Yesterday was a whirlwind as so many holidays jam-packed with family fun seem to be.
Ever since Ryan and I started dating, I have attended his mom’s annual Easter brunch.
My family drives to her house in Sarasota from St. Pete for the fun and it’s wonderful to have such a big gang together!
My mother-in-law and Ryan’s grandma spent all morning on Saturday prepping food for the big Easter brunch and their hard work more than paid off. Ryan’s grandmother used to own a restaurant and her cooking coupled with Ryan’s mom’s amazing cooking equals some seriously stuffed bellies at every holiday gathering.
“Thanksgiving full” happens every time I visit my mother-in-law’s house!
Check out my plate…
And you know I went back for seconds… but not of the greens. Seconds included more pineapple soufflé (tasted like butter and sugar in a casserole dish – so good!), glazed carrots and mashed potatoes. My stomach felt like it was going to burst.
Hard-to-Find Easter Egg Hunt
After brunch, Ryan and I had special plans for my dad and my sister’s boyfriend, Ross.
Hi Ross, Leslie and Kona!
On Saturday when Ryan and I were running errands, we stumbled upon twelve plastic eggs that were labeled “Hard to Find.” Naturally we bought them with plans to hide the eggs and make Ross and my dad go head-to-head in their own Easter egg hunt.
That picture was the start of the hunt. 
The eggs were two shades of green, brown and gray and perfectly blended into bushes, flowers and furniture. We laughed as my dad and Ross literally stared straight at some of the eggs without seeing them!
Ross ended up coming out on top, finding seven eggs to my dad’s five.
The egg hunt was actually payback for my dad after one year when he hid Ryan’s Easter basket way up in a tree and it took him forever to find it as we all laughed and watched frustration set in.
You’re never too old for an egg hunt!
Dessert
Eventually it was time for dessert!
Coconut layer cake…
Lemon cheesecake…
Apple pie…
I had a piece of each and that was enough to push me from feeling full to feeling uncomfortably full. Everything was so good and my sweet tooth was on fire!
Following dessert, we spent time in the backyard chatting until a little after 6 p.m. when Ryan, Sadie and I headed back to Ocala.
I’m pretty sure we fell asleep within 30 minutes of our arrival home. I was pooped.
Such a fun Easter!
P.S. The Fashion page was updated this morning.
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That coconut layer cake looks AMAZING!
What a fun Easter! That coconut layer cake looks heavenly!! 🙂 Love your dress!
I love the lemon cheesecake. Well, I haven’t ever tried it, but I bet I would and cheesecake is one of my favorites!
so beautiful Julie and you are so REAL. I love it! e
Oh my gosh, all of that food looks so delicious!!! And I love the idea of getting eggs that blend in, gotta make it harder once you get older!!
I love your dress Julie- gorgeous shade of red and very chic! Everything looks SO delicious, especially the coconut layer cake…man I’m hungry :)!
Sounds like an amazing Easter! I’ve never seen those “Hard to Find” eggs before but that is such a hilarious concept – I’m sure it was really funny to watch them searching so hard for the hidden eggs!
Those eggs are the trick candle equivalent of an Easter hunt – love it! I’m so bummed I didn’t spend yesterday with anyone – I thought I could be a big girl about it but really ended up missing all of the family traditions we did when I was a kid!
I have to take a minute to post this, your dress looks AMAZING!!!!
Love your dress Julie. And that coconut layer cake looks amazing. Sounds like you had a great weekend!
Everything looks sooo yummy! I definitely over indulged in the sweets department yesterday too!
PS: I am so jealous that you all are wearing dresses, and shorts and t-shirts! It’s still cold over hear in MA! 🙁 I’m not going to complain though because the winter was the mildest it’s ever been!
those desserts sure do look incredible!! i definitely felt “Thanksgiving full” yesterday too. so many yummy foods!! 🙂
THOSE DESSERTS WOW
You look gorgeous Julie! That sounds like an absolutely amazing day. Haha and I love the hard-to-find egg hunt idea. I’m totally going to have to remember that…our family can get really competitive! Hope you have a great Monday!
It’s great that you are able to spend the holidays with both families 🙂 looks like it was a lovely day filled with fantastic food!
I love your dress the color is soo pretty!
My Easter was a little less food and a little more hunting. The kids had Easter Egg Bingo and a gnome hunt. Silly, but fun! Can’t wait till next year when my guy is old enough to join in.
I bought similar eggs for my niece and nephew a few years back and they did pretty good at finding them. I think they smelled the peanut butter chocolate cups inside!
