Easter Egg Hunt Play Date
Our Saturday was a very full and very fun one! It began with an early morning Easter Egg Hunt play date at our friends’ Alexis and Dan’s house. They are the king and queen of amazing themed parties and play dates and Saturday’s egg hunt was no exception.
We arrived a little after 9 a.m. to find a delicious spread of fresh fruit, pastries, doughnuts, coffee and mimosas waiting for the adults along with the cutest Easter baskets waiting for the kids.
We hung out inside for an hour or so while the kids played with toys and the parents chatted away before it was time to head into the backyard for the egg hunt.
Alexis and Dan filled a ton of Easter eggs with stickers and cereal and all of our toddlers had the best time running after eggs and dropping them in their baskets.
Chase was all about the activity and hit his 12 egg limit pretty quickly so Ryan discreetly re-hid some of his eggs as he added new ones to his basket. It made the fun last a lot longer and he had a blast! I wasn’t sure Chase would be old enough to really enjoy an egg hunt but we’ll definitely be doing one for him on Easter this year after seeing how much he loved it on Saturday!
Once all of the eggs were found, the kids opened them up, snacked on cereal and had fun with bubbles until it was time for us to head home for Chase’s naptime.
We couldn’t resist snapping one family photo together before we left since it’s rare to get all of us in one picture at the same time. We cracked up when we saw the photo and realized Chase made his disdain for family photo time known with a very serious stank face.
We took his bubbles away to snap this photo together and that was clearly NOT OKAY.
Celebrating Carrie
When we arrived home, I went into overdrive trying my best to get a few last-minute things ready for a special surprise we had on the books for Saturday afternoon. My friend Carrie’s husband Nick reached out to a couple of Carrie’s friends for help with planning a special spa day for his wonderful wife’s 30th birthday. We were all super excited to be included in the surprise and scooped Carrie up around lunchtime for a girls’ day at the spa at The Ritz Carlton hotel in Charlotte.
My friend Laura previously visited the spa with her mother and raved about it and we were immediately intrigued when she explained that if you book one spa service at The Ritz, you then have complimentary use of the spa facilities for the rest of the day. This includes use of the beautiful Aqua Lounge pool, showers, relaxation room, sauna and more. Pretty sweet, right!?
Laura, Lauren and I pulled up in Carrie’s driveway with balloons, obnoxious noisemakers and music blaring and scooped her up for her special surprise day around noon. The look on her face when she saw us was priceless and we were so thrilled to be able to celebrate our incredible friend’s 30th birthday in such a fun way!
We booked pedicure appointments around 12:30 p.m. and spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool, ordering food and drinks and indulging in a delicious vanilla cake with buttercream frosting.
Lauren, Laura and I told Carrie that her birthday almost felt like a gift to us since none of us could remember a time when the four of us were together to simply relax, distraction-free without our sweet toddlers in the mix. It felt like we were in a different world as we lounged by the pool, surrounded by beautiful views of the city from the 17th floor of the hotel.
Conversation flowed easily and I found myself feeling very, very grateful for these three women in my life. Laura said something that really resonated with me when she said she is thankful for our friendships because she always leaves the time she spends with us feeling uplifted and positive. I could not agree more with this statement and as I get older, I find myself paying more attention to the way the energy of others affects me. Lauren, Carrie and Laura are three of the kindest and most genuine women I’ve met in my life and I feel like they came into my life at the perfect time, right after Chase was born, when I needed and craved strong friendships with other women who were going through a similar phase of life in a town that we only recently began to call our home.
Quality time with girlfriends always seems to pass by way too fast and before we knew it, we had to grab a shower and get ready to meet our husbands out for Carrie’s birthday dinner.
We took full advantage of the Ritz’s lovely amenities and got ready in our robes as we snacked on chocolate bark and sipped on lemon and berry-infused water. I forgot how much more fun it is to get ready when you’re surrounded by your girlfriends!
Once we were ready to go, we headed off to meet up with our husbands and our friends Alexis and Dan for a celebratory birthday dinner at The Summit Room in Dilworth.
The rest of the night passed by in a blur of good food, delicious cocktails and quality time with some of our favorite friends!
(You can probably tell that the above pic of our husbands was snapped at the end of the night. Haha!)
Sunday
Sunday was a rainy day in Charlotte! With the exception of an early morning church service and a trip to the grocery store we stuck close to home as I tried my best to get ahead on work for the week, pack for our travels today and not feel too behind on life!
One highlight from the dreary day was a delicious brunch at home with whole wheat pancakes and bacon. It’s been a while since we took the time to make a big Sunday brunch at home and it was a nice way to unwind after church before I went into go-mode during Chase’s naptime.
I have to wrap things up quickly this morning because it’s time to get rollin’! I’ll see you guys tomorrow with a yummy dinner recipe and I hope to check in later this week with an update of our travel adventures.
Hope you all had a great weekend!
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What a totally fun weekend! I’m loving your friends party planning skills (both for the Easter egg hunt and for the spa day! OMG what a huge, huge, huge, treat!! For everyone!) And I agree with you about wanting to hang out with people who make you feel uplifted after spending time together. I used to tell one of my bffs, “you don’t eliminate the problem, but somehow it all seems better now anyway.” Yay for great girlfriends, fun friends, and cute toddlers! (Loving that egg hunt. So cute that Chase is all into it now!)
Love these types of posts, and I’m rarely on the website this early, but this is a busy week so I’m excited I got a chance to reply! Yay (I read your blog every day, dontchaknow <—MN slang.)
