Our Nontraditional Easter

Last Easter, we decided to start a new family tradition.  We made our own plans for Easter.  Our families were traveling or going out to brunch together, but we decided to break tradition and do something new.

So began our new Easter "tradition." We had so much fun that we decided to do the exact same thing this year.

After searching the house for hidden Easter baskets, we headed to church.  It was a sunny day and we were excited to be on our way to spend time worshiping/celebrating (apparently the entire city decided to join us this year, and we barely found seats in church! ~ might have something to do with our arrival time...who knew it would take so long to find baskets and get dressed up?).

Our new tradition began with a trip to the Milwaukee Zoo.  We live about two hours from the zoo, but we love to visit each year.  The weather was great.  The zoo was almost empty (after all, who goes to the zoo on Easter?...).  We were able to enjoy the exhibits and relax as we strolled around the zoo in search of our favorite animals.

There are so many cool animals from Africa!

Bryce did a research project and diorama about pythons this spring, so it was fun to see them up close.

Looks like the giraffe is telling Drew a "secret."

Our tradition continues when we leave the zoo and head to our favorite Ethiopian restaurant.  

Grace was excited (we all were).  We have really come to love Ethiopian food.

As you can imagine, the Ethiopian restaurant was also a little on the empty side.  We are spoiled when we go there, because it is not usually busy.  It's a bummer to live 2 hours from the closest Ethiopian restaurant, which means we eat A LOT when we do visit.

Two sad notes about the restaurant visit...first, Grace did not want to wear one of her Ethiopian dresses.  I didn't force her.  The staff at the restaurant loves it when she comes in and it makes them happy to see her in her traditional clothes.  It turned out that when we got to the restaurant, Grace wanted the dress!  We hadn't brought it, so she opted for the dress she wore to church.  Second sad note:  we always ask the staff to try to speak to her in Amharic.  We have done this before and Grace will answer their questions (in English). The last time we visited, about nine months ago, she was able to understand the Amharic.  This time, Grace just looked at the sweet waitress, looked at me, and said, "I don't really  understand what she is saying."  It was bound to happen, but it still makes me sad.  I really hoped she would remember a word or two, but it is all fading (right along with her sweet accent that is now nonexistent).

Bryce and Alyssa have learned that they love Sambusa (an appetizer).  We actually get FOUR orders and it becomes their meal.

Grace ate so much.  She said, "I am so full, but I love it and want to eat more!"

She was full and exhausted, and she slept all the way home.

What a wonderful Easter. 

 Now that we have done this two years in a row, it is an official tradition.