(Reminder: click on the photos to see better quality versions)
Maundy Thursday: The first ever sighting of a pileated woodpecker at our suet feeder. This could only be a good omen for the weekend.
Good Friday: I made the rather dubious (religiously speaking) choice to allow Sahsez to continue in the tradition of having a tea party on this most sacred day. She's done it for four years. Probably I should change it to another day. There are good reasons to have it on this day, too, though: I know I'll be going to church for a good long while in the morning and this forces me to get things ready for the tea party in advance. Also, we are forced to have the house sparkling clean before the weekend, which means we can celebrate Easter in a clean house without the hassle of actually doing any cleaning on the day.
Anyway, Christ's death on the cross didn't seem the bother the eight second-grade girls that gathered in our backyard (thank goodness it was warm out!).
The neighbour's dog snuck under the fence to get some loving.
Holy Saturday: M'hijo was thinking about Jesus this weekend. How else to explain the fact that he tried to walk on water? Esquimalt lagoon, to be exact. You can see him on the edge of this photo, taking his first step in while his daddy tries to get a good shot of Sahsez with the swan. Put down the camera and save your son's life, Tobias!
He was a little shaken up (and extremely cold, I imagine!) but none the worse for wear. Once we stripped him down, and gave him a Tim Horton's cup to play with, he was almost cheerful. But we still had to leave the beach before we began our walk, because both M'hijo's boots and Tobias' shoes were full of water.
Easter Sunday: A great day for many reasons.
1. He is risen! My kids choir did a lovely job singing about that in church. This is the third and last time that I will be ironing this dress for Sahsez to wear to church on Easter. My mom made it for her and it's amazing that it still fits. But next year it will definitely be too small.
2. Treasure hunt! When your kid no longer believes in the Easter bunny but still insists on an egg hunt, you can start to feel like a bit of a sucker. But this feeling can be alleviated by turning the hunt into a treasure hunt, and making the little rotter solve clues before she can get her booty (generously provided by Grandma Marg this year). My body became temporarily possessed by some sort of nefarious craft demon on Saturday evening and I ended up cutting egg-shaped clues out of construction paper and decorating the backs of them with Mr Sketch markers. I know.
3. The end of Lent! I managed to not touch one drop of booze the entire forty days. It was hard! I feel really good that I didn't make up excuses for breaking the rules. Having Sundays off made this easier. To celebrate, we had caviar (with lots of unsalted butter and baguette) and sparkling wine. What a treat. Afterward, Tobias went out to the van and took a nap for the first time since I've known him. Now he wishes he had discovered the solution to his inability-to-nap problem years ago: Champagne and caviar in the afternoon.
To me, Easter is the best holiday. Christmas is lovely, but there's so much of it, you know? Easter is more low-key in the secular aspects (phew!); it includes the solemnity of Good Friday; it's a great chance for focussing on new beginnings, rebirth, much more of a New Year than January 1st to me; it doesn't hurt that it happens right around the time when the green things are coming back to life as well.
Happy Easter.
