dyed and decorated Easter eggs.

Getting ready to decorate #2

Pink or red, depending on how long it stays

Stickering the egg

A finished product

More careful work

Our Easter egg hunt was inside the house. We used plastic eggs filled with candy just in case any went unfound. We parents hid the eggs the night before. The kids were more challenged than I thought they would be. They did find all the eggs.

Finding an egg

Working together

In addition to eggs and chocolate bunnies, we put books in the kids' baskets. They were appreciative.

Reading on Easter

Reading and relaxing on Easter

We had a ham dinner with some of the usual sides (homemade biscuits, green beans, mac and cheese). Easter was low key but fun this year of the virus.

Easter 2015

We had a fairly low-key Easter this year. We visited my sister, who was awesome enough to have an Easter egg hunt in her yard for J and L. The eggs were hidden the night before. We didn't worry about wild life taking the eggs because they are plastic!

Getting ready to hunt

Racing for an obvious find

L looks in the wrong place

Easter Mass was good--plenty of music but not too long to wear out the children. The church also had an Easter egg hunt afterwards but J asked not to do it. He was ready to go on to other adventures.

We visited my mom and other sisters for brunch at mom's house and then headed back home. N got to use his special bib which we forgot to pack for the trip.

A most excited bib wearer

A most confused shirt wearer

N spit up on his clothes at my mom's house, so we had to use the backup outfit in the diaper bag. Too bad the back up outfit was appropriate months ago and not for Easter!

Easter Eggstravaganza!

L and Mommy worked hard to dye and decorate this year's Easter eggs. Mommy prepared the dyes and L got straight to work.

Am I doing a good job?

Dyeing three eggs at once!

Our kit came with stickers, which L put to good use.

Carefully applying new decorations

Looks good, let me try another!

More stickers!

On Easter morning, we had an in-home, in-pajamas egg hunt (with plastic eggs). The kids had a fun time searching the living room, though they needed some hints.

Look over there, J!

J hopes to fill a large bag

Checking the contents

A frog that sticks his tongue out!

For breakfast, we ate some of the hard boiled eggs that L had decorated. She didn't mind at all. Then we dressed for church, went to church, and hunted eggs in the church's outdoor Easter egg hunt. It was cold but satisfying.

Easter Sunday clothes (sans shoes)

Running together

Looking for eggs, not the camera

Happy and holy Easter to all!

The Glorious Twelfth (of August)

Why me? WHY ME?!?!?!?!

I did a half day tour of the Yorkshire area and one of the events the guide mentioned was "The Glorious Twelfth." This day begins the hunting season by allowing outdoor sportsmen (and sportswomen) the opportunity to hunt Red Grouse (Lagopus lagopus, as the scientists say it).

The bird is only found on the British Isles. Its main breeding ground is the heather fields of northern England and Scotland. So the hunts are conducted there. Many shooting parties come up the night before, stay at a hotel or bed and breakfast, have a leisurely breakfast, and head out for the hunt.

The challenging part of the hunt is that the birds fly low and fast, sometimes as fast as 80 miles per hour. Also the birds are wild, so no one can predict the numbers or best locations each season. Skill and luck is required.

The unchallenging part is that the hunters hunker down in a line of butts (I kid you not, "butts" are like little ditches or mounds where they lie in wait, guns ready). Beaters go through the heather waving sticks or shouting or doing whatever they can to get the birds to fly off towards the butt line and their anticipated doom. The grouse are often shipped quickly to big towns and cities where people can pay extra to eat the first of the twelfth, or later on, the catch of the season.

So if you want to see the heather in bloom, pick a day before August 12. Or at least don't wear a hat with a feather in it if you go after the 11th.

We are definitely not participating in the hunting; we might eat some if the opportunity arises. Or, at least, I would try some. I'm not sure how adventurous my wife is. The children would eat it if it was made like chicken nuggets, which I don't think we'll be able to find.

Read more about the Glorious Twelfth here and here and here and grouse recipes here.