What a lovely Easter you had! Thanks for giving a sample of it in this newsletter! The Easter egg hunt (especially the way your parents make it for adults) is a tradition I'd love to import at least into my family's habits. Have to say the girls' loot is very impressive indeed!
"Teenage boys have a special level of antisocialness that’s impervious to any form of grace or tact." - nothing to add, it's a worldwide phenomenon that transcends generations and lands. Same for those arriving last/late to the gathering, who also almost always seem to be having the shortest distance to travel. That was the case for some of my former classmates and for my family this Easter Sunday.
This year's Easter preparations in my family were slow and exhausting, leading to being late on the family gatherings on Easter Sunday. Everything started on Good Friday, when the cleaning of the entire house was slowed as my dad and younger of brothers departed to participate in Stations of the Cross enhanced by detailed inscenization. It's held annualy in the UNESCO-site calvary sanctuary in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, which is around 90 minutes of drive away, but the ceremonies and inscenizations are long, starting at 6 a. m. and ending around 1:30 p. m., which meant they had to leave around 4 a. m. and returned exhausted eleven hours later. To draw attention, they took some of dad's keffiyeh and pretended to be Arab pilgrims. The reactions of the crowd varied from asking for a photo to being frightened and jogging away.
Having less people to clean extended doing chores into Saturday, when we also opted to invite uncles and grandparents (who came of them for the entirety of Easter weekend) for a small supper and chat, which was great and continued long into the night.
Since he began spending lots of time in Saudi Arabia, my dad is valuing the Polish traditions and cultivating them more than before. That's why he mandated me & bros. to accompany him on Resurrection Mass, which is traditionally attended by lots of Poles at 6 a. m. and contains procession around the church and nearby streets. It wouldn't normally be a problem, but this year it coincided with the time change, leaving an hour of sleep less than usual. Everybody else chose to catch a little sleep, while I opted for an all-nighter and watched a movie. Equally tired, we went for the Mass, then ate the breakfast made of products blessed in the church the day before (in accordance with another tradition) and went back to bed. We woke up just in time to munch a quick dinner and went to meet with my grandparents in the city, about one hour later than we initially said we'd be there. After few hours of great talks we sprinted to cousins for another meeting, this time being only forty minutes late, but we made up for it by having wonderful chats with all of the relatives and friends.
What an exhausting day! Props on pulling off an all-nighter before a holiday mass. There's no way I could have stayed awake. We have Easter vigil masses the night before here. It's the longest mass of the year and can run two and a half hours. Most people opt for the regular-length Easter mass the next morning. Get some sleep! You earned it.
You go, girls! That's quite an accomplishment and I hope they bragged the rest of the day. Your Easter egg hunt reminded me of our huge family ones at the g'parents so many years ago. My grandpa delighted in sneaking out an egg from one of the many wee one's baskets, laying it back on the ground and then seeing them get all excited thinking it was a new find.
It's amazing how there are so many of you in that photo who have the same smile. It also seems to me that Miss Waffle is looking a bit bashful in the last few photos you've posted. Changing her ways or just her reaction to the camera?
So fun!! We're still a small enough family that we can still assign colors. It still nearly came to blows when the 10 year old was positive that the green was just "blue enough" to count as his color. I got the lovely task of making sure everyone had enough mimosas.
That looked like it was so much fun! Growing up I had a large family and gatherings were always wild. And by wild I mean the adults got drunk and us kids whatever we wanted. My kids are, of course, all grown but I told my little group of old adults that next year I was gonna color eggs and make baskets for everyone, including the dogs. The cats couldn’t care less. BTW, looking at that photo? You really can tell who’s related to you, LOL.
The worst part about a family resemblance is the family part. Your Easter gatherings of yesteryear sound like a good time. I'm sure the dogs will enjoy their baskets next Easter.
I am with your mom on this- I often attempt to video something and have to poke the button a couple of times to decide it is in fact recording… (taps mic- is this thing on?)
