Feliz Pascua and our Easter Calçotada

The holidays, any holiday, is a time when I really miss home.  Each one for it's own unique reason.  Easter, for us, is not about the religion.  It's about family and friends and traditions.  Some of those traditions we can continue here in Spain... others, not so much.

At home we have this HUGE Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood.  We are talking a ton of kids, hundreds of eggs, friends just hanging out having a potluck brunch and the kids running around having a great time.  I miss it.  I miss it a lot.  It breaks my heart to look at my facebook around the time of the hunt because it aches to see the pictures of everyone having such a great time and we are missing it.

And so, we try to find ways to create new traditions and new memories here.  Liam and I got together with some of his friends to decorate Easter eggs.  It reminded me of home in a good way.  I remember having kids over to our house to make Christmas cookies (yes, I recognize different holiday) - and it made me think - why am I not getting the kids together with their friends here more to do things like this?  It made me realize that just because we aren't home doesn't mean we still can't get together with their friends that live here.  The challenge is that many of them travel during every school break or long weekend.  But that doesn't mean all of them do.

Liam and his friends getting ready to decorate eggs

Very focused

Regardless, my hope is that in the future that I can do more things like this with the kids and their friends like this.  Liam had such a fun day decorating eggs and playing with his friends.  Aidan was reluctant to join us since it was just the little kids, but when I got home, the 4 us sat down to decorate our eggs as well.

Liam decorating his eggs at home

Aidan and Josh joining in

The completed eggs... can you tell which ones were the kids and which ones were mine and Josh's??

Easter morning, the Easter bunny made his visit to the Marcus house.  I was told that the Easter bunny did not do a very good job at hiding the eggs this year.  I will take that as a challenge for next year!!  The kids ate a significant amount of chocolate before we headed off to meet some friends for Easter lunch and an Easter egg hunt.

Easter baskets ready to go!

It's the Angry Birds they wanted!!

Mmmm chocolate!

Hunting for eggs

Pop rocks...

Our lunch was just 6 miles away from our apartment but it was like a world away.  It was at Restaurante Devesa.  Nestled in the woods down a very very windy road, you enter the road to the restaurant and at first, you think, hmmmm, not quite sure that this is going to be good.  But then you get to the restaurant and it's huge.  Sits hundreds I'm sure (Josh wants to buy this place - he thinks it is such a moneymaker) with a huge outdoor terrace area, a garden area and a playground that dates back to the 50s (easily).

The bonus about our lunch at Devesa was that it was also a calçotada.  A calçot is a spring onion that is roasted over a fire.  Before the calçots is the pan con tomate - and here you do it yourself which is actually part of the fun.  First you take a garlic clove and rub it on the bread.  Then do the same with a half tomato.  A little drizzle of olive oil and you are good to go.  I could still smell the garlic the next morning.  Then bring on the calçots.  There are plenty of phallic references to these delicious onions that you pull from their husk, dip in savory romesco sauce and then deep throat to suck the onion out.  Yes, that is how you eat a calçot.

The calçots on the fire

Aidan eating a calçot and the plate of calçots

Liam and his friend Henry

 But we aren't done yet.  After the calçots comes the meats.  Lots of meat.  Lamb, chicken, botifarra and pork.  And then on to dessert and coffee.  Whew!!  Just thinking about it makes me full.

After eating my friend Shellee and I put together a little easter egg hunt for the three kids.  Once again, I was told the Easter bunny didn't do a great job of hiding the eggs.  What can you do????  But the kids had fun searching for the eggs and coins that we hid for them.  Then it was off to play in the garden and the playground.

Ready, set, go!!

Of course, we know who got the most eggs... and he thought it wasn't fair that we helped the little kids!

Wait for me!

On the hunt...

How much did I get?

Little Stella trying to keep up with the big kids!

Now I should mention again that this playground is circa 1950.  The slide was wooden - and I was waiting for someone to end up with splinters up their tush.  The swings were in desperate need of oil.  There were nails sticking out where they should not stick out.  However, the antiquity of it made it all the more fun for the kids.  When do they have an opportunity to play on such old school equipment?

A happy kid out in nature

Seriously, check out this playground equipment - this would NOT pass muster in the US!

Best buds

Aidan taking charge

Playing futbol with Josh

Just hanging around

Where is Liam?

I don't know if these swings could be any lower to the ground...

But alas they have moved on to bigger and better swings

Liam was telling me all about the view when he leaned back on the swing, so I tried it... he's right, it's awesome!

Where did he learn this?

Joe being attacked by all three boys

I'm pooped!!

We spent the afternoon playing fútbol, playing on the playground and just laughing and running around.  In the end, it was the best Easter we have had since moving to Barcelona.  Great friends, great food, and just great times :)

Besos,
Julie

Felice Pascua! Happy Easter!

