Spring Break 2011

Ah, spring break.

I personally feel that our spring break happens too late in the school year. We have this delightful week off and then are expected to gear ourselves up and go back to school for 6 weeks. I sort of mentally start shutting down at spring break and ramping up for summer vacation. I could use a break in dreary March...but since no one at the school district office has contacted me regarding my personal feelings about spring break, I'll just be happy with what I'm given.

But I digress.

Since Chris is hoarding his vacation days for a little family extravaganza that we'll soon be taking (the kids don't know...it is a surprise...but SUCH a good surprise...stay tuned!) we decided to have a little "stay-cation". I love staycations because we play, play, play but I can sleep in my own bed and use my own shower. And so, without further adieu...I present a recap of Spring Break 2011.

MONDAY
We had a play date day. My children have 3 friends that they adore. Our family has known their family for a long, long time. These kids have literally been raised together. And when they get together, magic happens! The kids played together for 7 hours and I only intervened when it was lunch time. Those are the best kinds of friends...the ones that you can pass a day together with and never get sick of each other! I made cute things downstairs in my workroom and children happily played and frolicked all around me. Paradise!

TUESDAY
It was time for an adventure. I am always looking for the undiscovered wonders of this state I live in. While the kids and I have been lots of places and explored lots of things, there is still so much left undone. I have been ready for something fresh...the old stomping grounds have been run dry. And so I opened my "Fun with the Family in Utah: Hundreds of Ideas for Day Trips with the Kids" (don't be turned off by the 2 star rating and cranky reviews) and found a couple of places that needed exploring. We picked up one of JC's best friends and headed into the wild blue.

First stop, the Fort Douglas Museum in Salt Lake City...a fascinating military museum that chronicles the history of the armed services here in Utah. The museum is located right in the heart of the University of Utah campus and was truly fascinating! We met "Red" Gillmore, a veteran of World War II, Korean, and Vietnam Wars and heard his amazing story of service in the armed forces for that many years. He was so gracious in sharing not only his experiences but some of the unique history of Utah's military forts. It really was fascinating...and this coming from a person who is not usually lining up first for "military" museums.

In the back of the museum was an astounding collection of cannons, tanks, helicopters, planes, jeeps, etc. It was boy heaven! (HB endured it very well.)

Next, it was off to the Utah state capitol building. I realize this may seem random but we were looking for free and fascinating...and we were not disappointed. What an amazing building! It was beautiful and the kids were really intrigued by all the things that happen there. They kept hoping they would bump into the governor...no luck. But the murals and regal nature of the architecture  left all of us a little awe struck. It is a worth a trip to see...one of Salt Lake City's hidden gems!

Examining the House of Representatives chambers...very dignified looking.

After a couple hours of history, it was time to do some stick chasing. And so we crossed the street, walked down the charming stone pathway, and spent a delightful hour in Memorial Grove park chasing sticks, throwing rocks and running around. Dreamy.

Of course, no day is complete without a quick trip to Dippidee's Bakery for cupcakes and brownies that are a party in your mouth!

It was a fun, relaxed, fascinating day. My favorite kind of days!

WEDNESDAY
We had a fun trip to the pool with ML and her kids. While it was crowded and loud, there was lots of water, splashing, and things to slide down and climb on. The kids loved it. I opted for a dry chair on the side of the pool and a great book...I also played watchdog as I nervously ran around the edge of the pool doing a constant head count. As we were getting ready to leave, ML slipped and fell near the edge of the pool while holding her toddler. She cut her knee and the baby hit his head. We hurried and got her into "first aid" where the 12 year olds took over...I'm not kidding. One lifeguard wandered around looking for band aids while the other lifeguard tried to fill out an accident report. What follows is a portion of the conversation I had with the life guard who was trying to fill out a simple report...

12 Year Old Lifeguard: What was her address again?
Me: She lives on Elm Circle.
12 YOL: What street?
Me: Elm.
(I watch her write down the word "Elem".)
Me: No, ELM.
(She erases and writes Ellem.)
Me: You spell it E-L-M.
(She erases and writes "Eelm". I'm not kidding when I say we played this game for another 15 seconds of me spelling E-L-M and her writing absurd variations before she finally said...Oh, I'll just fix it later.)
Me: What?
12 YOL: Now, how do you spell "circle"?

Reality is so, so much stranger than fiction. I won't go into the fact that this was the person responsible for saving drowning children...I hope she is better at lifeguarding than she is spelling.

THURSDAY
Chris took today off and we let the kids pick the activities. We spent a glorious afternoon at the Nickelcade. We are so proud of our children and their sophisticated taste in cultural activities! :>) This is why they are only allowed to dictate the activities SOME of the time. After spending a few nickels, we headed down to BYU where we explored all the science experiments at the Eyring Science Center, waved to Chip in his office, bought chocolate covered gummy bears at the bookstore, and then finished the day  off with a huge, delicious JDawg hot dog. Culinary perfection!

FRIDAY
Because Chris and I have only been parents for 10 years, we sometimes have overally optimistic ideas about our superpowers and abilities. We thought it would be a fabulous day to take all 3 of our relatively young children downhill skiing. While Chris is an expert skier, I am mediocre at best and none of our children have ever skiied before. And so off to the ski slopes we went.

With a crystal blue sky overhead, balmy spring temperatures, and glittering white snow, we spent a day crying, whining, cursing, and pulling children off the ground in skiis. I'm not sure I've ever been so frustrated...and we were on the "bunny" hill. Sometimes I was laughing hysterically, other times I was biting my tongue and thinking words in my head that I didn't know I knew. For some reason, after a couple of hours of falling down, we thought it would be fun to take the ski lift up the beginner hill. I waited at the bottom with HB who had a mental breakdown and refused to wear her ski boots for one second longer. We waited. And waited. And waited. After an hour, the ski lift shut down and the employees started leaving. I was still waiting at the bottom of the hill, straining to see some glimpse of my children and husband. I watched a snowmobile rush up the mountain and then come down empty. Finally...finally...they arrived. And what an adventure they had had. The whole ski lift had to be shut down when the boys tried to get off...JC fell flat on his face and MC just sat in the chair as it started to head back down the mountain. Then there was the actual "skiing" (or lack thereof) down the mountain. While Chris pulled one boy up, the other one would head at breaknecking speeds toward the big trees before throwing themselves into the snow. So Chris would go rescue that boy while the other hurdled toward the next set of trees. I'm glad it seems funny today. Yesterday, I thought I was going to lose my mind. We are calling it quits on downhill skiing for the year. Nexxt year I will happily fork over my money and sign them up for Ski School. At least if you are pulling whining children out of the snow, you are being paid for it!

But we went home to a beautiful dinner that JC made on the BBQ grill...and even ate outdoors for the first time this season! Hooray for spring!

SATURDAY
We made the children do hard labor at home and in the yard. But tonight they went out with Chris to see another dollar movie...we love the dollar movies. I opted to stay home with my book.

And so another Spring Break has come and gone. It has been such a fun week! I love being at home with my kids and having all the time in the world for adventures and playing and exploring. I haven't missed the homework, packing lunches, soccer practices, soccer games, and all the other necessary details of daily life. Sometimes its nice to just walk away from it all and spend all your time and energy on the happy details of life.

Summer vacation...we can't wait!!!