This year, Evan’s birthday and Easter were the same day. We actually did his celebrating the day/night before and did Easter stuff on Easter, so these pictures are out of order but I’m hoping to put together a real birthday post with a kid interview before I finish it. So I’m starting with Easter.

The Easter Bunny was very generous this year and shockingly well-prepared considering how early the holiday fell. She was smart enough to buy several things on clearance after Easter last year AND THEN put them in a well-marked box in the basement AND THEN remembered to go down and LOOK in the box. Besides the last-year stuff and the standard candy, Easter Bunny also brought each big kid a Lego set because a) everyone loves Legos and b) spending money on Legos seemed like a wiser choice than buying $20 worth of junk they’d forget about instantly. So far it has worked out extremely well.

Even Lincoln got a basket of baby-appropriate stuff (book, ears, finger puppets, rubber ducky). I was also SUPER excited each kid finally has a permanently designated basket complete with their name and everything. They came from Personal Creations and were perfect for egg hunting at church and filling on Easter morning.

This chocolate bunny seriously blew his mind. It’s the solid kind, which means he ate approximately a whole pound of chocolate before church. #eastertraditions

Before we went to church I dragged the children outside for an Obligatory Fancy Clothes Holiday Photo. It didn’t go super well.

Don’t worry though, I/they made up for it later.

After church we went to Mystic Seaport to run out a little energy before our 2 pm brunch reservations. E insisted it is no longer “brunch” if it is served at 2 pm but I say anything with both a carving station and a custom omelet bar counts as brunch on Easter.

Lincoln was D O N E by the time we actually sat down to eat, but it still went fairly well. I wish he would have nursed and then slept on me so I could have sent my husband to fill my plate with ALL THE THINGS from the dessert table, but there was way too much going on for a distractable 8 month old to nurse. He did shove most of a dinner roll in his face. Caroline ate all the meat. Evan mostly ate crudités (if I call them crudités I feel less bad about the cost of carrot sticks). I ate more than enough stuff to make it feel worth the effort and expense. Easter brunch at a fancy place has ALWAYS been one of my favorite things and getting to do it once a year with my own family is fun. I imagine in 5 more years when everyone eats more and sits still and is as excited as I am about the crepe bar it will be an even nicer tradition.