I was very happy to see that the Easter Bunny stopped by our house even though I was up very late and my tummy not feeling so well!

He said

Yes, as Emelia’s blurb shares someone partied a little too hard and had too much fun over at Mom & Dad’s with all the London Teeter’s for our Easter gathering. But, it wasn’t just from the food and excitement that she got into there, she had spent the full day operating somewhere between excited and overload.

In the middle of the day, Emelia was invited to – what is becoming somewhat of a yearly neighbourhood tradition – friends of hers from school, for an Easter Egg hunt for kids from the ‘hood.  Jay & Sylvia parents of (yes, another set of) twins that Emelia has become very good friends with at her school, have basically become cheerleaders for our neighbourhood finding the slightest of reasons to have a gathering at their place connecting families in the name of whatever time of year it is. They’re great people as are their kids and I am sure the droves of little gaffers ransacking their property in search of candy and fun yesterday would agree. By all counts, while I was off at work, Emelia had an absolute blast.

By the time I arrived over at Mom & Dad’s after work the rest of the family were all there and Emelia was completely in her element—elated to get time to play with Vaughan and her aunts and uncles. We got into Easter Dinner quickly and of course I over ate and enjoyed. My most cherished part of any of our gatherings is the time we spend sitting around the table just enjoying each other’s company. It is something that I definitely noticed when I was a kid—Mom & Dad doing the very same with their respective family at our festive gatherings. I am sure I didn’t fully comprehend and thought they weren’t having near the fun we cousins were running around the house getting up to all sorts of shenanigans. The same thing Emelia probably thinks now, and will too see differently as she becomes her own adult. But, as we sat around the table sharing in laughter and memories, I was acutely aware of the best part of any holiday is always the gathering itself.

Matthew & Shawn did introduce the entire family to a new-to-us card game called Wizard, that is sort of like euchre but allows a lot more people to play and includes wagering! Everyone joined in and played the game after Matthew went through the instructions which actually made the game sound way more complicated than it was. Even Emelia who partnered with her Uncle Greg loved the game. We’ll definitely looking for our own set the cards to bring along with us on our trips in Wolfie this summer.

And of course all the fun-having, candy and up way after her bedtime took its toll on Emelia as 9:30pm rolled around and Emelia started to crash hard. She was exhausted and certain her upset tummy was going to revolt in a sudden, reverse motion. After some tears and time next to the porcelain throne with no results, Emelia decided – with some coaxing – that we could probably make it home, and that it would be wise to get her to bed. And that we did. She was home and fast asleep pretty much as soon as her head hit the pillow. I think that Danielle and I were the same about five minutes after that!

Today was a day off work and a holiday for all of us for me which meant the first Sunday in some time we had no where to be and no schedule to keep. Other than the one that tried to keep Emelia in bed as long as possible to rest off the too-much-candy-induced sour tummy from last night. She did get up at shortly after six to go to the bathroom and see if it was okay to get up but after Danielle reminded her how her tummy was upset the night before, we were able to convince her to head back to bed for some more sleep.

Closer to eight in the morning than seven, we were all up and headed downstairs to see if the Easter Bunny had visited and wouldn’t you know it, she had! Emelia made short order of collecting all the eggs and treats that she had left for her. And then it was on to dismantling the six hundred and eight pieces too many of packing tape and mini zip ties that clad the play kitchen for Emelia’s American Girl Dolls to their cardboard box jail cell. Once they were free, it was time for some solid vegging on the couch for Danielle and I—a location that we held down for pretty much the entire day less the naps we snuck in while Emelia played this afternoon.

We just wrapped our own Easter Dinner her and are settling into the evening getting ready to start the bed time routine for Emelia  which will lead to more unwinding for Danielle & I before we dive back into the work week. This week is a very exciting one at the store as Friday the  Watch will finally be on display for people to experience a full two weeks before they’re actually available for purchase. And this week we also start to work on getting Wolfie ready to come put of hibernation with getting the snow tires off the Pilot and the wiring harness for the trailer tail lights added on so that by the end of this month we’re ready to bring Wolfe back home to the driveway to prep for the camping season! And even though it snowed this morning, the thought of getting Wolfie out of hibernation makes me believe summer and campfires are that much closer!

She said

This week was a condensed work week and the start of a much needed and anticipated extended weekend for me. A few years ago I made a small change in my daycare contracts that included a couple extra days off in the year. The big one was adding Easter Monday as a extended holiday. As the winters go on and on it was a much needed sanity break for not only me but for Emelia even more so, she really needed this time for just her. It is not easy for her having to share her space, her toys and most importantly her parents. So this end of the winter mini break does our whole family a whole lot of good.

