Does the Easter Bunny come to Mexico?

That was a question I heard out of Ethan's mouth a dozen times over the last month. Technically, they don't do the Easter Bunny thing here, but he does come to ex-pat's houses.

In Mexico, the Easter holiday is referred to at Semana Santa ("Holy Week") and the celebration lasts for the whole week leading up to Easter. All of the schools have the week before and the week after Easter off. The night before Easter and early Easter morning (5:00 am) we heard fireworks celebrating the holiday. There is no Easter Bunny or candy or presents, it's all about celebrating quietly in church with their families. We could never transition to that now, but what a great thing to be fully immersed in the true meaning of Easter!

Of course we read the children's bible to the kids and the story of Jesus dying for our sins and the resurrection and what that means to us (in children's terms, of course), but the kids were overly excited to see what the Easter Bunny brought them and where he hid the eggs. Eventually they'll understand and appreciate the true meaning of Easter. I do have to say that I was a little sad that there was no Easter Bunny to visit and no egg coloring kits at the store. Traditions that will have to be continued when we move back to the US.

On to our Easter morning...it started out a little rough, to say the least. Our time changed that night, so James and I were excited that we may actually see 7 on the clock. 5:50 was what our "sprung forward" clock said when Lydia started crying and wouldn't go back to sleep...are you freaking kidding me!!! That's 4:50 am! I swear they know what that clock says! Anyway, the boys were up by 6:30 (5:30 old time), excited as ever. Who's idea was it to change the clocks on Easter??? So, we all went downstairs to grab a little snack before searching for the baskets and eggs and Lydia decided to scream and cry for the next hour. We couldn't put her back in her bed because my Mom and Don were still sleeping, so James put her in the car...3 different times...until she somewhat calmed down. Not a good start to the day!

Finally, the kids got to look for the eggs and baskets. Lydia completely calmed down (and was good for the rest of the day) when she realized what was going on...and she found the most eggs!:

Nolan found an egg!

Lydia found one behind the basket

Ethan couldn't quite reach the last egg...

tricky spot, Easter Bunny!

Nolan's basket

Lydia's basket

Ethan's basket

Lydia and Ethan opening the eggs...Lydia was more

interested in eating the candy, than organizing it!

A little later in the morning, we all went out to brunch at a nearby hotel, Hacienda Jurica. We sat outside and enjoyed a traditional Mexican brunch buffet.

The kids all dressed up for brunch, in front

of the house

Pictures at the hotel after brunch:

Don and Mom