Spring Break

A couple weeks ago Mark had a business trip in NYC.  We went up together the weekend before and then I flew home alone on Monday evening.  The weekend was blissful and I spent Monday hanging out with Heather (my friend from the mission).  Problem is, when I got home I had a very difficult time transitioning back into mom mode, sometimes I just get tired.  Luckily Mark had been coming home earlier for the past couple weeks so the kids weren't completely neglected.

Katie had Spring Break last week, and I resolved to get back into enjoying parenting.  Monday morning we visited the local firehouse with some kids from the gym.  Marcus asked if he could drive the fire truck (they said when he became a fireman) and Addy asked if she could see their beds (which they showed her).

We spent the afternoon hanging out with friends at the park.

Tues Flossie came down to take Bethany and Eric to the airport, we met her at IKEA.  IKEA with 5 kids is a little crazy.  Afterwards we had an Easter egg hunt at our house and dinner afterwards, Sarah and her family came for the festivities.

Cooper, Addy, Talia, Marcus, Carson & Katie (yes that is a leotard on Addy)

Enjoying their spoils

 Wed, Flossie, Sarah and I took the kids to an indoor playground and then out to eat.  Everyone did pretty well, until the waitress waited to bring us the checks.  Ten mins after we were done eating Addy dropped a glass and it shattered all over the restaurant (as you can imagine we got our check pretty quickly after that).

Thursday morning we headed to the zoo.  We met my friend, Vanessa, there with her three kids (her youngest Sean was in M & A's preschool class, and they live in our neighborhood).  Before we left Addy told Mark she wanted to see a jaguar and a reindeer, Katie wanted to see a horse and a lamb and Marcus wanted to see an elephant and a snake.  Marcus was the only one who had a real chance. 

Ben, Addy, Katie, Marcus, Logan & Sean

 Friday was a perfectly lazy day.  I was supposed to go to the gym, but didn't.  The kids played from 9:00am until 12:00pm without acknowledging me.

I read...and...did nothing, it was great.  After lunch we took a long walk combined with a scavenger hunt.  To top off a great day Mark's boss sent him home at 4pm (and no, he wasn't fired)!

B & Farm boy

 Bethany and her husband Eric have been staying at my parents house while they are in Guatemala.  They were getting ready to go back to BYU-I so we decided to go hang out with them for a few days.

First, we made a pit stop at the park and met Flossie and her kids for a picnic lunch and a hike.

Addy was being a little stinker at the end of the hike, she laid down in the grass and would not come with us.  I told her that I was leaving, and waved goodbye, Katie and Marcus freaked out and ran and got her, the three of them ran towards me holding hands (Carson jumped in for the picture).  The last three years have been crazy for me but there are some benefits to having so many kids so close together--they are all best friends.

 After fun with the cousins we headed to my parents house.  There was a baby goat that my kids were so excited to see.  First thing they did was help Eric feed the goats.  Addy didn't want to go with them at first, she stayed back by the house with the dogs (she was afraid the goats would eat her).  Somewhere along the way she started calling Eric "Farmboy".

The next day we went walking on the creeper trail.  I should have brought a stroller or something, cause the kids whined most of the way.

On the way to the trail, Rufio wasn't in his crate, he got scared from the bumps and jumped on the kids lap, Katie was so excited about having him on her lap in the car that she asked me to take a picture and post it.

The kids kept picking up sticks to take on the walk.  Addy was getting frustrated because everyone had a bigger one then her.  She fixed this by pulling out a mini tree.

That night, Bryan and his boys and Flossie and hers came up to my parents house for a mini family party.   Three single parents, 7 kids five and under and one pair of newly weds made for a good time.

 

My parent's dog was a little jealous of the attention that Rufio was getting so Bryan decided to treat her like a puppy.

In between all the kid time I got to chat (and gossip) with Bethany and Eric.  And of course, Bethany made us some yummy food.

Thanks Bethany and Eric for the good time.