Easter Sunday this year was certainly a different experience for us than ever before – as it would have been for most families around the world. We are in our third week of lockdown due to the global pandemic, currently with no signs of it lifting. After being stuck in the house for 27 days straight, we were all starting to go stir crazy and the days were rolling into one. I missed seeing our family, having long walks on the beach and I felt really sad to be missing having big roast dinner in the pub on Easter Sunday too – but we were determined to make the most of the day and make it special for the girls, with the limited resources we had.
I really wanted to do an Easter Egg hunt, so started planning it weeks in advance as I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to get our hands on any eggs! Luckily, Tesco was still stocking Easter eggs and while they aren’t an ‘essential’ purchase (according to the UK government – I beg to differ) I figured I was doing an online food shop anyway, so it wouldn’t harm to add a few (or lots) to my basket. I bought extra thinking a few would be out of stock or substituted so when my shopping arrived with a whole crate of Easter eggs (they were all available!) I felt a bit cheeky, but I’m sure it’s not the worst crime committed during lockdown!
Violet had been talking about the Easter bunny for weeks, so was so excited to wake up and find out he had visited! We had to distract the girls so I could quickly run out into the garden and set up the hunt. I was going to do it the night before but soon realised that our dog Robbie would have done his own personal Easter egg hunt during the night and eaten all the eggs and wrappers (he has previous for this) so it was all a bit rushed, but we made it work. Little cardboard rabbit ‘footprints’ lead the girls out to the backdoor where they collected their bowls (no fancy Easter baskets here – that’s definitely not ‘essential’) and they got hunting!
The girls were really into the Easter egg hunt, squealing with joy when they found a shiny, chocolate egg – I think for the first year they both understood the concept and even worked together to find the eggs. I thought they would squabble over the eggs but was pleased to see Violet sharing some of hers as Pearl had less, plus they put them together at the end to share which is so sweet. I can only hope they continue being like this for Easter egg hunts to come!
At the end of the hunt, the little rabbits footprints lead them to the back of the garden, where I’d hidden their ‘big eggs’ in the undergrowth. They both sat down on the step and started tucking into their Easter egg haul, saying ‘Thank you Easter bunny!’ and waving up to the sky. So sweet, I love magical moments like this, it was things like this I used to dream about before they were even born.
We spent the rest of the day in the sunshine in the garden and eating plenty of chocolate eggs! Easter this year hasn’t quite been what we expected, but I’m sure it’ll be one to remember forever!
HAPPY EASTER!