Have a great trip!
Your comments ALWAYS make me smile! Great to hear from you so early! And I love what your friend shared with you — so sweet and so true of the way good friends make you feel!
Yay!
Have a fun and safe trip! Love that Easter party for the little ones! Chase’s outfit is so cute. I pulled out some plastic eggs when I decorated and Annabelle has been loving finding them all over our house! We actually put some Puffs in them last night and hid them around so she could find them. She thought it was the best, haha.
Chase looks SO incredibly adorable at the Easter egg hunt! What an outfit and a little stink eye for taking away his bubbles… he looks like a super fun toddler!!
Those Easter baskets are way too cute 🙂 And that pool plant backdrop at The Ritz Carlton, love!
Have a fun and save trip!
What a fun birthday surprise! The spa looks amazing and like a really nice get away for busy moms. Hope your travels go well!
LOVE Chase’s outfit from the egg hunt!! Too cute!!
Omgsh I totally agree about how special girlfriends are. I have a few amazing ones that live in other states, and then some awesome mom friends I’ve met here in Charlotte. After my girls preschool day is over, a bunch of us hang out at the playground and it always makes my day 🙂
Safe travels!!!!
-Sarah
Aw what a fun weekend. I used to love Easter egg hunts as a kid. And omg that spa day sounds amazing! Such a great bday surprise. Wishing you luck on your travels this week!
The look of determination on Chase’s face during the egg hunt is amazing! What a cutie 🙂 That spa day also looks amazing…hopefully your flight with your little one won’t undo all of that relaxation 🙂
Our son is 16 months and I’ve been wondering if he’d enjoy an Easter egg hunt this year. I know he’s a bit younger then Chase but I hope he’ll enjoy finding the eggs. And your spa trip looked amazing!! Yay for girl time!!
Looks like an awesome weekend! If you are ever in Raleigh and have some time, head to the Umstead Spa. Gorgeous 5-star hotel with same concept….you book a service and can use the amenities all day. Chase looks super cute, as usual! I can’t wait until Easter this year. My little Gavin is 2.5 now, so I think it will be a really fun age.
Safe travels!
It’s official — you have the most adorable and well-dressed family! Looks like such a fun and festive weekend! Enjoy your trip to FL!
What a day! I miss my girlfriends, I’ve lost some connections over the last few years and can feel the missing friendships. Friends are such a blessing in life.
Haahahh oh Chase was NOT Having it in that photo. That’s a good one for the books! Ah easter egg hunts were so dang fun when I was little. This makes me excited to re live them one day with my kid!
What a wonderful weekend!
I’m starting to feel like with all the travel, fancy parties, outings, spa day, birthday celebrations, etc, you are becoming less relatable (maybe I’m not wording this probably – i guess our lives used to be more similar, and now they are not?). I’d love it if you acknowledged how uncommon it is for people to be able to live like this – you’re incredibly lucky, and I hope you realize it!
Julie,
Thanks so much for sharing so much with us! I remember a while back you shared a post about tips for flying with a baby. As a mom who will be flying with a toddler soon over spring break, would you consider doing another post with tips about flying with a toddler since you seem to have experience with it?
Thanks so much!
Love that idea!! Yes!
Your spa day sounds wonderful. That is what I am craving in my life right now – really solid, good girlfriends. They are hard to find sometimes, so I am so happy for you that you have this group of women in your life! Good luck traveling with Chase – have a great trip 🙂
It can be really hard to find! I struggled with finding a group in our previous hometown (sometimes I feel like the stage after college is the hardest stage to meet friends in a new city) and feel very grateful that my experience was much easier in NC! I hope you are able to find some great friends to connect with soon! <3
Looks like so much fun it makes me super excited for the bachelorette parties I’ve got coming up this weekend!
Okay, I need friends like you guys who are good with theme gatherings because when I’ve tried them before with family and friends, they look at me like I have 3 heads.
Chase’s face in the family pic is such a crack up!!
Have a safe trip!
Aw man! Come to ours! I LOVE a fun (and goofy!) theme!
What a fun weekend! Also, I’m super jealous of a spa day. I need to get on that ASAP.
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oh man I miss easter egg hunts!! Also, your spa day looks amazing. What a great way to celebrate your friend!
I didn’t know that about the Ritz! I might need to suggest that for the next big activity with my girlfriends! Everyone deserves a day of pampering every once in a while. Looks like such a fun weekend, you have a beautiful family. I can’t believe Easter is almost here, wasn’t it just Easter 2016 like a minute ago?!
I had no idea! It was a surprisingly affordable spa day which I didn’t really anticipate at The Ritz. We loved every second!
Good luck on your travels! And yay for a Sunshine State visit! 🙂
Good girlfriends are the best! I’m glad you got to spend time with yours!
What a great weekend! A good group of friends is hard to find and I treasure my closest friends too! Glad you had some fun and relaxation this weekend. Safe travels!
What a fun weekend! I find girls nights to be so rejuvenating lately. Next weekend my husband is spending a weekend in Asheville for a bachelor party and I have already arranged facials, dinner, & a sleepover for my girlfriends at my place while he is away.
Hope you have a safe and wonderful trip!
It sounds like you had a wonderful weekend. What a great surprise for your friend to be pampered at the spa.
Love the spa day idea! For mother’s day every year we book massages or facials and have lunch out together. It’s always my mom, sister, sister-in-law, and I. Such a fun tradition!
What a fun wknd you had! LOVE the family pic! haha 😀