I was really looking forward to Spring Break this year. I love having my kids in school, the structure, and all they learn there. They love school! But it's also so nice to have them home and have a whole week to do whatever we want! My goals for spring break were to spend lots of quality time with my boys and to enjoy as many fun, free things in our own backyard as possible!
One thing on our list was some cooking lessons. I let each boy choose what they wanted to make. First thing Monday morning we made blueberry muffins with Hudson! He was so proud of the result!
Then we took off to enjoy the fresh air at one of our favorite parks- GrayHawk. Lots of our neighbor friends met us there and we had a grand time! This park has so much to do and it was fun to have so many friends to play with!
In the late afternoon we set off for Salt Lake City! We had some time to kill so I took the boys around Temple Square. They loved more than I expected! We stopped to talk about various statues, the architecture and meaning of the temple, admire the floors, see the visitors center displays, and I took them in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and showed them the room where Ben and I had our lovely wedding dinner. They were so enthusiastic about everything!
Then we met Ben (and some pizza) at the Hilton for the night! We had a free hotel night that was use it or lose it, so we did! The boys loved the idea of a staycation- especially the hot chocolate bar in the evening and the delicious breakfast buffet in the morning! We stayed up late watching TV and had a great time! And as a bonus, for like the first time ever, Davis slept just fine in the pack n play!
In the morning we set out to tour the Capitol building. This had been on Chase's wish list for the week. He loved learning about everything- the history, architecture, government, he's always searching for more knowledge. Hudson, on the other hand, was pointing out the similarities between the rotunda and a Jedi temple. And Davis was pretty happy to be along for the ride!
Chase is in a serious tree climbing phase right now- he finally figured out how to climb up a really tall tree by our church, which was a serious accomplishment for him. Also- this is our newly pruned cherry tree. Over the last few weeks, Ben and I (and my dad, and our friend Matt) have pruned our apricot, pear, peach, nectarine and 2 cherry trees and our grapevines!).
We babysat Nora and Anna one night and all the cousins had a great time. I loved this picture of Davis and Anna in the bath together. Afterwards Davis kept helping me rub lotion on Anna and kept saying "Soft. Baby." Over and over. In fact, he called her "baby" all week, which is weird because she's older than him.
Wednesday we hit up the Hill AirForce Base Museum. My big kids LOVE this place. It really is so cool. And Davis was a huge pain while we were there- trying to run under the ropes and right next to a plane. Ah- so stressful! Towards the end I stuck him in this wagon with some friends and he did slightly better. Sometimes taking a two year old places just isn't magical. The important part is that the big kids loved it!
Our last two days of the week we spent at two different, super awesome parks! This swing park was crazy and fun and Hudson spent too much time on the merry go round and threw up in the car on the way home! We had sent out a group message to our whole neighborhood with the park schedule, so a whole bunch of neighbors met up with us each day and it made it so fun!
Chase got his chance at a cooking lesson. He made oatmeal waffles- completely by himself. He is also making french toast all by himself these days! I'm so proud!
Amid all these activities we also had a great amount of down time. One day I looked over to see my three boys watching TV like this! They are such sweet brothers.
Our week ended with general conference. I love general conference and so many messages spoke right to my soul. The boys requested that we do the special bowls of treats (labeled with certain words- if they hear that word they get to pick a treat out of that bowl). Hudson was so into it! He rarely missed a word! The boys mostly built with legos while listening, and he was hopping up right and left to retrieve an M&M or marshmallow.
This was such a great break! I'm thankful for these boys who love to adventure with me. They are enthusiastic about everything and it makes everything so much fun!
