Easter

Easter can be a very tricky holiday for food allergic families.  Between the eggs, chocolates and other goodies, parents need to be extra vigilant to prevent the day from turning into a total disaster.  Luckily, with a little extra planning and creativity, we were able to have a relaxing, special holiday.
I love the fact that there so many activities planned in the weeks before Easter.  Petting zoos, breakfast with the Easter bunny, egg hunts - there truly is something for everybody!  This year, the weather was kind of strange.  We had long stretches of beautiful days, followed by the wet, chilly weather that is typical to spring.  I took the kids to an Easter egg hunt at Parker Gardens in Scotch Plains, NJ on a cold Saturday before Easter.  I called ahead to inquire about what was in the eggs.  The team at Parkers were extremely helpful, even offering to put some "safe" eggs aside, so Layla could participate in the egg hunt.  When we got there, it was packed, and although I was able to find the woman I spoke with, I felt comfortable with Layla gathering the eggs with the rest of the children, but letting me inspect them first.  I let her keep the bubble eggs and the ones filled with toys and stickers, and we tossed the candy filled eggs back into the field.  She had so much fun!

Making Layla's Easter basket is another aspect of the holiday that requires some creativity.  I try my best to fill it with fun, inexpensive toys and avoid the candy route altogether.  This year, her basket was filled with coloring books, markers, fingerpaint, stamps, sunglasses, color-me stickers and puppets, pez candy and a plastic safari hat!  I think the basket was a hit.  Dylan got a cute onesie, a bathing suit, a rubber duckie and a "My First Easter" sticker. 

I also made the kids an ABC book from Shutterfly. Each letter had the name and picture of a different family member. You can see the book here. I wish I was able to get everybody into the book, but if you don't see yourself, don't get mad at me! :)

My mom, dad and sister came over for a pot-luck brunch.  My mom made a delicious cheddar, egg and sausage casserole and we also had ham, monkey bread and mimosas.  Yum!

After we ate, we had another egg hunt for Layla.  This time, her eggs were filled with money, stickers and Smarties candies.  She really enjoyed searching for all of the eggs in our yard.  It was a beautiful day to be outside!

In the afternoon, we went to my mother-in-law's house for Easter dinner.  Layla and Dylan were spoiled by their grandmother, aunts and uncles.  Unfortunately, we forgot to bring the camera to capture all of the fun that the kids had with their cousins, but Monte did manage to snap this picture on his phone right before we went home.