I bet you didn't know that the Easter Bunny originated in Germany. (Here he is known as the Osterhase, which means Easter Hare). The Germans were some of the earliest people to dye Easter eggs, too.
So going with tradition, we dyed our eggs. (Okay, so we used an American PAAS Easter egg dying kit from the commissary, but still...)
An interesting German tradition is an Easter Fountain. That is where they put lots of (plastic) eggs on a fountain or a well (the water is turned off) for Easter.
This is the Easter fountain that is in our town.
There are spring flowers hanging on this one, too.
The two pictures below are the two most interesting eggs on the whole fountain. They have a pipe-cleaner chicken inside!
It was a brisk 32 degrees this morning (and snowed later on...) But it felt kind of nice compared to how cold it has been lately, so that is why we don't look too cold without coats.
Kieran is very excited about his Kinder Eggs he got (as you can see.)
I'm so excited that I got a yo-yo in my Easter basket!
No, REALLY! I'm excited!!
And, you know...of course there is chocolate...
The most important part about Easter in Germany (besides getting yo-yos):
Maya's Official Guide on
How to tell the difference between
a Kinder Egg (Uberraschung) and
a Kinder Joy
Please note that you will NOT find these in your local American grocery store because they are ILLEGAL. Seriously. You can't even mail them to your friends in the U.S. They are THAT dangerous. They have a big tube in the middle filled with toys. Oh no! You might be so dumb that you would try to EAT the toys and it can kill you. (Do NOT eat toys, people!) Apparently Americans eat too many toys. So you will have to come to Germany if you ever want to taste the difference between a Kinder Egg and a Kinder Joy.
So, on the left you have a Kinder Uberraschung (commonly known as a Kinder Egg.) Uberraschung means "surprise" in German, so it really should be called a Kinder Surprise. (Actually if we're getting technical, it should be translated as a "Childen Surprise" since Kinder means Children.)
AND on the right we have a Kinder Joy.
The first difference you will notice is the wrapper on the Kinder Egg is tin-foil. It peels away easily, as demonstrated by Kieran.
Next you break apart the chocolate egg, and for SAFETY REASONS you pull out the large YELLOW tube that contains toys that you might choke and die on.
Now it is safe to eat your chocolate.
Warning: Please fully remove the tube or else you might bite into it.
When you are done with your chocolate, you may now open your large yellow tube.
SURPRISE!!! (That's the surprise part of the Kinder Surprise!)
Pull out all items in the tube, including the German-only instructions (don't worry, the pictures are usually more informative than the typical Happy Meal toy instructions). Make sure you aren't eating chocolate while you do this, or else you might accidentally eat part of your toy and choke and die.
Kieran successfully built this complicated stamper ring (even without dying!) And he's only six!
Now to enjoy your Kinder Joy. First you notice that this egg has a plastic shell, so you can easily break it open. It has two separate sections, and a flat spoon in the middle.
First proceed to open the side with the question mark cover. This will reveal your toy!
Lay out all pieces of the toy before you start to build your toy.
I built a self-propelled ski-boat with a rubber band that twists up.
Then proceed to open the other half of your egg. This is the JOY part!
You will find two large chocolate wafer balls surrounded by creamy chocolate nutella-ish spread.
Proceed to pick up your spoon (careful not to swallow it...you could choke and die!) and enJOY!
Are you still reading this? What are you still doing here? Go away! I want to eat my Kinder Joy in peace!
Happy Easter!!
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