Easter Traditions & Throwbacks

When it comes to Easter, we’re not really bunny and egg folk– though I dig a yolky Cadbury Creme Egg as much as more than the next guy.

Still, we have one time-worn tradition that helps set the holiday apart as special: Easter dresses! Easter clothes, now that I have a son. My late Grandma Norah started the fun when my sister and I were little, despite her modest resources. Each year, just before Sunday, she’d whisk us off to the department store for the next size up in springy, floral dresses (+ hats, gloves, purses, & shoes, obvi) in varying shades of pastel. Never mind the fact that I’d pass down the previous year’s outfit to my little sister, we’d both get something new off the rack then retire to a leisurely lunch at the Tudor Rose English tea house*. (*a beloved Salem institution long since demolished, RIP)

The fancy frocks were indeed a treat, but the blessing was more in the quality time than the new duds. When my own kids came along, my mother took up the torch without ceremony and continued the tradition with the next generation. The five years we lived in Montana the parcel would arrive in the post, but now the kids get the full, in-person shopping-and-lunch experience replete with quality time. It’s a legacy Grandma Norah can be proud of– and I intend to keep it alive in her honor when it’s my turn.

2018 Easter attire; courtesy of Nana, yet again: 

The long-awaited cherry blossoms on the trees at the state capitol are the source of great joy– and polleny throat tickles. 

We did dye eggs two years ago, as a fun hands-on experiment with natural food dyes.

Fun fact: Easter falls on my dad’s birthday (April Fool’s Day)– for the first time in his lifetime (the last time was 1954), so after church we’ll spend the day with him.

Visiting our friends’ Easter bunnies, the creative photo-opp fundraiser for another pal fighting cancer:

We’re also celebrating four years as five this weekend… Grateful for adoption– that brought Little Man to us, and into God’s family through the Easter miracle.

What Easter traditions does your family enjoy?