snapshots of easter weekend

We passed by this little gem on our way to Costco Saturday morning. I wonder what kind of food is served at a Lutheran Halal cafe. Whatever's on the menu, I imagine it must have been cleared by the doctrines of both Islamic law and Christianity. (Actually, it was probably named for Lutheran Hospital, which is only a few blocks away. Still, though. Awesome name.)

And speaking of food, while at Costco we loaded up on the components for an easy and delicious Easter dinner -- chicken salad sandwiches served on croissants with French onion soup and salad on the side. I made the chicken salad from scratch myself (well, from a rotisserie chicken anyway), but the rest was gloriously pre-prepared. And the missionaries we fed on Sunday for dinner were none the wiser (which is exactly how it should be).


The boys and I dyed Easter eggs on Saturday afternoon. It was one of those activities that ultimately made me question -- several times -- "Why do I even bother?" Hopefully someday activities like this will be more enjoyable to do with them.


In the evening we all watched The Muppet Movie. The boys didn't last long enough to finish it, though it wasn't, as this photo suggests, because they fell asleep. (I wish it was -- exhaustion-induced whining and hitting is not my favorite way to end a day.) I can't blame them, though. Muppet humor goes a little over the heads of children their age, and besides, in addition to a trip to Costco and egg dying, we also washed the car and redeemed Coldstone gift cards from the Easter bunny living in Texas (also known as Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Gary). It was a very full day.


The Easter Bunny (ahem, I mean Wiester Bunny) came! He brought Garrett a stash identical to Caleb's, except Garrett got pajamas with whales on them and Caleb's has airplanes. The boys were so excited about the concept of an Easter bunny, especially Caleb. It was awesome that they they hurried to bed (and stayed there after we tucked them in) that night in anticipation.


Blake cancelled his regularly scheduled before-church meetings, and he kept his post-church responsibilities as stream-lined as possible, so we all got to go to and from church together, which was wonderful. Because he had to unlock and prepare the building, though, we still had to get there early, so I snapped photos of the boys in their new, matching Easter outfits on the grounds of the chapel. They were incredibly distracted by the passing D train, so we moved to a different location (where they were only distracted by themselves).






In the evening our living room sponsored a small Easter egg hunt. It was adorable, as Easter egg hunts with young children are wont to be. They each got to eat one chocolate egg before bed; the rest were put away for later distribution. The deal is that they earn one chocolate egg for every job they do around the house, and can I just say that this system (bribe?) has made my Monday pretty darn awesome.