Easter Weekend

t was a big weekend here in Connecticut.  Today (Monday, April 5th) is Nancy's 75th birthday.  Yesterday was Easter and in the next couple of weeks David has two nephews who will be having birthdays.  So.....you know what that means....PARTY!!  And with parties, come decorations!   I think David is getting used to the Kimberly chaos when it comes to getting ready for a get-together.  The more we have, the easier it gets. It was a great weekend for all - well, I'll just let the photos tell the story.

First up was the dining room.  Nancy loves pastels, neutrals, and softer colors, so the dining room was all that with a couple of bunnies thrown in. My "inspiration" was a little dollar store right by my office that had tons of pastel hydrangea and other flowers.  I wish all the flowers were real, but they were silk.  I worked everything else around those silly flowers.

The maroon walls made me crazy. They work okay for the Christmas and even the Mexican themes, but pastel....not so much.  I thought about covering them or painting them when David was in Florida, but resisted the urge.

I wanted to have some photos of Nancy around.  I really liked this one!

For the kiddos, I decorated the kitchen.  Mason and Brandon have birthdays this month.  Balloons were requested by Evan.  Everything was bright blues and reds. Confetti everywhere.

The weather could not have been more perfect!  Sunny 70's with the slightest breeze.  We decided that there was no way we could possibly eat outside, so I ran to the basement and grabbed a few things and we moved the party outdoors.  We grilled burgers and hotdogs (tofu dogs for Nancy), had pasta salad and fruit...oh and Nancy's favorite:   guacamole and chips! 

You know we had to break out the water slide:

Kayla, Nancy and Tyler watched them slide.  Nancy's back has been hurting quite a bit (2 discs are pressing on her nerves) but as long as she was sitting indian-style, she was okay.  She had lunch sitting on a blanket on the deck, sat out on the front steps and here  in the back yard. I don't know how she made it through, except seeing her grandkids was a huge boost! She was a trooper! 

Kayla jumping on the trampoline…..auuuggghhhh to be young!

Or even more precious, to be young at heart! Had Nancy’s back not been hurting, she’d have been on the slide, the trampoline, playing ball with the kids. The only person I’ve ever known who might come close would be Nanny. I remember her running the duck-duck-goose game out in the school yard when most would be shuffling around in their slippers!

We dyed Easter eggs and tie-dyed a few of David’s old white t-shirts:

Even had an impromptu game of whiffle ball break out in the front yard.

Everyone settled in for pizza and "The Blind Side" before turning in.  It was a full day!  Then we all met back up for church on Sunday morning and lunch that afternoon.  Church was nice - it's fun to take new people there because it's so different.  If you've been to Mom and Dad's church, it's similar to that. But for New England, it's really different.  Nancy actually sat next to someone who vacations at Lake Spofford (where they have the cabin) and made a new friend.  We took up a whole row and it was nice to have everyone there together. 

Lunch was my disaster for the weekend.  Nothing can be perfect, right?  Well, a couple of things to know:  1. I wanted to make something that would be easy to just heat and go after church. We get home close to 11:15-11:30 and I wanted to pop something already made in  the oven.  So I made a big lasagna (half sausage and half spinach) in advance and put it in the fridge. Salad, bread and call it a meal.  Easy, right?  2.  I HATE making lasagna.  I rarely ever make it. It's time-consuming and not worth the effort to me. The idea here was the "make ahead value", not the actually lasagna itself. So, I ran in the house and popped the pan in a cold oven.  Hit 400 degrees and went home and changed clothes. Came back.  Kids were out playing.  I made the salad and put the bread in to warm up.  I pulled the lasagna out and it was still stone cold!  "A few more minutes", I called out and cranked the oven up to 475.  Oh no!  It had been in there an hour!!  I guess between the pan  and that thick, heavy lasagna, it was just SO COLD! I should have heated the oven first? Should have known it was going take  forever to heat up??  So, you know the "proper" way to server the lasagna, right?  You have to heat it real good through and then let it "set" a bit so you get those nice squares.  Nope, it was pull out a piece of lasagna, pop the plate in the microwave, it runs everywhere......ugh...disater.  Everyone kindly pushed their food around. Sweet David made a big deal about getting a "second helping" - LOVE HIM! and then the pain was finally over....everyone got up and went back outside.  I'll NEVER do that again....lesson learned. I should have just made spaghetti...what was I thinking?? 

The kids opened Easter baskets for dessert and Wendy and Eric came to pick up Evan and everyone headed back home.  It was such a nice weekend! Fun to visit with everyone, great to have a party to plan and so nice to enjoy the perfect weather....I've been missing that sunshine!