An Early Visit from the Osterhase

After a great night out with friends, new and old, and rolling back in at about 12:30 am, I managed to drag my butt out of bed at 7am to see what the good ole Easter Bunny had brought for Irene and Martin. However, not surprisingly (I am in a foreign country afterall), this Easter was a bit different from what I remember growing up. Instead of the american tradition of dying eggs and then hunting for them Easter morning after the sneaky Easter Bunny came in and hid them, in Germany (or at least in the Bruckmeier household) eggs are painted, or decorated through other means, at some point in the pre-Easter season. They are then promptly hung on twig like flowers in a vase, resulting in an "Easter tree" of sorts. The morning-of then involves the children searching for presents that the Easter Bunny (or Osterhase) has left for them around the house, or in this case the family room. For example, Irene got a kids' sudoku book, a crafts book, a CD, an Easter Bunny pencil, and a fair amount of chocolate. And Martin got more or less the same, the only difference being the books and the CD's were different. But the biggest surprise of all this morning was that the Easter Bunny knew I am now living here and thought to leave me a bag of chocolates :-). mmmm Lecker!!

Now unable for some unknown reason to bring myself to go back to sleep, I am now awake and reporting back to you. And in approximately an hour and a half I will be off again to another Easter celebration. Today I am joining my friend Isa and her family for a traditional-Bavarian, Easter lunch. And to follow will be kaffee und kuchen at her house. And though this is for sure not to be any comparison to the usual ham and guampkeys (i have no idea how to spell it...sorrryyy) lunch at grandma Flo's, I am certain it is going to turn out to be a lovely Easter afterall.

So HAPPY EASTER everyone!! I wish you all the best!! And I hope you know that I love and miss you all!!! xoxoxox