Eastering and Brunching and SO! MUCH! MORE!

You'd never know from the volume of pictures you're about to be hit with (I apologize in advance) that my parents were here for only about 27 hours. We fit SO MUCH IN, I'm still not really sure how the kites and soccer and four-square and shopping and EATING and even some Jurassic Park were all done yesterday. Especially because the day actually felt pretty relaxed and everyone was in bed early at the end of it. I suspect a small tear in the space time continuum. I hope everyone enjoyed their extra hours as much as we did.

The day began early - SUPER early for Papa and Gigi, as they left their house in Houston at 5 a.m. to make it to Claire's 9:30 a.m. soccer game.

But they made it! And they brought bagels and we were all very excited. Especially Cora who pretended to be chilly just so she could get extra PapaGigi snuggles.

Our little soccer star was thrilled as well- she was terribly anxious they might miss it, and then she wanted so badly to score a goal for them I think she overthought her four close calls, but she still loved the game and was delighted they were there. Claire remains an aggressive and enthusiastic player and we will definitely be signing up for soccer again in the fall.-

After soccer we stopped at my new studio so my parents and James and the kids could see it. They loved it (it's such a cool space) and we practiced some yoga and barre and Landon immediately climbed up a rope in the gym area to touch the ceiling. He's like a monkey. A really long, strong monkey who can do unassisted back handsprings. Tumbling class is to him as soccer is to Claire. Perfectly suited to each of their personalities.

After everyone worked up a sweat, including James who never turns down a photo-opportunity with The Brick he just carries around with him at all times, we went home to eat the world's greatest chicken salad that Papa and Gigi had brought with them from Kingwood (Chelsea Deli, it's an institution and it is AMAZING; my parents ate there when they went house-hunting for my childhood home back in 1988 and it remains in the same place, serving the same food today. The best hostess gift in the world is a tub of that stuff) and I served my homemade double-layer carrot cake with cream cheese icing. It's almost as good as that chicken salad. My dad turned 61 on Thursday, so we added some candles and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to You.

Cora went down for her nap, and after a game of war with Claire (she's like me; we love a good card game), my mom and I felt like this was an excellent opportunity to sneak away and do some shopping. My dad attempted to lie down, but the kids put an end to that, and soon they were off in search of a kite. Fort Worth is surprisingly windy and it seemed just the thing to do.

My mom and I had our usual success at TJ Maxx. We grew up with our Easter Bunny always putting new swim suits in our Easter basket and I've carried on the tradition with our kids. Swim suits are fun in a way that normal clothes are not, even when you're little, and they need suits every year anyway (and in Texas, Eastertime is about when we start swimming). Making it an official Easter Item means I can spend a little more and add accessories like coordinating glasses, flip flops, and cover-ups. So my mom picked out some swimsuits for me to try on, including one that was so complicated it needed an instruction sheet, and bought me two. They're super cute and I would never have picked them up. My mom makes me push my fashion envelope. James is very appreciative.

Kids' Easter Swim Suits

My dad called to say that after driving all around Fort Worth they'd finally found kites and were now at our nearby park to fly them. Mom and I stopped there and saw Claire running with abandon, flying her first ever kite.

It was an awesome day for it. My dad got me one too. It had Nemo on it. I immediately got him stuck in a tree.

Cora woke up and we decided she and James should come fly their kites (Papa bought kites for all) while my parents went back to the house to prep their Easter egg hunt. They stuffed and hid all the eggs while Cora discovered that she LOVES flying kites.

We got home, somehow still only in the mid-afternoon of the same day, for the kids to start their hunt! My parents are excellent egg-hiders and it took a while for each kid to find their 12.

Once everyone found theirs, The Opening began! Candy and DOLLARS were found!

Cora's still not really sure what dollars are, but she LOVES them.

I made my favorite meal for dinner- salmon, roasted potato medley, and kale salad with farro and lemon miso dressing. And more cake, of course. Mom and Dad played four-square with the kids while I cooked.

Dinner was fab, if I do say so myself, and we tucked the girls in bed and let Landon stay up to watch some of Jurassic Park with us. He loved it and I'd forgotten how very good that first movie was. It had been a long time since I'd seen it.

[Side note: You guys, I posted this on facebook last week, but one of my favorite things about my increasingly giant and Bieber-like Landon is that he still LOVES a matching PJ set. It's hard to find them in his (giant) size these days, so when I found three sets and put them on his bed last Tuesday, he was DELIGHTED. I took a picture and he ripped off his sheets so I could capture the way his shorts complemented the shark on his shirt. Delighted. I was telling my mom this story and Landon burst into the living room just before bedtime with his PJ's he'd pulled from his hamper just so he could show my dad each set.

He makes my heart squeeze.]

We sent Landon to bed (in Claire's trundle) at 9 and found a wide-awake Cora and a fast-asleep Claire. My parents went to bed at the same time (they'd been up since 4 am) and I suddenly remembered it was Easter and went to assemble the baskets! Last year I had the flu on Easter and have basically no memories of the holiday at all (sob) because I spent it delirious and feverish in bed and on the couch while James did everything and kept the kids out of the house as much as possible.

BUT NOT THIS YEAR!

I watched all the basket-searching (we hide the baskets. Do other bunnies hide the baskets? My dad always did but James never admits to having any memories of his childhood whatsoever).

I watched the basket openings.

I watched all the basket delighting. Did you know that Claire has ALWAYS WANTED a sunglass holder?! It's true.

My other favorite thing about Landon, besides his love of a coordinated pajama, is how delighted he is by gifts. All gifts. Even everyone else's gifts.

He took Cora on a tour of her own Easter Basket and worked so hard to get her to fall in love with her towel as much as the thought she should.

She was distracted by new maxi dresses and princess gloves.

Our Easter Bunny uses Easter as an excuse to add in a couple fun spring/summer outfits in addition to the swim suits. Each kid got their 6 bottoms/6 tops for everyday summer play clothes once we realized winter was ending in mid-February and everyone had grown too much to wear anything from last year, but who can resist a bonus boho-chic romper for their boho-chic little girl?

This bunny cannot.

Cora got a new nightgown and everyone got sunglasses. Pictures were taken.

After the revelry and eating of peeps, we changed for church (or changed again; my children get dressed IMMEDIATELY upon waking up, always, and are deeply uncomfortable with the suggestion they remain in their pajamas, so the girls already had on potential Easter dresses, only to drop them in favor of NEW Easter dresses in their baskets which is good because Claire has grown like 12 inches in the last few months and everything she owns is too short).

Fancy family!

Church was lovely. It's a beautiful old church and I love some brass and handbells on Easter Sunday.

We ate brunch at Blue Mesa because we ate there when my parents visited in December and they loved it so much they politely demanded to go again. It is the best and they even took call-ahead reservations so we got to sit right down when we arrived! I've never eaten out on Easter Sunday and this was a big success.

After our delicious meal, we said goodbye to PapaGigi and they headed back to Houston.

Cora went down for her nap, James took the big kids out on a long run, and I've been sitting on the couch ever since. Currently on episode 4 of Spring Baking Championship and thinking about eating the last leftover piece of carrot cake before anyone else gets home. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!