Antelope Island
Swimming
Friend Play-dates
Bike Riding
Pizza Pie Cafe
Skiing
Zoo
Watch Greatest Showman
More detailed History Lesson about Shakespeare
We managed to check off almost everything. It was a great combination of relaxing fun and productivity.
Monday after cleaning the bathrooms the girls went and rode their bikes again at the church while I finished getting myself and the boys ready. Then we went to the library and everyone picked out great books to read (seriously I was really impressed) and we picked up some Shakespeare for kids books for our history class. Then we did our History lesson. I was really excited when I realized the lesson about Shakespeare lined up with spring break so we could spend a little extra time on it. We listened to the history lesson and talked about it. Then I read Romeo & Juliet to them (the kid version we got from the library which was great!) and towards the end of the reading I looked up and saw Ellie was sobbing buckets of tears. I asked if she was ok. She nodded. And then I asked if it was the story and she nodded again. Such a sweet reaction. After we read the story we put Marcus down for a nap and went downstairs and watched Gnomeo and Juliet. It was a lovely day. Lila even read the kid version of Hamlet later that day (she loves to read the extra books I get to go with our history lessons).
Tuesday we got a babysitter for the boys and went to Alta to ski. We still had a free day there from our Mountain Collective and it had snowed a bit there on Monday and it was the sunniest day so we went for it. And we had a great time (not as epic as our day at Powder Mountain, but still really enjoyable). The girls tried their new skis, we bumped Ellie up a size and then waxed her old skis and passed them down to Lila. I think they were a little nervous at the beginning about it, but then got into a groove and were bombing down the mountain. I was still recovering from that cold we had gotten so about 1:30 I was done. I skied to the bottom and waited for them to do a couple of more runs.
When we got home Marcus was still napping so the girls went and road their bikes again--so cute and I love that they can do it together and Lila is just up and going so good now. We didn't get lunch on the mountain just snacked so we decided that night would be a great time to go to Pizza Pie cafe. The girls had free coupons from their teacher's valentine's and so it was cheap and we all ate until we were stuffed. Andrew thought it was great to just get up and get whatever he wanted.
Wednesday morning everyone was a little antsy and then I suggested we play a game. We listed several games and finally decided upon The Game of Life. I acted as the facilitator for good or bad (I've never played the game before). Steve helped us get started then went to work downstairs in his office. It was fun and we may have messed up a few things like Ellie never got married and she never landed on one of the kids squares, towards the end of the game she said, "I look lonely." And I said, yeah it would be lonely go to through life by yourself that's why we have to be aware of those around us who are alone and include them and also make choices that give us opportunities to spend time with our family. Lila chose a college career and then drew the career of a teacher with $40,000 salary she was upset and thought it unfair. I told her it is a great injustice that the people who teach are kids are so under valued. She had lots of kids (which is something she talks about doing in real life) and then kept saying how poor she was. ;) Andrew well I don't know if it was beginners luck or what but he sailed through as a Lawyer with a wife and two kids. It was fun to play with them and it took up our whole morning.
After lunch Ellie went to play with her best friend Isaac. I couldn't find anyone for Lila to play with, but knew her birthday party was coming soon so she wasn't too upset and to console her a little we got out her easy bake oven and her Andrew made pretzels that afternoon.
That evening we put Andrew to bed at 7 just as Steve was leaving for mutual and then the girls and I went downstairs and watched The Greatest Showman. It was a fun girls activity and it was a good flick with lots of good songs. They really enjoyed it.
Thursday morning we got up and got ready to go the Jordan River Temple open house. I had been planning this for weeks. It's super close to the company Steve consults for down there and so we decided it would be a good day. However, that morning was a little bumpy and I almost said forget it. But we pushed through and had a wonderful experience there. Then I realized it was probably Satan giving us a few hiccups that morning trying to get us not to go and have such a wonderful experience with our kids. As we were walking out Andrew said, "I don't want to leave. Can't we stay here forever." I explained that we should come back as often as we can and that if we follow Heavenly Father's plan eventually we can live with him forever which will give us that feeling of us peace that we feel in the temple. We even talked more about Ellie and how she will be able to go to the temple next month to do baptisms for the dead and what a neat experience that will be. It was a good morning.
We had planned to meet our carpool buddies the Cowleys at the zoo afterwards, but their car broke down and when we got to the zoo it was super busy so we decided not to stop. I did make a stop at Trader Joe's and picked up a few fun things for us and called the Gateway Discovery Center at the suggestion of Ellie, but they said they were really busy too so we drove home and I was wracking my brain trying to think of something we could do and then I thought to of the Shorelands Nature Preserve that is super close to us and free. We called our carpool friends and talked them into going to explore with us. I quickly printed a little paper I remember getting ready for Steve and the cubs when they went there and off we went. It was a lovely afternoon although right when we got there we were sprinkled on a little then it cleared up and was toasty. We saw cranes, ducks, red winged black birds, hawks and my girls had fun filling out the forms, Ellie completed the whole thing. When we got back I realized they had an audio tour on their website you can download so we may go back and try that.
Friday was a little rainy and I needed some time to get ready for Lila's birthday party the next day so we spent the morning cleaning, baking cupcakes, and prepping. Steve came home and he and I snuck out for lunch which was fun. When we got back we decided to take the kids swimming at Layton Surf n Swim (we also had buy one get one free coupons from their swim lessons last summer which we used). I thought we would only be there for maybe 2 hours, but all the kids were having so much fun and Steve came with us and was enjoying floating with the boys so we were there for almost 3 hours. Then we came home and Steve made us all bean burros--it was the perfect end to our spring break.
