The Great Outdoor Challenge #1- A Low Key Easter

It's been a bit of an unusual Easter for us. Grandpa is working ridiculous amounts of overtime, GiGi has a new second job, Daddy is in a little village- Russian Mission and Amber and AJ were in Anchorage for the weekend.

As you know, we usually have a huge Easter egg hunt at the Norwood house but  knowing it just wouldn't be the same with so many people missing, we re-scheduled Easter. The Easter egg hunt gathering anyway.

Of course, the Easter bunny still came to visit and left awesomely cool Easter baskets.

And Scott and I found some super cool little gifts that we knew each girl would love. Grandma filled in all the cool things we would never find in our little town and sent them just in time for basket filling.

The girls woke to finding loads of eggs hidden in the house, up and down, in ears and out. :)

We even made our own Easter dinner. Before you make fun of me for saying that, know that big dinners are ALWAYS at Grandpa's house. That was the only real panic moment of the holiday.  The girls and I managed to pull out a full meal of Ham, mashed potatoes, fresh veggies, corn, rolls, and strawberry shortcake. YUM!

We even made enough to share with Grandpa and GiGi. We stopped by Grandpa's work to give him an Easter hug and drop off their meal and we even included a few Easter treats.

After seeing Grandpa we headed to the beach for a little Easter outing.  It was a fairly blah day as far as weather goes so I was a little concerned about what the beach would be like. It's always colder there.  We were dressed warmly and the wind wasn't too bad. In fact, I am pretty sure I've never looked so eclectically dressed but Cassi wanted me to emulate her style and well, it was fun. We were wearing springy skirts and dresses which I rarely do and I knew the two youngest girls were loving it. Why ruin a good thing right?

We collected loads of great driftwood for future projects and each of us found rocks we just had to have. It was a red rock day for me. I seem to collect certain colors in abundance when I am there. I never really know what the color of the day will be but there always seems to be a pattern.  Cali collected loads of everything!  She loves it all!  I also found a great clump of dried seaweed. It looks  a bit like moss. I really love it.

All in all, although it certainly wasn't the traditions we are accustomed to, it was a relaxed and fun day. And we still have Easter celebrations to look forward to in a few weeks. I do hope you had a wonderful day as well.

***My blogging friend Lisa at 5 orange potatoes has challenged us to get outside and sense the world around us everyday for the remainder of April and document it. I am linking this post to that challenge. Will you join us?  No matter the weather or occasion, get outside, see it, smell it, taste it, hear it, feel it, and help your children (or yourself) understand why it's worth saving.  This Earth is a beautiful place, be grateful for it and do your part to conserve it and while you are doing it, ENJOY IT!