You look gorgeous, simply gorgeous Julie! Where did you find your necklace?
that food looks so. darn. delicious. i just ate breakfast but it’s making me hungry!
seeing the picture of kona prompted me to share this story with you: so my hubby and i kind of adopted a chocolate lab mix a couple of weeks ago… long story short: a neighbor found her roaming in a busy street in front of our development, and took her in so she wouldnt’ get hit by a car. she couldn’t keep her past the weekend, so we agreed to house her while i put up signs and let animal services/area vets know in case anyone called looking for her. that was almost a month ago, and no one’s tried to claim her.
so about two weeks ago, i was talking with one of my best friends trying to come up with a name for her (as i was hoping i’d get to keep her!), and the name “kona” came to mind. my friend laughed at me and said, “the name of the dog julie posts about??” (my friend and i both read your blog) needless to say, i realized i couldn’t name her kona as i did not want to be a copy cat.
i chose luna instead 🙂 it fits, because she’s got a white patch on her chest/belly that reminds me of a full moon! aaand i convinced my hubby to keep her, so now we’ve got mila and luna, and they’re the best of friends 🙂
haha! you could’ve named her kona – kona would be flattered! 🙂 luna is a great name, too, and i’m so glad you were able to offer a dog a loving home!
Everything looks so yummy, and I too, love the dress. Can you post where it is from? Thanks!
all the info is on the fashion page: https://www.pbfingers.com/2012/04/09/easter-dress/ 🙂 hope this helps!
Oh wow Julie, your Easter looks like so much fun! I absolutely love your dress. Easter egg hunts are definitely a tradition I’ll be making mandatory in my family gatherings as an adult – you’re never too old!
Love the dress and LOVE your easter payback!!!! Haha!!
Oh my goodness. That coconut cake looks outrageous—and I don’t even love coconut all that much!
Glad you guys had a great holiday!
1. Love the dress, long sundresses are my go-to. So comfy especially on an eatin’ kind of day.
2. I almost bought those “hard to find” eggs. I actually joked I was glad I didn’t because we couldn’t even find all the bright flourecent colored eggs we hid!
looks like you had a great Easter!
I am OBSESSED with your dress. I love maxi dresses and wish I weren’t so tall so that they’d actually reach the ground when I were them!
It kinda always surprises me when you post pictures of your family, ’cause mine would flip out if I were posting pictures of our holiday gatherings, lol. But your family is much more photogenic than mine.
I like how your blog makes me feel less guilty about pigging out on holidays when I read that you pigged out as well. Few bloggers will admit to this. I have absolutely no self control around all that good food. I was trying to eat the kale chips yesterday instead of the brownies sitting in front of me, but ya know, kale chips not the same as brownies.
Omg, those cakes looks AMAZING. I was thinking about baking before seeing those photos but no there’s no question what I’ll be doing tonight!
So, I have NO idea why…but for some reason I thought you said ‘we had a special plan for Leslie & Ross’ instead of your Dad & Ross….and it got me thinking…OH MY GOSH, is he going to propose?! I was so excited for a second, but then I re-read it. haha! I know it would be SUPER soon, but they are just SO cute together!! Especially the little ‘family picture’ with Kona 🙂
Hahaha we had a grown-up Easter egg hunt too, it’s hilarious to watch!! 🙂
Lemon cheesecake is the best! Happy Easter!
Wow, what beautiful food, beautiful home, and beautiful couple! 😀 I’m glad you had a nice holiday!
All of that food looks amazing! The easter egg hunt must have been hysterical.
It looks like you had a beautiful Easter! I’m so glad you enjoyed yourself and had a wonderful time with family!
That coconut cake makes me forget all other thoughts.
If that coconut cake tasted anything like it looks, I think world peace could be accomplished 😉
Looks like you had a wonderful time – I love the camouflaged eggs!
What a fun Easter! I used to spend my Easter’s in Florida with my grandparents and I loved the weather.. it was fantastic.
I love those hard to find eggs! I have to get those for my kids next year. They find the eggs way to easily!
I need those eggs!
I wish I had gone on a easter egg hunt! They’re always so much fun no matter what your age.
1. That maxi dress is super cute
2. I am always impressed by how much food you can put away! I got ‘uncomfortably full’ just looking at everything you ate yesterday–it looked delicious!
Omigosh– that looks like such a feast!! How fun that your mother-in-law puts together such a great family day and impressive looking spread every year! Love those hard to find eggs too– that must have been so fun watching them try to find them when really they were staring right at them! And that coconut cake looks incredible!!!
hahhaha I love that you guys set up a revenge hunt!! I love your dress Julie!! And seriously, I want to come to your family’s holiday get togethers, your food always looks amazing!
Nice Easter Hunt! The desserts look sooo delicious!
And your dress! wow just gorgeous.
I totally agree with the other comments that ur dress looks stunning on you!
Lookin’ gorgeous lady!! Um all that dessert…gimme!!! Glad you had a nice Easter weekend!
That dress looks great on you!
I would love to get the recipe for the pineapple souffle- sounds delicious!
Those are cool eggs. I’ve never seen them. And a pineapple souffle sounds amazing!
I love all the games your family plays together!! You seem like such a fun bunch. Those eggs sound awesome! 😀 Happy Easter!! (a day late hehe)
Love your maxi dress. Adorable!