If you give your mom your phone next year, press record right away. Or set up your phone on tripod and place it on a table at a good angle to get the drama.
We stopped having Easter egg hunts about 10 years ago. The youngest cousin is a freshman in college. I don’t miss that at all. However, this adult egg-hunting search is worth investigating! So glad you guys had a great time!
Hilarious and fun! Glad that everyone had a wonderful time, the older girls made a windfall, and James didn’t get his face planted on the picket fence when Mitchell unceremoniously shoved him from behind - all’s fair in love and war!
Growing up, my grandparents also put money in the plastic eggs they hid. One of my cousin's figured out if the egg rattled there was change in it instead of bills. Until the year they outsmarted him and put change in all of the eggs, including the ones with bills. There was always one egg that had $20 in it. Everyone else hated you when you were the lucky one that got that egg!
I also take pity on your mom and her video fail. YEARS ago, when handheld camcorders were new, I borrowed one to take moving pictures of my kids on a children's museum excursion. My friend wasn't home when I picked it up and her husband had never used it (I learned later). Even with his complete lack of knowledge on operating procedures, he spoke with the utmost confidence. Hold the button when recording; release when stopping.
You've probably already figured out that the footage is entirely of the floor with the soundtrack of children being heard and not seen.
I really hate it when people can't say the words "I don't know". I'm sure it crosses gender lines but the worst ones I've encountered are all men I've been married to. (For those that don't know me, I've had only one husband, now ex).
What a lovely Easter you had! Thanks for giving a sample of it in this newsletter! The Easter egg hunt (especially the way your parents make it for adults) is a tradition I'd love to import at least into my family's habits. Have to say the girls' loot is very impressive indeed!
"Teenage boys have a special level of antisocialness that’s impervious to any form of grace or tact." - nothing to add, it's a worldwide phenomenon that transcends generations and lands. Same for those arriving last/late to the gathering, who also almost always seem to be having the shortest distance to travel. That was the case for some of my former classmates and for my family this Easter Sunday.
This year's Easter preparations in my family were slow and exhausting, leading to being late on the family gatherings on Easter Sunday. Everything started on Good Friday, when the cleaning of the entire house was slowed as my dad and younger of brothers departed to participate in Stations of the Cross enhanced by detailed inscenization. It's held annualy in the UNESCO-site calvary sanctuary in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, which is around 90 minutes of drive away, but the ceremonies and inscenizations are long, starting at 6 a. m. and ending around 1:30 p. m., which meant they had to leave around 4 a. m. and returned exhausted eleven hours later. To draw attention, they took some of dad's keffiyeh and pretended to be Arab pilgrims. The reactions of the crowd varied from asking for a photo to being frightened and jogging away.
Having less people to clean extended doing chores into Saturday, when we also opted to invite uncles and grandparents (who came of them for the entirety of Easter weekend) for a small supper and chat, which was great and continued long into the night.
Since he began spending lots of time in Saudi Arabia, my dad is valuing the Polish traditions and cultivating them more than before. That's why he mandated me & bros. to accompany him on Resurrection Mass, which is traditionally attended by lots of Poles at 6 a. m. and contains procession around the church and nearby streets. It wouldn't normally be a problem, but this year it coincided with the time change, leaving an hour of sleep less than usual. Everybody else chose to catch a little sleep, while I opted for an all-nighter and watched a movie. Equally tired, we went for the Mass, then ate the breakfast made of products blessed in the church the day before (in accordance with another tradition) and went back to bed. We woke up just in time to munch a quick dinner and went to meet with my grandparents in the city, about one hour later than we initially said we'd be there. After few hours of great talks we sprinted to cousins for another meeting, this time being only forty minutes late, but we made up for it by having wonderful chats with all of the relatives and friends.
What an exhausting day! Props on pulling off an all-nighter before a holiday mass. There's no way I could have stayed awake. We have Easter vigil masses the night before here. It's the longest mass of the year and can run two and a half hours. Most people opt for the regular-length Easter mass the next morning. Get some sleep! You earned it.
