Easter Weekend Recap (warning....very long)

We spent Easter weekend at my parents' house. Until a few weeks ago, we all thought that my mom was going to have the weekend off, but, as it turned out, it was her weekend to work.

We arrived around 9:30 Friday night and let Alison run around and blow off some steam for a while. After being strapped in her carset for over three hours at that point, she needed it. It was 11:00 by the time we finally got her into bed. That's pretty late for her, since she's usually in bed shortly after 9.

Saturday ended up being pretty hectic. My grandma decided that riding 25 miles from her house to my parents' for Easter dinner was "just too far," so we packed Alison up and headed in to see her Saturday morning instead. I know it will sound horrible, especially in light of the fact that Gramp just passed away at Christmas, but it's never pleasant to go and see my grandma. When Gramp was still alive, I made sure we went (if they weren't going to make it to may parents') because I knew he'd want to see Alison. We went on Saturday because I knew Grandma would want to see her, too, but it's such a pain! I had hoped to go in, visit and be home by 12:30, so Alison could have lunch and still go down for her nap close to 1:00. Well, we didn't even get home until almost 1:00, and it was after 2:00 before she settled down enough to go to sleep. Normally I don't let her sleep past 4:00, but I did Saturday. She slept until 4:30. My mom had gotten home a little after 3:00 and I helped her get a casserole together before she, Kevin, Alison, Bo and I left to go to the park and take a walk. It was a nice day for a walk. A little breezy (and therefore a little chilly), but it was sunny. We had a nice walk and came home to finish dinner....one of my favorites and one that is very, very bad for my "diet." Afterwards we went through the usual evening routine. I went to bed early, since we would have to get up early Sunday morning for church.

Oh yeah. Also on Saturday everyone felt the need to inform me that my brother had found a mouse in the bathtub when he came home to take a shower before work. I hate rodents. I especially hate them when they are in my (well, my parents') house. We had a rat in the house (though we didn't know that's what it was at the time) when I was 16 and I kid you not, I slept in the car in the driveway for 3 nights. After that I slept with my bedroom light on for over a month. So the news that Paul had found a mouse in the bathtub had me ready to head to the nearest motel, but we didn't. :) I just made sure that Kevin used the bathroom before me Sunday morning so he could check to make sure there were no unwelcome, furry visitors in the tub.

Easter morning was cloudy and cold. We decided not to attend the sunrise service since none of us wanted to get up in time to be there at 6:30. We opted for our usual 8:15 service instead. I don't really enjoy going to this church anymore, despite the fact that it is the church I grew up in. It is not a church I would be interested in joining if I were new to the area. We go because my parents are still members and partly out of habit. The chancel choir sang the same introit it has been singing for years. I have never been in the chancel choir, but I could sing right along with them without any trouble. The brass ensemble was there as usual, too, and Mr. C didn't frack nearly as often as he usually does (the trumpet isn't really his instrument and you can tell....he took it up because he wanted to be a music teacher, but he's really a trombone player). Instead of just having Easter lilies decorating the chancel, they also had an assortment of other flowers mixed in. The fragrance, from the hyacinths I think, was almost overpowering, especially since were weren't more than 12 feet back, sitting in the 3rd pew. Alison had a great time down in the cribroom. Carol, the cribroom attendant, was shocked at how much she has grown, how much she is talking and how much she is running around.

After church we went down to Fellowship Hall to have some coffee and juice. I took Alison back upstairs to see if we could find my friend Kari, and she and her daughter (who is just turning 1) happened to be in the Narthex. We chatted for a few minutes and then I went in to the Sanctuary to see her mom. We almost made her cry when Alison got down and started walking around. From there we had to head up to the choir room. I promised another friend's mom that I would bring Alison up since she had been off getting her diaper changed when she came down to see her, and besides, she had forgotten to bring pictures of her grandson down with her and I had to check them out. The choir got a kick out of watching Alison toddle around, even though only a few knew how big a deal it actually was. Kevin kept an eagle eye on her to make sure no one was feeding her goodies that had nuts or peanuts (or peanutbutter) in them. She was facinated with the windows because they had a deep sill and were only a foot off the ground, so she could climb up on the sill and look out. Fortunately only the top of the windows opened and she isn't that tall, but Kevin still kept a hand on her just to make sure there was no way she could fall out.

Since mom was working, Kevin and I were in charge of getting dinner on the table. Obviously that was easier said than done. I decided not to make scalloped potatoes but just bake them instead because I thought it would be easier.....unfortunately the potatoes were not done when we were ready to eat. Neither was the ham. Apparently it hadn't completely thawed the night before and it was still a little frozen in the center. The broccoli casserole came out all right, but the sweet potatoes could have baked a little longer. Oh well. We threw the ham and the baked potatoes in the microwave and everything ended up being edible. I made sure to bring home the broccoli recipe, too.

Once lunch was taken done, Alison went down for a nap and I got us all packed up and ready to go. Then I took a nap, too. Mom got home a little after 3, Alison got up at 4, and we were on the road by about 4:45. I felt bad that mom didn't get to spend that much time with Alison, but that's how it works out sometimes. We are going to be back in a few weeks to go to a wedding, so she'll get to spend plenty of time with her then. We made good time on the way home and, even with a stop for supper, pulled in the driveway at 9:30.