Spring Break 2015!

For some reason, Spring Break this year felt different. Good different, but different. Like more of a vacation and a taste of summer all in one, reminiscent of the days of college or when I was first teaching and could do whatever I felt like for a whole week. In fact I was often heard yelling "Spring Break 2015!" all week long.

So in an effort to remember all the fun that we had, I thought I'd blog about it! I have to say it was an absolutely perfect spring break. The days were long in a good way, and the week seemed more like two which was awesome. It was refreshing just to not have any commitments, homework, lunches to make, alarm clocks, and to hang up my taxi driver hat for the week.

Thursday was the last day of school, and when we got home that afternoon we had a great time playing outside! Friday morning we returned to the driveway for more bike riding, scootering, and outdoor fun. After lunch we headed over to Baba and Daideo's house to play. They live right down the street from Robinson Preserve, which was the location for a race that we were running on Friday night. Unfortunately it was really rainy, so we weren't sure how that would all go. But the rain cleared right when it was time for us to leave! Matthew and Caroline were signed up for a kids' race, and they were super pumped to have official race shirts and bibs. Caroline went first and I found a spot at the finish line to record her running super fast. Sadly, I ended up recording her falling literally head over heels into a mud puddle. The poor thing! She cried but got up with the help of another mom that I know. Since I was at the finish line all the other kids were running toward me and I couldn't go to her right away. As soon as I could run over without trampling another kid I did. She calmed down once I was holding her, but she was covered in mud. Then it was Matthew's turn, He learned from Caroline's tragedy and purposely avoided all of the mud puddles. They both got medals for competing. The highlight of course!

After that it was my turn to run. The race had both a 5k and a 10k, but I opted for the 5k since I hadn't run one since October and the last two races I ran were totally awful! I was so glad that I was only running 3 miles. It started raining again just as the race began, which made the weather nice and cool. I ran a pretty fast race, and actually ended up placing third in my age group! I didn't expect to place because this is a pretty big race so I was pleasantly surprised. We ate a pasta dinner there, stayed for the awards, and then took three tired kids home.

Saturday we went to a birthday party, and that evening we met some friends at the park to play tennis. Somehow the guys' tennis game turned into duck duck goose with all the kids. We grilled out after and enjoyed a nice dinner on the patio while the kids played together.

Sunday was another gorgeous day. That afternoon we took our kite down to the park. All three kids took turns flying it, but Lily definitely loved it the most! She ran all over that field trying to jump and catch the kite and then holding the string and flying it herself.

Monday Brian went back to work, but the kids and I continued to play! I drag them to the Y with me in the morning so I could workout (Which was cut short because Lily had an accident. How I depise potty training!) then we met some friends at the park. We were there well past nap time, but who cares, it's Spring Break 2015! And the weather was so amazing we just didn't want to leave. We eventually did, but continued our fun by ordering pizza and eating it outside. Poor Brian was depressed about being at work all day so we tried to make him feel better.

Tuesday Lily had speech, but we opted to have her session out on the driveway. Seriously, the weather was so nice all week. We literally could not stay inside. While we were playing with sidewalk chalk I discovered that not only does she know all her colors, but she knows her shapes and numbers 1-10 as well! It did take me quite a while to figure out that she was requesting that I draw her a triangle, but her speech is really coming along. When speech ended we went to the park with Scott and Catie to watch Emmy try the swings for the first time! If anyone is counting, this is now three park trips in 3 days. On the way Matthew informed me that it's cool when boys wear their hats to the side. Who told him this?! Seriously, who. We need to have some words. We tried to get a picture of the cousins together, but it's about as easy as potty training is turning out to be.

Tuesday night we went to the park yet again (I may need an intervention) for a kickball game with our life group. It was so much fun! And it didn't hurt that my team won :o) I might still be limping a bit almost a week later, but it was so worth it.

Wednesday was a beach day! We managed to coordinate the girls from life group and some from Oasis to all be there together. It was awesome! My kids were absolutely in heaven with so many friends to play with. Of course Matthew spent most of his time with Jacob and Caroline was buddies with Jack. There was one minor episode in which Lily pooped on the beach... Thankfully it was in a bush and no one saw it. Did I mention how fun potty training is?

