Easter Weekend

Somehow, I am having trouble getting into the groove of regular blogging.  I have all the intentions but it seems so time consuming compared with slapping a quick photo up on instagram (which I do more often--link on sidebar if you want to follow).

I still have some posts in the works from the last few weeks but I will start here and then go backwards.

Our Easter weekend was pretty packed. Our niece, Olivia is graduating from college in a few weeks.  Unfortunately, we cannot attend her graduation as it is out of town and the same day as Kate's dance recital (which we had already committed to).  So, we decided to take a day trip to Austin on Good Friday to visit Olivia, take her to lunch and let her give Will a campus tour (yes, he's starting to look at colleges!)

I woke up Friday morning feeling pretty sick (killer sore throat, sinus headache) so I did not bother with bringing my big camera.  I just did not have the energy.  These are all I-phone pics.

On the drive to Austin, we saw the most beautiful array of wildflowers.  They were spectacular!  A certain someone did not want to pull over and let me take photos. However, he finally pulled off into the measliest patch and I snapped these quickly.  I REALLY, wish I had brought my good camera for the blue bonnets and Indian paint brushes.

So, Olivia showed us around campus.





There was a pretty little grotto.
We stopped and prayed and thanked God for his only son on Good Friday.







Will, Harry, Kate and Olivia




Dave and his favorite niece:)


Kate, me and Olivia

After the campus tour, we we to a great restaurant on Lake Austin.  We sat outside on the deck, had an awesome meal and excellent service.  It was a really great day.  It was just one of those family days where everyone gets along and is in a good mood.  It really was delightful.

We drove back home that afternoon/evening and then woke up (still sick) and headed to the beach for the rest of the weekend.

Dave has recently taken up kayak fishing and so we go to the bay/beach (or he goes with the boys) as much as they can get away with our busy schedules.  I still felt really crummy but did not want to sit home alone for Easter so I went along.



Harry LOVES the kayak and so does Kate.

Will wades out in the marshes to fish as well.

Kate loves sitting on the dock of the canal fishing (she doesn't ever catch anything--but she is happy)



Harry waxed his skim board and did some skim boarding.



On Saturday some friends came down to the house.  I was not the best hostess and napped most of the afternoon while they fished and went to the beach.  I LOVE the beach and it pains me that I missed it.  It takes a lot to keep me from the beach.

We did sit on the deck and watch a beautiful sunset.



(iphone pic)

We spent the night so the Easter bunny did baskets at the beach.

Then we piled in the car and headed home.  We spontaneously decided to stop someplace for breakfast. I had read/heard about the Sunflower Bakery and Cafe and really wanted to try it but I was afraid that on Easter there would be a long wait.  And we were not quite showered or dressed for Easter brunch.  Luck was on our side and we got a table just before a long wait started.  It was sooooo good.

Belgian waffles with fresh cream and berries, fresh gulf shrimp omelet, and homemade cream puffs.  Will had chicken and waffles and Kate had pecan pancakes.  We will definitely return to this place.

We ended up cleaning up and getting dressed for  a little egg hunt and 5 pm Mass.

Kate's smile was so big that it looked like her eyes were closed in a lot of the photos.
So, the boys did what big brothers do-- tease her!



Luckily, Kate has a great sense of humor and she laughed!





This year I put $1 bills and a few $5 in the eggs.  Will are Harry are teenagers.  They want cash.  Plus, I'd rather give them that than candy.  They raced around so quickly that I could barely get any photos.





Harry got almost all the $5 bills










Poor Will (who needs the cash the most for gas and food with friends) got the least.

We went to the teen mass in the evening and it was less crowded and less formal than our regular mass. It was nice.  Our Easter dinner consisted of BLT sandwiches since we could not really cook a big meal while at mass.  And I was still pretty sick.

Even though this Easter was very different from all of our other Easters, we all agreed that it was a really lovely family weekend.  The kids are at ages where they really enjoy each others company and there is little or no fighting.  We have fun together. I'd like to freeze time! I guess being sick worked in my favor as I did not go to any trouble for anything.  It was all super low key!

I know this is full of little details that are boring and insignificant.  I like recording all the details here so that we (our family) can look back and remember one holiday or occasion from another.