Just because a regular hiking day happens to fall on a holiday or otherwise special occasion doesn't mean you have to stay home to celebrate your family's traditions. Take for example our Easter Sunday's hike.

Truthfully, I hadn't given much thought to how we'd observe Easter in the week prior. Being that we're Christians the main point of the weekend is to reflect upon the death and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I feel you can do that wherever you are. But as you know there are other traditions associated with Easter that have nothing whatsoever (as far as I can tell) to do with its Christian message. You know... eggs, chocolate & bunnies. I have nothing against these frivolities except for the consumption non-fair trade chocolate and inevitable sugar high.

I knew we'd go hiking this Sunday so I didn't give any thought to chocolate and bunnies, till Brienne started counting down the days till Easter Sunday - and not because of our Lord's resurrection! She is our sweet tooth and must have remembered egg and candy hunts from years past.

So not wanting to disappoint and seeing no reason the Easter bunny (our kids don't believe in these fantasy creatures anyway) couldn't visit Pleasant Mountain in Denmark, ME we packed the chocolate treats along and hid them on a mountain summit instead of the traditional backyard.

But since this was a nature experience and we're always trying to teach our kiddos about the plants and animals we thought we'd tease them a little.

As it turns out Easter Bunny scat is very tasty! And the usual sugar high? It's amazing what a hike up and down a mountain does to dissipate bouncing-off-the-wall type behavior. We had exhausted kids in the car ride home and everyone was tired and in bed by 8pm. I think we may be onto something here...