Easter 2013

I hope everyone had a great Easter. Just like last year  we travelled to my parent’s beach house.

On our way!

This year we shared Easter with my brother and my sister, her hubby and five kids. Yep, 10 kids in a house with only one living area. My brother has since declared that he is never having kids. Which I find quite distressing because A) I want him to get married and give me some more nephews/nieces. And B) it’s concerning that my kids could have that effect on someone.

Admittedly 10 kids 10 and under is a bit intense. Especially when 6 of those kids are 4 and under. (Although I don’t know why he would complain that much. I had the youngest six on my own for a morning and it was a perfect little holiday, we had a lovely time!) I did try to explain to him that the likelihood of him having more than one baby at a time is highly unlikely. And it didn’t help that the triplets are cross teething, which was responsible for three little grumpy bums running about who would not hesitate to drop to the ground and have a nice little scream session on a frequent basis. I have learned to quite often ignore them when this happens, but I perhaps should have considered that it is more grating on a single man’s ears! The poor little one year olds were also running fevers and snuffles.

Alex’s favourite aspect of going to Bundaberg, more specifically, Bargara, (a little beach town just outside of Bundy), is the beach. The Bundy beaches are just right for children within our age brackets. Because the Great Barrier Reef begins offshore from Bundy, the surf is very minimal. There also lots of inlets with shallow or still water which is great for the children, especially toddlers to safely play in. Just to prove that being with his nieces and nephews wasn’t all bad, Uncle Gregory was a super uncle playing with the babies on the beach. He built sandcastles for them, dug holes which they loved sitting in, especially as he kept filling them with water. Toddler heaven.

Meanwhile the bigger kids were exploring around the waterhole with Daddy and Aunty Katrina.

After so much sunshine and physical activity, the triplets had a good sleep afterwards. Jayden was so tired that he completely flaked out on the grass while the rest of the kids ate chips.

Easter morning was full of chocolate deliciousness. Because my parents were not staying with us this year, Alex and I stayed in the very large master bedroom with the five children. The triplets weren’t feeling well, so this was challenging at times, since the triplets took advantage of the knowledge that we were close by and requested parental services at ungodly hours (oh, the memories) and moaned, cried and snuffled in their sleep. However, I did love hearing all the kids wake up on Easter morning and discover their Easter buckets.  (Alex had no sentimentality about such things, rolled over and kept his eyes shut throughout the whole proceeding!) The delight of children discovering little treats always warms my heart. I let them eat a chocolate straight away. It did mean there was chocolate mooshed everywhere, but hey, you got to let them do special things every once in awhile, there’s only one day of the year you can get away with chocolate before breakfast!

First thing Easter morning. Sorry for the blurry photos, I tend to get a bit excited sometimes and click before focusing! You can particularly tell that Toby was sick. He konked out before even finishing his egg!

It wasn’t long before all 10 children were up, and more chocolate was consumed. Although this time, the children were very civilised and went and ate at the table without even being told!

We went to the local Catholic church with my brother. The last time I was in that cathedral was for an end of year mass back when I was a teenager and a student at a local Catholic high school. Unfortunately getting out of the house with five kids to attend a service at 8am is not easy. (Especially when I thought we were going to a 9 o’clock service) Consequently by the time we arrived, 5 minutes late, there was only standing room in the church. We stood in the doorway of one of the side doors, and the five kids kind of rolled, toddled and crept around the floor. Until they inevitably started wanting more space and the littlies started crying. At this point, it was great being positioned so close to the door. We didn’t quite make it to the end of the service, which I think disappointed my Catholic brother, but The Accountant was getting frazzled, and I’m not sure that Jayden’s wailing from the footpath wasn’t still interrupting the congregation within. Everyone was made happy again with a post church visit to Maccas!

My kids plus one. Trent declared, by the middle of the service, that this child was his best friend.

The kids really loved their little tin buckets I got them this year and hunting for Easter eggs. The triplets look so cute toddling about with them.

So, that was our Easter. Altogether, a delightful family time, and there was even some chances to catch up with all school friends, which is always delightful. It was just great having the cousins play together and developing bonds with my nieces and nephews. Even if I think that my niece displayed a little bit of one upmanship. Trying to outdo me with quads. Hmmph.

I would love to know what you did over the Easter weekend. Please share in the comments!

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT today.