So, I'm ridiculously excited for Easter and I finally figured out why.

Part of it is because DS1 is 30 months old and finally old enough to appreciate holidays (even Christmas was sorta WTF for him at 27 months). Part of it is obviously because its a holiday important to our faith. But I realized its also a holiday that just belongs to ME and our little family.

I realize this isn't the case for everyone, but we live far away from our families so every Thanksgiving or Christmas we are hauling out to see them. I don't control the menu or activities or gifts, we're sleeping in a hotel or someone's guest room. And its exhausting. And birthdays inevitably leave out one of the kids and its also catering somewhat to guests and cleaning up our house, etc. More exhaustion.

But Easter is about how much Jesus loves us and springtime and its just our little family having a blast together. And our schools and jobs give us time off for it too. DS1's school is closing at 1pm on Friday and he has Monday off. DH teaches at a Catholic university, so they are off for Easter as well. Its going to be a fun holiday where Mommy and Daddy can spoil the kids and eat lots of treats and dress up in cute outfits. Church is going to be special, lunch is going to be special, there will be egg hunts - so fun!

So far, I've planned:

- Dinner out as a family on Good Friday.
- Strawberry picking at the local organic u-pick farm on Saturday. Lots of mud and stomping and eating.
- Easter baskets chock full of each boy's favorite treats and toys that they will wake up to on Sunday morning.
- Easter egg hunt in our own backyard (he will have one at school on Friday, so he will get a trial run).
- We're having some close friends the boys are obsessed with coming for dinner on Sunday.
- Big Easter dinner on fun Easter plates with Easter napkins, etc.
- Strawberry buttermilk cake for dessert with strawberries we picked from the farm and lots of sprinkles and Peeps on top.
- DS1 is getting a zillion tubs of play doh in his basket, so there will be a lot of crazy play doh action with all the cookie cutters in the house.

What kind of fun activities are you guys planning this weekend?