My Favorite Things: Easter

Easter is April 24th this year, and due to the late date, it seems to be wreaking havoc on the kid's Spring Break schedules.  Almost every kid seems to have a different Spring Break this year!  So whenever your vacation falls, there are lots of ways to celebrate Easter and Spring this year in the OC!

One of our favorite things to do is visit Irvine Park for their wonderful age-specific Easter Egg hunt and Easter train.  They also have many other activities, including Meet the Easter Bunny, Moon Bounce, Hay Ride and Easter Cookie decorating. Plan to arrive early and buy a wristband for a specific time.  More information can be found here.

Another special tradition for our family is to have a photo done with the Easter Bunny at Fashion Island.  The setting is especially beautiful in their spring garden, and the kids love to run around on the grass and watch the koi swim. Additional details are here.

Easter always makes us think of new life and new beginnings.  A great way to share this with your kids is to visit a local zoo or petting zoo and find some baby animals to observe.  The Santa Ana Zoo has a brand new baby monkey just born on February 10, 2011.  Zoomars Petting Zoo is in San Juan Capistrano, and makes for a wonderful day trip, just a short train ride away.

Another definite must-see, Spring event is The Flower Fields in Carlsbad.  This is a breath-taking display of flowers covering 50 acres in North San Diego including an American flag made of red, white, and blue anemone flowers and a sweet pea maze.  It is open from March 1 through May 8.  Click here for a calendar of events.

There is something very special about being awake at sunrise - it's a beautiful time of the day that most of us never get to see (or want to either!). For those who celebrate Easter in a religious way, a sunrise Easter service can be a wonderful way to start the day and experience nature in a new way.  Knotts Berry Farm is having their 58th Annual Easter Sunrise Service in the Knott's Wagon Camp on Sunday, April 24th at 6am. Gates open at 5 am.

Nothing says Spring more to some people (especially those of us living in the shadow of the Big A) than baseball!  Opening weekend at Angel Stadium is April 8th - 10th with a special Family Package on Sunday, April 10th.  $44 gets you four tickets, 4 small drinks and 4 hotdogs!  Click here to find out more.

This is just a small sampling of fun things to do this Spring in Orange County, so please feel free to add your own ideas in the comments section below!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hop blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.