Easter

Taking pictures with the Easter Bunny has long been a tradition for my family– no Easter season would be complete without it. As a parent, these holiday mall photos are a staple because I love collecting and comparing them to see how much the kids have changed and grown from year to year.

This year we kicked things off by taking pictures with E.B. himself, at The gorgeous Shops at Riverside– a mall that if you are in the New Jersey area, I highly, highly recommend checking out (if you are not already familiar).What I love about The Shops at Riverside is that in addition to my usual favorites like H&M and Francescas, they have a lot of the higher end stores that I absolutely adore but cannot be found in some of the other malls in my area, like– Pottery Barn (and Pottery Barn Kids!), Lilly Pulitzer, Tiffany & Co. and Williams Sonoma– and they also have some great sit-down dining options like Morton’s Steakhouse, Oceanaire, and Cheesecake Factory.

The Easter Bunny photo set-up is conveniently located right outside of H&M, so naturally we stopped in to find some cutes pastel outfits for our Easter picture taking. I wish they made Laina’s pink layered top in my size! So cute!Laina had been pumping up Avery’s excitement about these photos for days! Her big sister pride truly beams brightest when she is lead the way and getting Avery excited about holiday traditions.

As any parent knows, taking pictures with kids can feel like a gamble. Sometimes it goes well, and other times we are sweating bullets trying to get them to just look at the camera. Thankfully, Laina had Avs so stoked to meet “E.B.”, that when it came to take the actual photos, he was (though a tad shy) 100% cooperative, smiling at the camera. I actually had a hard time choosing one shot for prints because they all were so cute! There were lots of photo packages to choose from starting at around $25 and one of the packages even offered the digital file which is great for those of us who love to share our photos online! 🙂

After the photos were taken, selected and printed out, the kids were given a lollipop and sticker and we explored the mall a little more before heading back home.

It was such a great day with the two little ones, I only wish I could have somehow bribed my almost 13-yr old to join us… but, you know…  teenagers! 

Between all of the gorgeous sunlight that shines into the The Shoppes At Riverside and the pretty greenery and spring flowers surrounding the Easter Bunny, we almost forgot about the chilly temps outside and  left craving spring more than ever!

Disclosure: This post was written in partnership with Simon Malls/ The Shops At Riverside.