When we got home I sent the kids to their rooms to rest and I continued my beach time on the patio with a book. It was quite relaxing until Lily emerged with Matthew telling me that she'd had yet another accident on the floor. And somehow she managed to get poop all over her legs. I mean, do I even need to say anything at this point? After Caroline woke up (my only sleeper) we met some more friends at - you guessed it - a park! The kids had a great time playing cops and robbers and putting each other in jail. They were having such a great time that they didn't even realize it was time for dinner! I finally managed to drag them home and feed them. And then, because I apparently didn't want the day to end, we got milkshakes at PDQ! I promise we did eventually put them to bed.

Brian took Thursday and Friday off, so we were finally able to spend some time with him! I should mention that we have discovered that there is a rabbit living in our yard, or a yard nearby, and the kids have taken to bunny-spotting every morning. We actually went all around the yard hunting for the rabbit's burrow, and we found an old one under a bush. Last year all of our bushes were overgrown, but now they aren't so I think they relocated to somewhere more hidden. Matthew had the great idea to feed the bunny some vegetables, because he learned at school that's what they eat. So on Thursday morning we put some carrots and lettuce near the old bunny burrow. We will now be checking to see if the bunny finds his treat!

Brian had never been to Ringling, and I hadn't been there in years, so we decided to head out there for lunch and enjoy the grounds. We found a perfect spot by the water to eat lunch. Then we walked around the outside of the Ca d'Zan (we didn't buy a ticket to go in) and went to find the playground. We stopped on the way so I could show the kids how much fun it is to climb in the banyan trees. They weren't super into it at first, until I told them how there are secret hideouts and tunnels all over. Then we couldn't get them out of the trees! Even Lily did some climbing! They loved the playground too of course.

Thursday night Brian and I had a date night, woohoo! We sat right on the water at Pier 22 and watched the sunset as we ate. Then we bought some new sunglasses for me because mine disappeared at kickball and finished off the night with some ice cream at Sweet Berries.

Friday we managed to coordinate a day at Busch Gardens with several other families. We normally only go for the morning because that's all the kids can handle, but with friends there we lasted until 4:00! It was pretty much a kid-centered day, but the guys did get to enjoy a roller coaster!

We probably could have stayed a little longer, but we had plans to go to a friend's house for dinner at 6:00 so we headed for home. Good thing too, because we hit quite a bit of traffic and barely made it! We stopped by the house for like 10 minutes to shower and let Cajun out. Dinner was delicious and lots of fun, and the kids even got to make s'mores after!

On Saturday we had our home visit, which went great! And the kids had soccer. It's only April but it's definitely getting hot! Matthew was excited to have his same coach again and be on a team with one of his friends from school. Caroline screamed her head off like someone was sawing off her arm because she hates her shin guards and cleats, but after quite a bit of convincing and tears (hers not mine) she turned it around and had a great game. She actually got the sportsmanship medal for the week for showing good listening skills! We also colored our Easter eggs on Saturday. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

Easter Sunday! We started our day with an egg hunt, of course! The first of three! To cut down on the candy consumption, this year I bought the older two kids a small lego set and filled a bunch of the eggs with the pieces. Also, usually I fill their Easter baskets with little gifts and tape a scripture verse on them that relates to why we got them the gift. This year I put the verses in the eggs, and when they found one they would bring it to me or Brian and we would read the verse to them and give them the corresponding gift. Once all the eggs were found we headed to church. The service was great! After service was egg hunt number two, along with some Hawaiian Ice and photo booth pictures. Then it was off to Baba and Daideo's house for Easter lunch and more egg hunting! We had a great time with family. Aunt Denise and Uncle Tom, Aunt Sandy and Uncle Barry, and Scott, Catie and Emmy were all there. My kids were loving it! The kids had a hunt, and of course the grownups did too! Lily was hilarious to watch. Last year she stuffed massive amounts of jellybeans in her mouth and I thought she was bleeding only to discover it was jellybean juice from the 15 she had shoved in there. This year she actually found her eggs, and would run across the house to Baba whenever she found a number in her egg that led to a present. And she would point out Matthew and Caroline's eggs to but leave them there for them to find. The grownups all had a six pack of drinks, and we had to find the bottles to fill our empty container. I may have won and found all of mine first. We ended up staying there until dinner, and then we finally realized that spring break was ending and we had to go home and put the kids to bed at a normal hour. Now we start the countdown to summer!