The Guat Eggstravaganza

It’s the time of year when I usually prepare myself to see the worst.

The trampling, the pushing, the shoving, the crazed eyes, and the intensity.

I witness the ultimate I-can’t-believe-that-just-happened moments out there on the Easter Egg Hunting fields.

And you … the parents. Yeah I’m talking about those khaki wearing, high-heel clacking, sun hat styling parents. You look nice enough, but once that teenager on the bull-horn shouts “go!” … it’s like you forgot you were normal, or maybe that’s just the real you coming out. I don’t know …

Luckily there was only one of you … just one. I couldn’t believe it. Maybe the others woke up late or something. In any case it was good that there weren’t too many of you. Just the one. It made for a more enjoyable egg hunting experience.

But our Easter started way before we hit the grassy fields. It all began with egg shells. At home. My son was already a professional egg artist. However my daughter needed a little more time. Thank God I had so many 12 x 12 Chocolate Challenges, we needed a couple of practice runs before my daughter finally found her inner Rainbow Brite.

 

 

 

One of the most important parts of the weekend was coloring eggs. Once they got the hang of the egg art I was sidelined and their artistic independence busted out.

 

After our eggstravaganza we headed to our Easter Family tradition … thought about my Dad, placed some bets but didn’t have Dad’s magic touch. I was 0 for 3.

 

After watching a few races, it was time for the main event. And after all the running around we do at home and with our adventures they did just fine beating out the crowd.

 

They definitely nailed it … although once we opened the eggs the chocolate seemed to have melted in the California sun. But that didn’t seem to matter to my kids chocolate was chocolate and it was on.

 

After eating about five pounds of chocolate and hosing off, we headed to the play area and made friends with the coolest dude. Seabiscuit made an appearance and I was so glad that we all got a chance to meet him.

 

After all the Easter fun, with no nap and pretty awesome tans, we decided to roll out and get home in time for dinner.

 

But once again no Guat holiday is complete unless Snoopy and Charlie Brown are involved. 🙂

 

And cake … you gotta have chocolate cake 🙂

 

 

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Yeah … I Don’t Know What It Is About Easter Egg Hunts

As Easter weekend approaches I’m bracing myself for encounters with crazy parents and crowds of children. Just thinking about it causes anxiety and I think I’ll need to meditate twice tonight just to prepare myself for the aggravation ahead of me this weekend.

There are two egg hunts in my parenting future. One on Saturday. One on Sunday. I so wish I could just scrap the Saturday one and go to the beach with the kids, but we’re making memories, right? So I gotta just cowboy up.

But in truth it’s not so much the kids that will annoy me, it’s the parents. Have you seen these people on Easter in Easter Egg Hunts? Have you seen them leave their own kid in the dust and steamroll other three-year olds for a purple plastic egg?

Duuuuuuuuude.

I saw this and I thought of them.

 

Image via LeFunny.net

 

I don’t know what it is about Easter Egg Hunts that brings out the crazy and the stupid in people. But it does. Wish me luck as I encounter all kinds of parents this weekend. I’ll try to remain Zen-like.

 

Horse Racing, Easter Eggs, and Cemeteries.

Easter brings about different traditions in my family. As I mentioned before, when my uncle was alive Easter was filled with brunches, mimosas, Loteria, egg painting, pool parties, egg hunts, and ham dinners.

He was the glue that stuck everyone together. But since his passing there’d been a rift in the family dynamic — a family feud. But my Dad kept it together and tempers simmered as the family continued gathering.

Easter eggs // Ostereier (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since we didn’t own a pool or have a back yard big enough for egg hunts and master art projects for the entire family, my Dad and I created a new tradition upon my uncle’s passing.

The year after Uncle Erick died, his daughter really wanted to go egg hunting. We had no idea that a majority of the egg hunts took place on Saturday and not on Easter. We had no kids in the family back then. She was it. So in an effort to keep the Easter Spirit going, we thought we’d take her to the Arboretum for the big Easter Egg Hunt and brunch. We had it all planned out with everyone coming.

We get there … it’s closed. Egg hunt was Saturday.

She looked at me and my dad with those what-the-hell-just-happened eyes. I felt like a jackass. I looked around. The race track was about a mile from there. Seabiscuit? Why not.

Horse-racing Photo credit: Wikipedia

You want to see some horses?

We piled back in the car, bought some plastic eggs at a nearby Ralphs Supermarket, and made our way to the race track. She saw horses, ate funnel cake, found some eggs, and won four dollars. She had a great time and a good Easter — Guat Style. My Dad had a blast. He loved the excitement of betting on the race, got a laugh from the unique names like Limerock Revenge and Warrens Venedalucy, and smiled as the horses powered through. He liked the movie Seabiscuit, too. So we went back every year for more races, more funnel cake, and more good times.We went to the cemetery to visit my uncle. We told him about the day and how much we missed him. Then headed all the way back to my parents’ place for a nice ham dinner.

This tradition continued until my Dad’s passing. The family divide got bigger. Hatfields vs. McCoys Guat style.

So today it was  just party of four at the race track. My cousins are all grown up. My uncle’s daughter is a young adult deciding between University of Southern California and Boston College. We’re a Trojan Family so as you probably guessed we’re leaning toward one particular school. My mom and aunts just wanted to stay home, away from the heat, but they drank coffee — not iced coffee, hot coffee — and ate champurradas. Go figure.

So, it was party of four racing for plastic eggs, (no crazy parents this time), sliding down the ginormous inflatable Lighting McQueen jumper-slide-thing, painting eggs, playing carnival games, and betting on horses like Ralphy Girl, La Chilena, and Shezabigbroad. We lost twenty dollars and drove back for family dinner.

But before heading back, I made a stop to visit the man who started the  new tradition with me six years ago — my dad. I headed to the cemetery ready to talk to him about our adventure at the track. I took him some lilies, Easter eggs, and the racing program.

Now I know the race track and cemetery aren’t the first thoughts that come to mind when you think Easter. It’s probably more like Jesus and Easter eggs. But when it comes to The Guat, nothing is conventional. Horse racing, Easter eggs and cemeteries — this is the Guat  Easter Celebration.