weekend: Easter scenes

The older Hendrik gets and the more he understands holidays (both the fun traditions and the meaning behind them), the more I'm loving them. I don't typically do a whole lot of decorating, etc. for Easter, but this year it was really fun to do a few special things with Hendrik - especially because with his babysitter off on spring break, we had some extra time together last week.

So over the course of the week we cut out and decorated some Easter egg cookies, which he was quite pleased about - he remembered our Christmas cookie decorating well and clearly loved the idea that there are cookie cutter shapes for other holidays - and enjoyed the whole process, right down to the last sprinkle licked off the plate.

Then on Saturday we went to his first-ever Easter egg hunt, at a neighborhood church. I think we'll be filling those plastic eggs with little trinkets and re-hiding them around the house for weeks. Sunday he got treated to an Easter basket from my parents (between the treats from the hunt and the grandparents, I didn't have to do much), and though the weather wasn't warm enough for super Easter-y outfits, I couldn't resist this little chambray clip-on tie from the Target dollar section. His first tie!

Though I knew he'd have fun with it all, at the beginning of the week I was sort of thinking, what's the difference whether we do any Easter activities, since he doesn't really know they exist yet? But then I listened to a recent episode of Gretchen Rubin's Happier podcast in which she referenced one of her happiness-building resolutions: celebrate minor holidays. Though of course this one isn't minor, with a toddler the same principle applies: using a holiday as an opporunity to mark time in a special way, doing some special things that help you make memories/family traditions, enjoy the seasons/current stage of life, and bring some light-heartedness into life.

We (well, I) like our routines around here, but sometimes it's good to break out of them, and to delight Hendrik with something out of the ordinary - because he really does show his delight. Especially when I let him have a huge brownie at the Easter egg hunt...

How was your Easter weekend?