Growing up, Easter was never a religious holiday in our house, at least in my eyes - I'm sure in part this was because we were raised mostly Jewish (I say mostly because my dad's family is Lutheran and we would also do things with his family) and so Easter wasn't "our" holiday but at the same time my parents would still take part in the fun aspects of non Jewish holidays.  It was a time to decorate eggs which were then hidden by the Easter Bunny around the house while my brother and I slept and we would awaken to baskets filled with chocolate, candy and usually a stuffed animal.  However, in Spain, Easter is taken much more seriously and while there are definitely treats for the kids and I can see an influence from other countries with colored eggs becoming more popular, it's still considered to be a serious and religious day. 

Well, in our house it will still be low key and fun and I don't even think the boys know that this is a religious holiday to begin with (perhaps at some point we should think of mentioning that).  On Saturday, we spent a little time with our US purchased easter egg painting kit coloring our eggs.  It was a little bit anti climatic as the kids finished coloring them in about 5 minutes (it took longer to boil them!) as it was just a simple kit to color the eggs and then add stickers.  No cool texture stuff, no wax crayons, nothing exciting.  But they were happy and it's nice to see them taking in the simple pleasures without any frills. 

Egg cartons make great headphones

They also make a good hat for Jake

Preparing the egg holders

Getting the cups ready for the dye

If it's something messy, I'm in!

Watching how his brother does it...

Focused

He went to bed with this sticker still on his head...

Trying to pin him down to put stickers on him as well...didn't work so well but it was worth the laugh

On Saturday night I spent some time putting together both of their baskets, which are actually sand pails that I bought when we moved here and realized that a basket was hard to come by. The kids don't seem to care and so now they are officially Easter pails :).

I bought 2 dozen eggs....this is what made it to the table...

The Easter Bunny has been here!

Aidan has been talking about Easter constantly lately.  I give credit for this to the movie, Hop, one of his periodic favorites, especially this time of year.  He's incredibly into the Easter Bunny this year and rather fascinated by how he, like Santa, is able to deliver all those baskets all over the world in just one night.  He's so excited as a matter of fact that my initial plan had been only some candy and no gift - these kids have so many toys already.  But the look on his face when he was talking about how the Easter Bunny will bring him a toy just melted my heart.  So at the very last minute on Saturday I was out at El Corte Ingles, the only thing open on this long holiday weekend, in search of a little something for him to open on Sunday morning (and of course something for Liam too).

I should also note that Aidan's latest theory which I happen to like.  He said that the Easter Bunny takes the eggs that we color and replaces them with the plastic ones that are filled with candy.  I like his thinking and we made sure to dispose of the real eggs and to take a bite of the cookie that Aidan left out for said bunny :)

What I didn't expect was that Aidan's excitement rivaled that of Christmas... he was up at 3:30AM wanting to know if the Easter Bunny had arrived.  Yes, 3:30AM.  I don't think he's gotten up at 3:30 for Santa in the past - apparently candy trumps toys.  And he was up again at 6:30.  I sent him back to bed each time much to his chagrin.  So when he was finally allowed up at 8:30 it was a bit anticlimatic - he inspected his basket, went over to the TV and turned on Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chipwrecked (I do not recommend by the way...crappy movie) for the 6th time in 24 hours.  Ahhh kids...

Ohhhhh, I found an egg!

Total bedhead... looks at his basket and walks to the tv

There's candy in here!!!

Alvin and the Chipmunks...AGAIN

Hunting for eggs

Aidan said the egg hunt was too easy (we kept it to one room for Liam) so apparently next year we need to up the ante

There's an egg in my shoe!!

Pokemon!!!

CARS 2!!

The kids and I met up with some new friends around lunchtime for a great adult/kid playdate by the beach. It was a gorgeous day and we ate lunch right along the beach with the kids playing in the sand next to us. And nothing beats and ice cream sundae and crepes after lunch. We ended up going to our friends' house after ice cream for an extended playdate - so what we thought would be a fun afternoon ended up being a fun 9 hours! What a great time and it was nice to spend some time with new people that we click with - we're all looking forward to the next time!

Aidan and Liam with their friends from school

Today, Monday, is a holiday still in Barcelona and since I took the kids for 9 hours yesterday, Josh is now in charge today so I can get some work done and perhaps have a little quiet chill time for myself as well.  Too bad nothing is open, it would be a great shopping day!!  The kids are off tomorrow as well (professional day) which makes their April vacation a 1 1/2 week deal - I'll be ready for them to go back to school on Wednesday and get some routine back in our lives but regardless, it's been a great vacation with them.

Besos,
Julie