A Loverly Long Weekend

Wow, someone up there must really like us. We had the most gorgeous four day long weekend in forever. Friday the temperatures soared into the high 20's, Celsius, of course (that's in the 80's for you guys on the other side of the thermometer) and we went skiing for the last time. It was perfect, the snow held until lunch when we were all ready to quit for a beer on the beach, I mean deck. We didn't play golf but the boys did swim in our neighbours unheated pool.

Friday night our friends from the city came up and we ate fresh trout from a local hatchery with roasted vegetables, lentil salad and warm potato salad. I love having this family up because Jamie is a trained chef and every time he is in my kitchen I learn something new. We barbecued the fish with fennel and lemons, tossed the lentils with golden beets and added the roasted potatoes to arugula. Sorry I didn't get any pictures of the food because he plated it beautifully as well.

Saturday morning we got up to another glorious day, the kids were outside in their pj's and we ate the left over trout in a fish hash with poached eggs on the deck in the sun. Number One Son played his last game of hockey for the season in the All Star Game, he was one of the top six goalies in his division and then we packed up to head down to my Mum's for an Easter sleepover. Unfortunately the Easter Bunny did not take in to account the heat in the car as it sat in the arena parking lot and the chocolate hockey puck, soccer and footballs looked more like bunny droppings when she put them in the boys baskets that night. But they didn't seem to mind. And even my mother who has opted out of most holidays since her children grew up got into the spirit, buying goodies for everyone. She thoughtfully checked the label on each package for "May contain nuts" so that my Other Half would be safe. But she neglected to read the actual ingredients, missing "peanut butter" as a major one. Luckily my oh-so-cautious Other Half re-reads everything that anyone (including myself) buys. Mum was a little embarassed and her grandsons will never let her forget it.

Easter morning the boys stayed in their beds eating their melted sporting equipment until 7am and then the hunt began. The Easter Bunny hides jelly beans and chocolate eggs all over the house and my mother's house is perfect with lots of nooks and crannies. It took them almost 20 minutes to hunt and that must be a record. Ususally it's over in 5 minutes. After another delicious meal of Eggs Benedict we headed outside for the hunt all over the property. My sister has hidden plastic eggs with more candies in them everywhere on Mum's 25 acres. That one took a little longer. Then we flew kites, blew bubbles and enjoyed the warm sun.

The last leg of our Easter tour took us to my in-laws where despite not having any counters in her recently remodelled kitchen my MIL put on a wonderful turkey dinner and the boys had a great time with their teenaged cousins, playing in the stream, skateboarding and playing rugby.

Not being a terribly religious family we didn't go to church so no thoughtful sermon to report on but I did hear a funny joke which if you are a hockey parent you will appreciate.

Three blondes found themselves at the Pearly Gates where St Peter greeted them and said, "I will let you in if you can tell me the meaning of Easter."

The first blonde, an American said, "Sure, Easter is a big feast when we give thanks, eat turkey and watch football."

"Nooooo," St Peter said and sent her elsewhere.

The second, a Brit said, "Easter is when we celebrate Christ's birth and exchange gifts."

"Nooooo," St Peter said and sent her away.

The third blonde, a Canadian said, "Easter is when we remember that Jesus was crucified on the cross and died for our sins and was buried in a tomb."

"Very good" said St. Peter. And the blonde continued. "Now every year they roll away the boulder and if Jesus comes out and sees his shadow we have six more weeks of hockey."

P.S. Question? I just had to re-type that entire joke. How can I just copy and past into a post?