Easter Excitement

We hosted my husband's side of the family for Easter this year. The last time we were hosts was 8 years ago when we bought our house. We usually travel to New Hampshire or Mass. for the holiday but thought we would mix things up this year and avoid the sugar-crash, cousin-deprivation, whiney-drive home by having everyone come to us.

The event came with its ups and downs. The biggest downside was having to get the house presentable. Our guest room only gets clean when we have overnight guests and it's been awhile. One of the big upsides: some of the family stayed over at a nearby hotel with a pool and they invited the girls to go swimming there.

My girls sure love to be in the water. They aren't able to do swim strokes yet, but I have a feeling that this summer's swim lessons will help them make some great progress and this pre-season water time is a bonus.

As for the Easter dinner, my husband and I pulled it off. The huge ham took a little longer than anticipated to warm through, but folks simply enjoyed the warm weather outside while we cooked. The kids spent most of the day chasing each other with squirt guns so they didn't get to much candy consumption. Yes, the candy requests were frequent today, but I stick to the one or two-a-day rule and in a week's time they forgot about the candy, it somehow disappears, and we wait for the next holiday or birthday-party pinata to replenish the supply.