Thanks! I did my best trying to sleep properly during the past two nights.
Now that‘s a veteran - stock up on sleep! What a wonderful Easter!
Thank you!
Having no idea where to start, I’ll just say that you are incorrect about your mom‘s “video”. It is not blurry.
Correction: A crystal clear picture of Betsy's shins.
We‘ll have to use our imaginations to picture the mayhem that ensued during the adult Easter Egg hunt 😆
You go, girls! That's quite an accomplishment and I hope they bragged the rest of the day. Your Easter egg hunt reminded me of our huge family ones at the g'parents so many years ago. My grandpa delighted in sneaking out an egg from one of the many wee one's baskets, laying it back on the ground and then seeing them get all excited thinking it was a new find.
It's amazing how there are so many of you in that photo who have the same smile. It also seems to me that Miss Waffle is looking a bit bashful in the last few photos you've posted. Changing her ways or just her reaction to the camera?
There's nothing bashful about Waffle! Sometimes the camera lies.
So fun!! We're still a small enough family that we can still assign colors. It still nearly came to blows when the 10 year old was positive that the green was just "blue enough" to count as his color. I got the lovely task of making sure everyone had enough mimosas.
You had the most important job of all! We weren't classy enough for mixed drinks this year. Maybe next time.
What a fun day! I'm glad everybody could make it. And good job on the group shot.
That looked like it was so much fun! Growing up I had a large family and gatherings were always wild. And by wild I mean the adults got drunk and us kids whatever we wanted. My kids are, of course, all grown but I told my little group of old adults that next year I was gonna color eggs and make baskets for everyone, including the dogs. The cats couldn’t care less. BTW, looking at that photo? You really can tell who’s related to you, LOL.
The worst part about a family resemblance is the family part. Your Easter gatherings of yesteryear sound like a good time. I'm sure the dogs will enjoy their baskets next Easter.
It seems you and your family had lots of fun! Personally I’m not too good with big groups, even when they are related to me.
Sometimes, those are the hardest groups to deal with. Especially if they fight you when you're holding a plastic egg on a spoon.
I am with your mom on this- I often attempt to video something and have to poke the button a couple of times to decide it is in fact recording… (taps mic- is this thing on?)
If you give your mom your phone next year, press record right away. Or set up your phone on tripod and place it on a table at a good angle to get the drama.
It's probably best to let her enjoy the action live and forget about the phone. Some things are better if not recorded.
We stopped having Easter egg hunts about 10 years ago. The youngest cousin is a freshman in college. I don’t miss that at all. However, this adult egg-hunting search is worth investigating! So glad you guys had a great time!
Adult Easter egg hunts are totally worth it! The fewer rules, the better.
Hilarious and fun! Glad that everyone had a wonderful time, the older girls made a windfall, and James didn’t get his face planted on the picket fence when Mitchell unceremoniously shoved him from behind - all’s fair in love and war!
Happy Easter!
Growing up, my grandparents also put money in the plastic eggs they hid. One of my cousin's figured out if the egg rattled there was change in it instead of bills. Until the year they outsmarted him and put change in all of the eggs, including the ones with bills. There was always one egg that had $20 in it. Everyone else hated you when you were the lucky one that got that egg!
It's all about pushing the right button in order to record the fun 🐣✝️
She did us a favor. It's best that there's no video evidence of what happened.
I also take pity on your mom and her video fail. YEARS ago, when handheld camcorders were new, I borrowed one to take moving pictures of my kids on a children's museum excursion. My friend wasn't home when I picked it up and her husband had never used it (I learned later). Even with his complete lack of knowledge on operating procedures, he spoke with the utmost confidence. Hold the button when recording; release when stopping.
You've probably already figured out that the footage is entirely of the floor with the soundtrack of children being heard and not seen.
I really hate it when people can't say the words "I don't know". I'm sure it crosses gender lines but the worst ones I've encountered are all men I've been married to. (For those that don't know me, I've had only one husband, now ex).