Spring Break...Ahhhh

Spring Break week.  I had slightly hoped for a spring break month, but I admit that I missed all the adult interactions I get on a normal week.

Spring Breakers.  They asked me to take this picture.  Then Henry sat on his siblings.

We started our week off by blowing up lots of balloons, throwing them over the ledge while the sibling on the ground tried to keep them from hitting the ground.  There was lots of squealing and excitement involved.  Plus, they burned off a lot of energy running (walking calmly) up the stairs and back down again.


Todd reminded us that throwing things off the ledge was not the wisest of decisions, so we played with the balloons safely on the ground for the remainder of the week. Although, I think we've had 7 out of the 10 pop as the week has worn on.  It disappointed Josiah the most when they popped because he had drawn bodies on each balloon, and, in the likeness of Xavier Roberts, wrote their names on their bottoms.

We finally played the dreidel game.  We studied Ancient Israel last week, but never found time to play the game.  We played it Gentile-style...with jellybeans.  (Hey, it's close to Easter.)  After Henry got over the hurdle of not getting the whole pot every turn, it was a fun game.

My child...organized his jelly beans.

Henry got his ice cream for having good behavior and not throwing a fit when we dropped him off for church.  He has gotten a million times better with it.  When we picked him up last week, I asked how he did and the lady said he did really well and actually played with everyone.  I think we have hopefully cleared that hurdle now.

All siblings benefit from his good behavior.  

We spent part of our spring break doing a tour of playgrounds.  We had repair men come two different mornings, so we didn't get to them until the afternoon which made it a bit busier and hotter than I had hoped.  The kids didn't care, of course.

Caroline & Henry went across the balance beam (that wiggled) and Henry proudly did it without holding on:


The boys patiently waited for other kids to get down before they could finally reach the top of the spider web thing.  A favorite of theirs.

Memorial Park playground has a monument for all the branches of service.  We took a picture in front of the Navy side to pay homage to the Navy men in my family.  Caroline is noticeably absent from this picture because she was actually screaming that she wanted the stick that Josiah had.

Inside the monument and still angry he won't give up the stick.

Not even a dress would slow down Caroline from climbing a rock wall like a champ.

Josiah taught Henry how to hang upside down.

Midweek, Todd took a day off of work and we were off to the rodeo.  We were very happy to find an "official" parking lot as opposed to the somewhat shady parking lot we found last year.

We took our cowboy hats to fit in with the crowd.

We went to the petting zoo.  I told Caroline to stay with Daddy.  She did not want to heed my directive, so she entered with Josiah, Henry, & me.  She was not a happy camper to be in there with 45 animals and 200 people (at least it felt like that).

We walked down a row of cows.  Caroline was not a fan.  Then we went down a row of pigs.  All the pigs were in pens waiting to be shown (I'm assuming).  One passed us by and bumped Caroline which did not warm her feelings toward the livestock.  Josiah thought it was hilarious to see the pig right next to him.

Outside, we chose one ride to go on all together.  The carousel.  Normally, this would be my nemesis since I cannot do circle things.  I cannot even look at a carousel without feeling sick to my stomach.  But we did it.  I stared at Caroline and took pictures of her the whole time which grounded me.  Caroline had never been on a carousel before.  She loved it.




What we learned at the rodeo was that Caroline is not an animal lover.  Not a lover of any type of animal.  Henry, meanwhile, is a bleeding heart and asked, "Why do we have to eat chickens?  Why do we have to eat cows?"  Josiah would love to live on a farm and be surrounded by animals.

Caroline does not yet understand time.  Case in point: She has asked me several times a day, "We go to the beach?"  June, Caroline, June.  I've showed her the calendar, we'ved talked about three months time.  She has no clue.  Up again from her nap, "We go to the beach?"

The boys decided to draw portraits of family members.  They set up their "studios" and had really focused drawing time.  I love it when they get in these art moods.

Henry drew me (as if that needed to be said).  I'd like to make it clear that he drew my "gums" near my upper teeth.  Also, he got tired of drawing my yellow skin tone, so stopped just around my mouth.

Josiah drew Caroline & Henry:


We finished up our spring break by finally getting some things on our walls!  We got a bit more Texified.  Texas clock.  Cowboy hat rack.  We are immersing ourselves in the local culture.

We got our mirror hung up, too!