Spring Frolics

I have been told that we are experiencing a colder than usual spring this year which has caused the sakura, or cherry blossoms, to open a bit later than expected. This past weekend we were able to enjoy celebrating our first Easter and hanami, or flower viewing, in Japan.

We started our Easter festivities off on Saturday by dying about 4 dozen eggs at our friend's house. I had brought an egg dying kit from Canada last summer and was really grateful for my foresight. The food coloring here is really strange and weak. As far as I know, it is only derived from natural, plant based sources, which is better for your health than the chemical food colouring available back home, but doesn't really work when you want vibrant colours or are trying to colour egg shells. I also find that each colour has a strange taste and comes in a powder form that is really hard to work with. I have made a mental note to bring back liquid and gel food colouring from Canada when we go back for a visit. Sure it's all chemicals, but if you're going to do something, you might as well do it right.

On Easter morning, Theo and William woke up to find that the Easter bunny even comes to Japan. They found a little basket of goodies that he left them on the balcony.

After church we had an Easter egg hunt in a neighbourhood park using all the eggs we made the day before. This was the first time most of these children had ever hunted for eggs and I think it was a big hit.

Later that day, we went to the castle to see the sakura which had opened a few days before.

Even though Theo's spring break has ended, he is only in kindergarten half days (his full days are only about 4 1/2 hours long and half days are about 2 and a bit hours) until the 19th of April. This means he returns for lunch ever day, leaving us free to enjoy our bentos and the sakura at the neighbourhood park.

Happy Easter

Theo has finally gotten to an age where he understands and enjoys us hyping up holidays. Dustin and I have always taken the stance that it is harmless and fun to allow our kids to believe in things like the tooth fairy (though he hasn't had an opportunity to be introduced to her yet), the Easter bunny, and all of their friends. I am pretty sure that they won't feel betrayed by us when they find out all of their mythical holiday comrades don't actually exist. Since Dustin was never brought up to believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny and the like and I was, I think we can see both sides of the spectrum. We both turned out more or less balanced, I suppose, but I like the idea of allowing children to think that the world they live in is much more magical and fantastic than it really is. They will learn the truth soon enough.

So this week we have been explaining to Theo how in the wee hours of the morning on Easter a bunny hops around the world leaving baskets of goodies for little boys and girls. He burst into our room this morning with a look of gleeful wonder on his face toting his basket with some tasty treats inside. He spent the rest of the morning telling everyone: "Guess what? A rabbit came into my room last night and what did he leave me? Yeah, that's right! A basket!". I really think one of the best things about being a parent is seeing how absolutely happy a few harmless fabrications, $5 worth of candy, some plastic grass, and a bit of hyping can make your child.