Oscar and Leo were not only excited about a visit from the Easter Bunny. They were also super excited about the return of Daddy. The boys made him a special Welcome Home sign. When the Bells returned home in February, Richie had to head back to London to finish up some work. He arrived home for good on Easter Sunday.

It was funny though because he came home looking like this.

When Richie's car pulled up to Copa, Oscar and Leo both ran outside to greet him. When Richie got out of the car, both of the boys stopped in their tracks and then took a step back. They hadn't seen him for a couple of months and he no longer looked like Daddy. It then took Oscar and Leo a couple of minutes to warm up to this stranger (recently returned from a fishing trip or from logging trees in Canada or holding up stage coaches in the bush.)

The beard has gone now (thankfully!).

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

This year, we spent our Easter break at Copacabana with the Bells and the rentals. Wasn't it nice to have 5 days off in a row this year? Unfortunately, my five day break was also interspersed with uni work. I had a uni assignment due on Easter Monday so I spent some of the weekend relaxing and the other half trying to do uni work. Trying to concentrate on uni work in a room where the nephews are playing is an exercise in focus and selective hearing.

The weather was a bit mixed. We had two beautiful days which we spent at the beach. I'm always sad to see the last of the warm weather. Every time we go to the beach I feel like I have to go for a swim as it might just be the last swim of the season. I guess I can't really complain when we're still swimming in late April. I think we're officially into the cold weather season now (boo!). I've been wearing leggings and boots all week (yay! one good thing about colder weather).

The other two days were rainy and on both of these days we went to the movies. On Easter Monday, we went to see Thor. It cost Andrew and I fifty dollars for the outing. Fifty dollars! I was most unimpressed. Fifty dollars for 2 tickets, plus 3D (although 2D wasn't an option) and 3D glasses (must remember to take own glasses next time) and a red slurpee. The movie was OK and Liam Hemsworth was certainly very nice to look at. His chiseled abs weren't worth $50 though. And they wonder why online piracy is such a problem.

One of the highlights of the weekend for Oscar and Leo was a visit from the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny left a couple of big eggs for the boys and then scattered little eggs around the house. The boys were still discovering hidden eggs later that morning. So much chocolate! I hope the Easter Bunny was good to you too. I'm still working my way through my Easter stash.




More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

I have Paris to blame for my current obsession with macarons. I'd never actually seen, heard of or eaten a macaron until 2007. In March of that year, Andrew and I visited Paris for our wedding anniversary. Andrew's boss at the time recommended that we visit a tea room on the Champs-Élysées called Ladurée for afternoon tea. It was there that I fell in love with the macaron. (I also had a really lovely cup of tea - the Marie Antoinette. *sigh* I wish I could go back to Ladurée.)

After that first visit I made sure to sample macarons whenever I had the opportunity. When we visited Paris I'd try to have afternoon tea at Ladurée (if it was open). There are also two Ladurée stores in London, one on Piccadilly and one in Harrods. I'd often pop in to pick up a macaron or two when I passed by the Piccadilly shop. Obsessed!

Ladurée invented the modern-day macaron (originally it was just the biscuit bit without the ganache filling) and they have set a pretty high standard. My favourite flavour from Ladurée is Vanilla. It is a perfect concoction of light, airy crunchy biscuit and pure creamy vanilla ganache. Heaven.

Now we are back in Sydney. Paris is, unfortunately, no longer just a train ride away. There is no Ladurée store in Martin Place (are you listening Ladurée? It would be the perfect location for a new store.) Since we've returned home I've been trying to find a suitable macaron substitute to satisfy my cravings.

First up, we have submission from Baroque Bistro for Jess' new favourite macaron. I was inspired to visit after reading a post on GrabYourFork. I actually read the post and immediately emailed my foodie blogger friend Caitlin and suggested we visit there for a lunch date that week. I wasn't really interested in the food though, just the macarons. In the end, we didn't eat lunch there because it was too expensive but I did buy a dozen assorted macarons (they were expensive too but it was all in the name of research).


So did they stack up to Ladurée? Well, they didn't have a vanilla flavour which is a requirement for a true comparison. However, all the other flavours we tried were really good. Caitlin really enjoyed the passionfruit, Andrew rated the chocolate and coconut and I liked the rosewater best. Baroque Bistro is good enough to go on my Ladurée Macaron Substitute list. Unfortunately, the restaurant is in the Rocks so it's not somewhere that I will often walk past. So macarons good, convenience not so good. The search continues!

Caitlin has also posted about our macaron taste test on her blog, Roaming Tales

We visited the Veitch family last week for dinner. It was the perfect opportunity to bake some Easter themed cupcakes. These days I always volunteer to bring dessert.

So the decorations are supposed to look like Easter Eggs on grass. The coloured dots are supposed to be flowers (I didn't have any flower shaped sprinkles). That's what they totally look like... right? In the beginning I was piping little dots of grass but it took fooooooooorever. With 15 cupcakes to ice, I took a bit of a shortcut continuously piped the grass and added a few dots at the end.

I had bookmarked this idea last Easter but I could not find the crunchy shell Easter eggs. This year I bought the crunchy shell eggs as soon as I saw them in the shops and put them away just so I could make these cupcakes. Yes, I'm one of those sad people who buy Easter eggs months in advance. I also bought a special piping tip to do the "grass".


So were the cupcakes a success? The Veitch girls thought they were very pretty. But, as usual, when it came to eating them they just licked the icing off and left the cake bit.

Now, I have no problems with the cake bit. Last week I had a cupcake every day for four days in a row. Luckily, they are all gone now (in mah belly!). Methinks I better have a few CFDs (cupcake free days).

Last time I wrote how disappointed we were when we came second. Well, Karma decided to pay us back on our latest trivia outing. We came equal seventh with three other teams. Seventh! To add insult to injury the team of young boys (some of them aren't even legal drinking age) came in first. Somehow I think we left our brains at home this time.

Would you have been able to help? Here is your chance at this month's questions:

1. Which movie features a supervillian named Gru?
   
   
2. How many seconds are there on the shot clock in an NBA Basketball Game?
   
   
3. Louis Braille had perfect eyesight. True or False?
   
   
4. Patti Boyd left her husband, George Harrison, for which rockstar?
   
   
5. Beam, cantilever, suspension and cable-stayed are all types of what?
   
   
6. What abrasive rock is solidified frothy lava?
   
   
7. Citizens of Puerto Rico hold which country's passport?
   
   
8. The ancient Roman province of Lusitania encompasses which modern country?
   
   

You know the rules...