Easter weekend can be a long weekend when you pack the kids into the car for a trip to the cabin. Any weekend seems too short when we make the 2 hour drive to Soda Springs on Friday afternoon, unpack, take care of cabin repairs and get the kids settled in for bed. By the time Sunday rolls around, we spend the entire day cleaning and packing the car just to make the drive home with the afternoon sun in our eyes. A holiday weekend like Easter makes it that much more hectic. In addition to the normal luggage, food and toys, we bring the holiday accountraments including extra food for a special meal. We add an Easter egg hunt to the daily schedule of playing in the snow or building a fort in the back of the closet under the stairs.

Easter weekend can be a long weekend when you take the kids skiing for the first time during one of the biggest storms of the year. Patrick and Emily donned their skiis, took to the slopes like naturals and ended the 1 hour lesson chilled and whining. Cousin Kaitlyn said, “No thanks,” and retired to the lodge at Sugar Bowl. Patrick returned after a hot chocolate and french fries for three more runs down the beginners’ slope. Emily chose the high-speed detachable quad lift that took us half way up the mountain and then took Emily beyond her mental limits. It took a long hour talking her down the hill in the windy storm.

Easter weekend can be a long weekend when the biggest storm of the year hits and it’s the middle of April. We got more than 5 feet of snow in 2 days, and spent a good deal of our time digging out cars only to have them burried a short time later. While the kids built a slide down a 20-foot snow bank, Mike, Les and I dug out the autos, cleared the stairs and porches or chipped away at the 4-foot snow berm that the county plows left behind. Highway 80, closed for most of the day due to spin-outs (again, on Easter weekend!) was slow going once it did open.

Easter weekend can be a long weekend, I guess, no matter where you are, so I wouldn’t miss one like this for the world.