Our Not-so-Easter Eggs

Easter eggs were very important in my house. It was a tradition that the Vigues family always participated in. I think my sister and I were still participating in Easter Eggs Hunts (just the two of us) until the age of about 25. My parents would hide the eggs around the house and the yard and my sister and I would compete. As we got older the stakes got higher. I think last time we did it...it was like $1 USD per egg (clearly before any type of recession). Go mom and dad with the cool prize for the eggs!

But prizes aside, painting the easter eggs was always the best. I remember all the cool colors and some of the different Paas kits that would come out every year. Do you remember those plastic sleeves that you would boil with the eggs and them you would have a plastic design on your egg? Or that really cool metal dipper that would come in the kits so you could drop the egg in the colored water.

Anyway I could go on, but this was something that I wanted to continue with Luka...not the money...just the painting and the egg hunt. Well there is no Paas kit in site in Maputo so I had to get creative. We don't even have white eggs. So I bought some white candy eggs with chocolate inside and some food coloring...well I couldn't drop the egg in colored water because the sugar would come right off (I tried it)....so I just used concentrated food coloring to paint on the eggs with one of my make-up brushes. I am telling you I was so short of supplies!

Well here is the result of our hardwork (my friend Paty and her son Max joined us). The painting session really didn't last long. Luka thought it would be more fun to pull the table cloth out from under us...literally. So Paty and I finished painting the eggs as the boys rode their little plastic bikes, which they seemed to enjoy more than any silly eggs.

But I will still keep trying this "tradition" with Luka and I enjoyed myself very much and with every paint stroke I thought of my sister. This is one of her favorite holiday activities ever and she was always the one that made sure we did it. So Moqui, these eggs are for you. I miss you!

PS Who says Easter eggs have to be pastel? Once the paint started getting mixed together it all turned into this very dark green.....