Happy Easter!

I'm linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter for {Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}. And since there is a wholelotta {pretty, happy, funny, real} going on around here, I'll let you choose what is which.

So, remember this gem?

a.k.a. my issues with committing to a paint color

After much weeping and gnashing of teeth, I finally committed to a color. Easter was our goal (which we thought we'd meet easily...ha...haha) because we were hosting family from both sides for the weekend and Easter lunch. We managed to get the trim and two walls painted. At least, the walls that did get painted were the ones that had the paint samples on them. They were starting to make us twitch. Of course, now that they're gone, I'm starting to lose motivation to finish the other two walls.

Ah :) no more paint swatches :)

I think that I've mentioned that we've started milling our own wheat? Well, I tried using our wheat for my Easter cake, which calls for AP flour and I didn't do any research, yadayadayada and....

almost completely hollow but tasted good

I was pretty determined to make the cake since it's a family recipe, and I don't have many of those, and I knew my family would love it (which they did), so I hacked around some forums for about 10 minutes (which I should have done anyway), and after braving a three-and-a-half-our-priest-skimps-on-nothing (including using full-sized drink pitchers for baptisms)-vigil-mass with our two year old and getting to bed around 1 am, I got up early and made cake #2.

Ah, much better. 

We had a blast with all the family, ate our traditional lamb, risotto, homemade bread, salad, etc meal (my husband is a beast in the kitchen; I did the cake), and then enjoyed watching the kiddos hunt for eggs.

hunting for eggs

My niece and her Easter stash

Grandma hid them well in the bushes

Mommy getting in on the action

My nephew and his eggs

hustling to find more eggs

adorable

Cousins 6yrs, 3 1/2 yrs, and 2 1/2 yrs.

Cousins with babies at 37, 22, and 17 weeks gestation

Grandparent and Great Grandparent love

After all of the egg hunting and the food eating we just enjoyed hanging out together. So what do you get when you cross one entertaining cousin with a deliriously silly cousin?

We got to enjoy some low key time with my sister's family after everyone else left. The kids had a blast playing in the yard (watched by us through the window). Before we realized what they were doing, the cousins had discovered a fun way to go down a small hill in our yard.

We hope your Easter was as wonderful and joyful as ours! Happy Easter from my family to yours!

Family Day of Hiking and Sushi

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter for their {Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} link-up today. Stop by and tell them hello :)

The Hubs surprised us by taking a day off from work last week just to have fun! And fun for us usually involves a hiking trail. We have a North Georgia trail guide book that we sometimes use and we never quite know what we're getting ourselves into. This trail was at the end of a long drive (approx 1.5 hrs), a very short hike (0.2 miles), and had a beautiful waterfall. It's called Minihaha Falls. The entrance to the trail is on the side of the road after driving through several miles of a community of lake houses (a windy road that almost did me in), and if you blinked you might have missed it. See Exhibit A.

{real}

Exhibit A - this was it for trail markings

The stairs are across the road from a "parking area", or a spot to pull off the road. The path was narrow with a pretty steep drop off, but Little Man handled it well. If you have a child who has no sense of boundaries/edges and does not stay with you well, this is not the trail for you. There were several tree roots sticking out of the ground which Little Man was timid about stepping over so he pretty much held my hand the whole time, which made me less nervous. The hike was pretty steep but of course short, and I was kind of bummed when it was over, until I saw the waterfall.

Mommy and Matthan at Minihaha Falls

I could have stayed there all day long. We stayed there for a long while. Little Man sat on the rock with me for a bit, ate some snacks, and then explored the area while Daddy stayed glued to his side (you know, rushing water and all that). He had been timid about walking around but as soon as I gave him my walking sticks he had no problem exploring the small area around the falls. See the video below for Little Man in action.

{funny}

Little Man with hiking sticks

{happy}

Family selfie in front of the falls

We have been to a couple waterfalls where Little Man could play in the water, but not only was this water very cold, it was moving really fast. He so desperately wanted to go in, so Daddy kept a good grip on him. It was a colder day than Tim had anticipated, so you'll have to excuse what he called the "unabomber look".

Splashing Daddy

{pretty}

Minihaha Falls

After eating lunch in Clayton, we stopped at a farm that I had seen advertised on billboards during our drive. It's still clearly the off season for them because there was only a couple people around. It ended up being a total tourist trap, but we enjoyed seeing the animals nonetheless. 

After a quick nap, we ended the day with sushi and ice-cream. It was a wonderful family day, hopefully to be repeated sooner rather than later.