Easter in Brasil was a little different experience for us. First, as a teacher, I was given gifts by most of my students. This was not something I was prepared for! I felt horrible not knowing that this was a 'thing' and did not send anything for the boys teachers. Lesson learned!
Second, the big focus for Easter is giant chocolate eggs. When we went to the store, they were everywhere. They hang from displays, so big and so low that you have to duck as you walk under!
Egg dying in not a tradition here, but was a request from the boys. They were a little sad that they did not get to pick out an egg dying set, but I am grateful for Pinterest and alternative ideas since egg kits were not available. This year, we did the rice and food coloring and LOVED the way that they turned out.
A few things we learned: 1. the rice absorbs the food coloring very quickly, so put the coloring in right before adding the egg. 2. Brazilian eggs seem to crack easier when boiled. I do not have a reason for this, but it has happened every time. To get our 12 hard boiled eggs to color, we ended up cooking 22 eggs over the course of the day. Each set we boiled, many would crack open. It does not seem to matter which way we boil them either. Boil the water, take off heat, add eggs and cover. Add eggs, bring to boil, remove, cover. Add eggs, boil for 7-10 minutes. Any way we do it, the eggs crack open!
The boys had a lot of fun and enjoyed mixing color combinations.
Easter morning, the boys woke early, ready to see if the Easter Bunny found them in Brasil. Luckily, he did! He snacked on carrots and water, hid the decorated eggs, filled and hid a few plastic eggs, and filled and hid baskets. The boys were moving quickly so the pictures are not the best! Please note that we encouraged them to put on clothes this morning knowing that we would be taking pictures.
The Easter Bunny filled baskets with some Portuguese books, games, new Havaianas (famous Brazilian Flip-Flops) and a little bit of candy.
The boys loved all the new places to look for eggs. They said it was 'way more fun that Kansas because they had more rooms to look in AND could go outside!' Most of their plastic eggs were filled with Brazilian Reals (pronounced HEY-EYES) and they were happy about that!
Breakfast included homemade bunny pancakes.
Mamaw and Papaw sent some money and the boys received three new games (in Portuguese of course).
We joined some friends from the Internations Group for an Easter lunch at a restaurant in Floresta Park. The restaurant offered a huge buffet of pasta, veggies, churrasca meat, and dessert! We were more than full and with all the different choices, we were all able to find something yummy!
In true Brazilian fashion, the restaurant had many activities for children. One, was the resident toucan!
There were three different parks for the boys to enjoy.
And many different activities from jumping houses, to zip lining, to fishing to horseback riding!
While we were sad we were not with our family, we were grateful to video chat with them!
Feliz Páscoa!
