Easter 2.0 – the bunny returns

Today I was super lucky and got a lie-in for the second day on the trot. It was so good – thank you Stephen. I doubt I’ll get one during the week though, so I’ll take them when I can.

James, on the other hand, was dealt with by Stephen in the early hours, but he did go back to sleep for a bit. Stephen apparently found him like this. That can’t be comfortable!

Even with a lie in, I was still able to head out for a run today. This week’s running challenge was “Strava Art“. My usual running route at the moment is just to run laps of the local block, so to achieve the challenge I knew I had to venture out of my comfort zone. I’m pretty proud of both what I “drew” and how far I ran!

When I got home I had a shower, then tagged in so that Stephen could have a kip while I ate my delicious almond croissant breakfast. It’s an indulgent breakfast treat, but I’ve missed having them and, frankly, I’d earned it after my run.

While Stephen slept, the kids played happily with their Lego and dipped in and out of the water table that Stephen had got out for them. Somehow they did all of this whilst also watching the TV. Multitasking at its finest!

It was soon time for lunch which was very well received – croissants, cheese and vegetables. Genevieve needed the usual gentle persuasion to finish her vegetables but she got there in the end. After lunch there was the usual cry of “what’s for pudding”. I had a cunning plan, so Stephen and I had a quiet word before the decision was made.

Easter in our house was pretty subdued as it was when Stephen was at his peak of sickness. As a result he didn’t really get to watch or get involved in any Easter fun. So, I had craftily kept some of the Easter goodies for when he was feeling better. We agreed that today was that day.

I sent Stephen and the children off to say hello to the friendly neighbourhood monkey and his bunny chum while I ran around the house hiding chocolate based goodies along with treasure hunt clues.

When they returned, the children asked what pudding was again, I gave them the first clue and told them to go find it. Their faces were brilliant and it was so good for Stephen to see them run around in excitement.

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Once all the chocolate had been found (and partially scoffed as they went), they settled down on the sofa with a limited selection to enjoy whilst watching a film for calm consumption time. It might have been two months late, but it was a delight to have a proper family egg hunt.

I sent Stephen off to bed as he was flagging again. In addition to looking after the kids, I spent the afternoon doing various jobs and making the dough for our pizza night dinner.

At the start of lockdown, I told Stephen that every Saturday we could have a BBQ. It was going to be a fun thing we could do when we were at home. But then he got sick and the plan just wasn’t meant to be. So, I have now decided, after four weeks in a row of doing it anyway, that Sunday night is homemade pizza night. The kids love it and I have perfected the pizza base dough from a good food recipe. It’s fresh and tastes so much better than the packet stuff. Hurrah!

Stephen documented one moment of parental interest over dinner. Genevieve said she was “plucking and sucking” the olives from her pizza. The sound of potentially rude words meant that our ears pricked up at this point, but we quickly realised it was an innocent comment. Then we shared a knowing look and spent the next few minutes giggling (much to the children’s confusion).

Once the kids had finished their dinner and pudding, they had one final play in the garden in the last of the sunshine. Mentioning no names (Genevieve), “someone” thought it was a good idea to fill James’s toy gun with water and bubbles. Let’s just hope it dries out, otherwise we’re going to have a very sad cowboy on our hands tomorrow.

Then it was finally time for baths and then bed. It’s been a fun but tiring day.

Just before bed there was one final potential drama. James had decided earlier in the day that he was going to be a big boy and give up his dummies as he didn’t need them any more. He even went further and said he was going to post them to Auntie Kathryn’s new baby Ottilie so she wouldn’t be scared as she was so little. He was adorable.

So this evening at bedtime, we tried the no dummies plan. He was fine at first, but after 45 minutes he was asking for them back. Bless him. He is now in bed with two out of four of his usual collection. So in my mind we are halfway there.

Now it’s our turn for pizza, some rubbish TV and bed. Hurrah!