Easter celebrations mean family time for almost everyone – and we’re no different in that tradition.
My younger sister and brother are headed down for the weekend and have already been pretty vocal about continuing our annual egg hunt and gift basket traditions.
It’s turning out to be a lot more like our Christmas stocking surprises every December, too.
There’s so much candy that mom’s not planning on buying any more until Halloween or Christmas.
We’ll just be saving it all up in Ziploc bags or Tupperware containers so that it stays fresh.
Part of the “candy-pocalypse” problem seems to have come out of nowhere to blindside us.
The working theory was that due to so many delays in shipping products and arrivals we’d pick up necessary items along the way and have been doing so since Valentine’s Day passed us by.
Plus, there are some things we can just wait for the last minute on – like Peeps!
Peeps are the grossest candy I’ve ever encountered but my sister loves them and their weird flavor combinations.
Did you know there is a version of the marshmallow Peeps with “Hot Tamale” cinnamon candy essence in it?
Either way, there’s always an overflowing grocery store end cap of those monster confections every year, so, we weren’t in a rush for those.
But, in true mom form, we get more than just candy and confetti eggs.
She gets us little toys or gadgets and useful things like sandwich
makers or mini waffle makers, too.
My siblings both got barbecue utensil utility carriers and I’ve scored a new pair of swim goggles for the pool.
We’re also still having our annual egg hunt with a variety of adult prize eggs that feature gift cards or real cash in them.
Over the years, we’ve learned that hunting hardboiled and decorated eggs are overrated.
Especially when you lose count and don’t find one egg until a few weeks later when the rot sets in and it’s just a ticking time bomb of grossness.
But, we’ll still decorate those eggs anyway for the fun of it and get to express our creativity.
My sister is a diehard overachiever with her egg designs and color combinations while I prefer to make sure my eggs crack in their dye baths so that the color seeps into the white insides.
Then I use those extra colorful eggs in our lunchtime potato salad for something fun and unique.
My brother just dyes his eggs haphazardly and oftentimes just uses the wax crayon to write his name or initials on the eggs so we know they are his.
We are doing things a little different this year based on my siblings’ jobs and having our usual feast on Saturday instead of Sunday so they can save on drive time home.
Despite that, we’ll still be rising early on Sunday to hunt our eggs after mom has the traditional task of hiding them.
At least this year we won’t have to fight chickens to get to those hiding spots since mom is down to one rooster and has no hens.
Here’s to hoping everyone has a safe and happy Easter!