So what to do? John had a few days leading up to the long weekend off so he got a much needed few days off in a row but he was working every other day of the long weekend. We made the best we could with two days off together to cram in as much family time as possible.

For my side of the family it is pretty small – basically we assure at every turn we spend as much time with my sister and her little family. A few weeks before I had spoken to Charlie to arrange some family time over the weekend and we settled on Friday as the day that worked for everyone. So off we went as soon as John was home from hockey Friday morning. We arrived at Charlie, Todd and Marshall’s place ahead of noon and spend the day snuggling with my perfect nephew, hanging out with Charlie and Todd and basically trying to hold on to every second of our visit. Family is so precious especially when the children are young that I want to spend as much time with my sister and her family as I possibly can.

I cannot get over how much Marshall has changed since we saw him only a month ago, he is full of smiles, personality plus he is such a joy to be around. And Emelia is totally in love with him, she wanted to play, snuggle and be with him every possible second. I just love seeing them together it is incredible. With incredible weather – finally – we decided to bust out of their apartment and let Emelia run and Marshall to get some fresh air. Charlie’s neighbourhood is incredible, so walkable and tons to do, including a great park just a couple blocks from their place. Emelia was all over the place and quickly made friends. John and I are both just loving seeing her come into her own, she is still shy but she is so much more sure of herself and she is much quicker to come around with strangers and adults. A huge difference from the girl a year ago who wouldn’t talk to anyone outside her small comfort zone. I love that other people can finally see the silly girl that we know and love.

Before we knew it we were done dinner and we needed to head to the road, Emelia had to get to bed and John needed to work the next day. So sadly we had to say good-bye again but with the nicer weather here and life hopefully getting back to a routine we will be down in Toronto again soon to visit them.

Saturday morning came too early and we had to get John to work and Emelia and I took care of the weekly errands. Emelia and I survived the madness that is shopping the Saturday of the Easter weekend and after having lunch at Farm Boy she and I got home, organized the weekly groceries and then we were off to the Annual Grant Easter Egg Hunt. Our friends and neighbours have a few annual parties (they are the same couple that threw the wine party in November) and it is always an amazing time. John sadly had to work but Emelia and I went and had a great time. Many of the children who attend (there are at least 50 kids and 70 adults at this every year) are children from Emelia’s school so she is in her element. I barely saw her as she was off spending time with her girlfriends. She had an incredible time, too much candy but lots of fun nonetheless. After a few hours of running around and sneaking candy she and I left the party (much to her protest) so we could make our way to Poppa and Grandma’s house.

By the time 6:30 rolled around the whole family (less David and Linda’s family) were there and it was a night of food, drinks, family and lots of laughs. Once again Emelia was in her zone, she is so out of her shell now that she was leading party games of her own invention before we went into the dining room to play cards with the family. The game that Matthew brought at first seemed overly complicated but once we started playing everyone caught on including little miss strategy Emelia who with her Uncle Greg as her side-kick won the game. It was around that time that Emelia realized that too much candy makes her have a horrible stomach ache. There were a bit of tears and a bit of convincing but we gathered her up and made our way home.

A tired and overly sugared little girl was finally put to bed after a bit of convincing and we parents quickly followed – after all the Easter Bunny was due to arrive.

Thankfully this morning I was able to convince her that she needed to go back to bed for a bit longer and she and her tired parents got to get a bit more sleep. Shortly before 8 we were all up and making our way downstairs. And the bunny came and of course she was spoiled.

As we have spoken about over the last couple weeks Emelia is beyond American Girl obsessed, well after a fair bit of back and forth and the growing collections of rooms she has made for her girls we found someone to make her a doll house. The house is just about to be started being made but the top of Emelia’s wish list for the up coming doll house was a kitchen for her girls. So the bunny came through. She got the beloved Our Generation kitchen that she had seen at Target and she has been playing with it ever since. Needless to say it has been a huge hit.

That was our day, she collected eggs, mommy and daddy took full advantage of a very rare lazy day and did nothing! We crafted, we dyed eggs, we made a yummy supper, we crafted again, we watched movies, we crafted again. And we relaxed. It was a perfect Easter!

And on that note I am signing off to get my little girl to bed, relax with John and dream of one more day off with Emelia.