Easter Weekend

They take Easter seriously over here.  From Friday to Monday, businesses are on "holiday" and everything is closed.  There are tons of celebrations going on, and on Easter morning the church bells were grand.  We always make a point to embrace the English way, so we had a glorious party weekend, too - completely homework-free!  Ironically, it snowed for three days (freakish, too, since it hardly EVER snows here!) - off and on with super sunny weather, making the whole experience weird and fun.  

First, on Good Friday, you have to eat hot cross buns, an English tradition that goes way back to...before Good Friday! It was once a "pagan" Spring treat that got assimilated into Christian celebration.  Hot cross buns are yummy.  Here's a recipe.  

We dyed eggs but learned that that is not really a big deal over here -- no egg dye kits at the stores...and no white eggs to be found! So we had to settle for duck eggs, the only white ones we could find.  They were fun cause they were so huge, but, it turns out, duck eggs resist dye.  Now you know. 

And oh yeah, we're poor students, so we made our Easter baskets

 out of paper.  It was harder than we thought it was going to be.  Way to go Kindergarten kids who make stuff like that! 

We walked over to the castle on Monday to see the big Easter event - Medieval reenactments, dancing, archery, knights and ladies, you know, the usual.  

And this is my favorite picture of all.  This cute little family was at the castle, and I just LOVE daddy's umbrella -- frilly pink with Cinderella.  So darling, really.  And I also love how his little daughter is umbrella-less.  Brilliant! 

Happy Easter and Welcome Spring!