Spring Break 2009

I am so tired right now and not in any sort of blogging mood, but I don't think I'll bother posting all of the pictures if I wait as I'm heading out of town for the weekend. The pictures took long enough to upload so, rather than write out the details, I'll merely post captions for the pictures I do have.

I love that Jen chose to come visit during their and our spring break. We didn't have great weather, but we had cousins to entertain our kids and each other to enjoy and chat with.

All the boys started working on a fort in the back yard the very first day. I love how boys' minds work.

Saturday morning took us for a short hike overlooking our hometown. Henry was not going for it and Christopher tried to distract his grumpy mood out of him.

Sunny and fairly warm on Saturday.

Eventually, Henry walked off in a pout and Jay stayed behind to see what he would do when we followed through with our threat to leave him. Henry could have cared less. I had to wait at least five minutes for them to make an appearance behind the rest of us.

The hike was shorter than we wanted it to be (upper part of the trail was closed due to being a wildlife refuge during the winter) so we spent a good hour at a park to wear the excitement out of all the kiddos.

That evening, we went over to my friend, Michelle's, house and had a total blast four-wheeling on their Mule and T-Rex. We BBQ'd hamburgers and hot dogs and let the kids experience a more wild side of being in nature:)

Sunday was a relaxing day. I made a roast and the day ended with everyone watching Night At The Museum downstairs in front of the propane fire.

Monday, we swam at the local rec center. We spent 3 1/2 hours there and had a great time swimming and rock climbing. Here's Seth coming out from the waterslide.

Henry was pretty independent, but he's already on their list of lifeguard saves from an earlier visit, so I kept a close eye on him.

Sam, sweet Sam. His poor eye crosses so much when he doesn't wear his glasses. I hope someday, his eye is trained enough to be straight without having to wear lenses.

Sam's goggles are too big for him.

The big boys did the waterslide at least 20 times.

Since Henry needed me to ride, he only got about 5 rides. But, since I like to go fast, they were good ones.

I was totally surprised how wiry and strong all the boys were on the rock climbing wall. Seth made it to the top quickly.

Sam was the real spiderman, though. To do the middle section of the wall, they needed to climb to the top of both sides. He seriously made it to the top of this wall in about a minute.

Seth, Sam and Ansel on the wall. Sam couldn't get past this inverted part of the wall. Not bad, though, for his first attempt.

Ansel and Seth were thick as thieves all week.

Sadie's nap for the day.

Tuesday, Jay was home for the day and we tried geocaching. It was so windy and cold that we only managed to do one quick and easy one.

The boys signing their names to the log once they found the "treasure."

If you leave something, you can take something. Sam and Owen were super happy with their little baubles.

Henry

After the geocache, we went to Jay's parent's place and saddled a horse for the boys to take rides on. Jay fetched Charlie, or Nick, depending on who you ask.

I love my cowboy

Braving the windy conditions while waiting for a ride.

Sam with the beautiful mountain range behind him.

Neither Jen nor I rode, but we stepped out of the vehicle for a quick Self-portrait to show how windy it was.

Seth took Henry for a quick ride.

"Hey, you have glasses just like me!"

Taking Charlie/Nick back to his friends.

Wednesday was mellow and very cold. We fed everyone lunch and then Christopher told Jen and I to take off. We wandered around town, ate lunch, and bought some chocolate. Then I drove her around all the places I would consider buying a house thus giving her an idea of my complicated options.

Jay was on-call Wednesday night, so Christopher sent Jen and I out again and we had a yummy dinner at a cute restaurant.

Thursday was spent at Mesa Verde National Park. Jay read the maps and gave us the information as we walked around.

Since we were literally on a cliff, I secured Henry on my shoulders so he couldn't sprint off.

Our family

Jen's family with a determined-to-be-in-the-picture-even-after-several-requests-from-me-to-move Jay.

Cliff Palace from an observation point.

Henry....all dirty and snotty. As usual.

Christopher bravely had a pinecone war with all the boys. I know he took several hard hits.

I'm pretty sure this point-blank attack didn't feel good.

So, he dishes it back to boys who absolutely love it.

Jay's famous Chile Verde. It is really, really good.

He decided to take it to the next level by making homemade corn tortillas. As we have no tortilla press, this was Jay's system, standing and shimmying on a heavy skillet pressing on the corn masa dough.

Today was very, very mellow. Jay worked again and it was cold so the boys played the Wii for an obscene amount of time (notice how cute Owen is pretending to drive even though he has no wheel). Jen and I went into town for one last lunch and Jay came home early and we played the board game Puerto Rico before it was time to get them to the airport.

I miss them already and am so grateful for their willingness to spend their precious vacation in our distant, cold, not-even-close-to-feeling-like Spring environment.

Come back sometime!