All Spring and no action

How was your Easter weekend?

We don't do the church thing. No elaborate hauls of gifts either. 

The weather was glorious - naturally - so there was poolside frolicking (J and the girls), poolside chilling (me), egg hunting (the girls), ice cream consumption (the girls)... not to mention chocolate and hot cross buns devoured (all of us).

This was our third Easter, States-side and there are a few things I'm used to now. Little plastic eggs to fill with treasures and sweets for the egg hunt, hot cross buns sugar-fied the American way with icing on top, and the fact that it's spring - although that itself never felt unusual after having also lived in the UK.

Only a few elements still seem strange. Both Good Friday and Easter Monday are regular days here. I prefer the four-day weekends that Australians and Brits enjoy. Also, that hot cross buns aren't abundant - at least not where we live. I miss being able to pick up warm, fresh batches from any bakery... or even just throwing a few half-dozen packs into my trolley at the regular supermarket.

All in all, though, our weekend was perfect. There is nothing quite like the excitement of small children who still believe in the magic of the Easter Bunny... I'll be sad when that stage passes.

Hope your weekend was just as lovely as ours.

Colour and munch

The Easter Bunny has been, and that can only mean one thing.

Spring is well and truly here.

Spring means it's time to paint toenails - my one concession to girliness.

It also happens to be April 25 - Anzac Day - even though we're almost a day behind Australia.

That means it's time for some homemade Anzac biscuits...

Although, any time is a good time for Anzac biscuits.

Yum.

American Tea Party

It's Good Friday today, and that means... J is at work. Unlike in Australia, where most people are gearing up for an extra long weekend (four days' worth), today is just like any other day in the US.

Oh well.

This morning, the Faery had the brilliant idea of holding a tea party. Not the imaginary sort, but with real food and drink. She's had a toy tea set since her second birthday, and was adamant that we should use the teapot. It's one of those Fisher Price ones with a lid that has some kind of motion sensor and plays horrendous electronic music whenever tilted to pour. Of course, it was a gift from her grandparents. They have more of a sense of humour than me when it comes to toys with sounds and flashing lights, and seem to think it quite funny to give such gifts. Naturally, the lid for this teapot has been 'misplaced', on more than one occasion. Ahem.

The Faery also wanted to use her matching teacups, but I explained that as they each have a small hole in one side, they wouldn't hold the drinks very well (thanks, Fisher Price). Luckily, we have some small Oriental tea cups - perfect for little hands - and she was happy with the substitution. She then spent the morning going through her various cooking toys to find the perfect spoon to stir our drinks with. Attention to detail is becoming her thing.

Next, the food. Neither of us drinks or likes tea, so that was out of the question. Cucumber sandwiches? Not going to happen, either. And given how picky the Faery is with food in general, I had a feeling that any scones with cream and jam would just have the jam licked off.

So, we settled for a tea party with American flavours. Old-fashioned lemonade from the tea pot. Peanut butter sandwiches cut into small triangles. A couple of baby cupcakes, filled with raspberry jam inside, and topped with a tiny chocolate Easter egg. Being Good Friday, the final touch was a quartered hot cross bun, each part slathered in butter. The Faery thought each quarter was a whole bun, and very happy with this. I chose not to correct her way of thinking.

Miss Pie is at that age where she in destruction mode, oh, at least 90% of the time. For this reason, we decided to exclude her from the tea party. As soon as she was tucked up for her midday nap, the Faery and I set up our little party.

It was fun - the Faery and I used to be joined at the hip, but rarely get any one-on-one time together anymore, so it was nice to enjoy each other's company. She was mistress of the ceremony, and got a huge kick out of pouring our 'tea' into the cups. She loved stirring the lemonade in our teacups. She chose her spoon well, and it made satisfying chinking sounds against the porcelain.

The food went down very quickly, and we agreed that we should make this a regular thing. Too often, I find myself nagging her not to do this or that, and getting irritated at silly things she does - as all four-year-olds do. It was lovely to just enjoy her company, and be reminded of what a gorgeous little soul she really has. I need to do that more often.

As much as I was tempted, I didn't take photos. I needed to be present in the moment. Besides, there are going to be plenty more tea parties in future. That much I know.

The Easter Bunny's thunder

Our local supermarket prepares for commercial success on Valentine's Day.
I do like the tulips, though...

Valentine's Day has just been taken to a new level. In my world, anyway.

I hail from a country where this particular day is targeted at couples. The only people who bother to exchange cards, flowers, chocolates (or whatever else they've been suckered into buying) are teenagers and adults. At least, that's been my experience of it.

And in Australia, it's not something for children, but over the years, I've seen - from American TV shows - that the children here exchange cards at school, so that wasn't a new concept. I'll be prepared to get out the glitter and glue for the Faery when she's at school next year.

However, in recent weeks, I've seen increasing attempts by advertisers and stores to get parents to part with their bucks for Valentine gifts for their offspring. That is a new concept to me.

Do I sound cynical about the day and its meaning? I probably am. J and I haven't participated in this ritual since we were teenagers ourselves. Neither of us really buys into the rampant consumer side of things.

If we want to show tokens of love and appreciation to one another, we'll do it when we feel the need. Surprises are a lovely thing. Flowers or chocolates because it's February 14th? I actually think that giving because it's expected makes it less special. I prefer surprises.

Lashes of pink, love hearts, and chocolate:
The 4-year-old Faery is sold on the idea

The amusing thing about this abundance of Valentine's Day displays is that very little attention has been given to Easter yet. In Australia, the chocolate Easter eggs would be rolled out into the shops, oh, maybe a week or two after Christmas? By February, entire supermarket aisles are devoted to the Easter Bunny. This has always seemed like overkill to me. Here? I've only seen one tiny display for Easter merchandise so far.

So this year, I'm having fun observing the varieties of Valentine's choccies on display, even if I don't really desire them for myself. Valentine's Day is stealing some of the Easter Bunny's thunder, just as Halloween steals a little of Santa's in America. The thought makes me grin.

There are a few things I'll miss about Aussie Easters while we're in the US, though. In terms of work, it's just a regular week and weekend here. We arrived just before Easter last year, and J began his exciting new job immediately. I was expecting that he wouldn't have to work on Good Friday and Easter Monday. I was desperately hopeful, because we'd only been here a week and had that newly arrived daze about us. A couple of days off would have been very helpful. No such luck though, and somewhat disappointing.

The other thing I'll miss? Warm hot cross buns, with melted butter seeping in. Actually, any hot cross buns will do. I didn't see any last year, and don't even know if people eat them here. I suspect not, and have a sad feeling it's a tradition that Australia inherited from Britain.

Hot cross buns are my favourite thing about Easter - even more so than the chocolate. Coming from a chocoholic like me, that's saying something. So please, if any American readers know of somewhere I could get my hands on a dozen - or two - speak up and let me know!

I suppose I could get off my butt and attempt to bake some, but I'm not entirely confident that emulating Nigella Lawson or Martha Stewart would be successful... but it could be fun.

My other option is to be on my best behaviour and write a nice note to the Easter Bunny. He might bring me some buns, right?... oh, wait... that's how Santa operates...

Bummer.