Spring Breaks

We were so glad to be the vacation destination for Kelsey, my younger sister, and a couple of her friends for their college spring break.  Well, actually, we were just a side trip, she was actually coming to get her new car from my parent's house, but we accept the fact that we were a fun side dish :)  It was nice of them to come crash for 24 hrs.  I even took the girls out of school and the younger kids and I neglected all our commitments to go frolic in the forest and check out the sea lions in Moss Landing with aunt Kelsey.  We fed them some picnic lunch and grilled pizza for dinner and it was so fun!

4 kids taking a break on the forest walk

With Aunt Kelsey on the bridge

Jocelyn found the most banana slugs

For our spring break I took the kids up to our favorite budget destination spot!  You guessed it...my parent's house.  They are so good to make it feel special even when I hit them up for two consecutive breaks from school.  My mom and I put the kids down for bed and were able to watch the Women's Conference in peace.  We went to church with my parents and had Family Home Evening there. Even every day events seem more exciting when they are at Grandma & Grandpa's house.  Grandpa got his fancy kite all set up and ready to use but literally the minute we were going to walk over to the park it started to rain and didn't stop for 48 hours.  Nana was pretty creative coming up with activities but by the second afternoon when they were getting stir crazy Grandpa packed them up and took them with a bunch of sporting equipment over to the church gym to get some energy out.

I worked on sewing projects almost non-stop and, with my mom's assistance, I got to everything on my list.  My parents took them to the local frozen yogurt shop and then we finished off the trip the next day going to a local Railway Museum.  My dad had to work, but he funded the outing and we took Audrey our family friend with us.  As part of the museum we got to take a one hour train ride and enjoy the fields and baby lambs and calves out with their moms.  We rode on a 1930s electrical train car and were served lemonade and cookies much to the kids' delight. The museum has a very home town feel and all the workers were volunteers who are passionate about trains.

Nana Audrey and kids outside of Museum

Wearing the conductors hat and ringing the bell

The crew before getting on the train ride

Nana bailing me out on some sewing projects

Grandpa and kids before bed

After we came home we turned around and welcomed Jared's parents for their spring break.  We enjoyed General Conference (interrupted continually by 4 kids), walking to the duck pond, going out to eat and catching up with them.  Since Jared and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary last month, his parents offered to watch the kids so we could have a mini getaway.  Jared is very busy for work and any money that we thought about spending, we both agreed should just go to house projects and the like so we just went on a local "vacation."  We went out to dinner and a movie, stayed at a hotel for a couple nights near Jared's work. I went to work with him and worked on a photo book I have had on my "to-do" list for 4 months and caught up on email. Mostly, we just spent un-interrupted time together. What a concept!!  We got to sleep in a little and then I had to leave the next day to go to a horrible 3 hour dentist appointment that I have been putting off for some time.  With one particular tooth threatening to need a root canal and babysitters in town I decided to take the plunge.  I'm sure my jaw will be sore for a while, but now I should be all caught up on the work the dentist has been telling me to do for over a year :)  It is so great having extra hands around. Jared's dad has done some yard work, his mom has transported kids to and from school and stayed with them during swim lessons, done dishes. I'm not sure how I will manage on my own when they are gone!!  The kids have been in grandparent heaven all week going from one set to the other and I just feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people.

Grandpa reading to the kiddos

Snuggling after conference on Sunday

J&C at the pruneyards after dinner