Spring Break Fun!

Last week the kids had Spring Break. They were actually dismayed to not go to school for a whole week. Daniel kept asking when it was a school day again! I'm glad- he must like it, though I'm sure it's more for the social activities and play than the actual learning and work, but still...I'm glad he wants to be there. And of course Annabel does, too- no question there.

Anyway, we managed to keep pretty busy throughout the week, enjoying some really nice weather. I actually have no idea where the time went in some cases...the week flew by, quite accidentally, I wasn't intending to keep us super busy, but wow, looks we did manage to fill our days!

Tuesday we had a really wonderful play date with cousins Bella and Kaleb, playing upstairs downstairs outside back outside front and all around for a busy few hours. That night, we treated Daniel and Annabel to ice cream from our favorite ice cream place- Andy's. Yum! Daniel and Annabel sure loved that special treat- they got to stay up late to eat it, too, which was a treat in itself.

Wednesday was the nicest day of the week so I had the really unique (you can roll your eyes in a minute) idea of taking the kids to the zoo...but EVERYbody else had the same idea, so, not so unique I guess? It took basically TWO hours to get to the zoo- normally maybe a 45 minute trip tops. Yep, that many people were trying to enjoy the nice weather at the zoo, too. And I really have no idea how we managed to survive two hours in the car (I even looked at the darn movie DVD there on the counter on my way out the door and thought no way will we need that- it's just a quick trip to the zoo, right? Oh SO wrong I was- really wished I'd grabbed it by minute 45 when I knew we were in for it)...but the kids, being the super mature kids they suddenly are, NEVER once whined, never once fought, they just waited super patiently- I really wasn't sure who they were, were they really my kids back there? Anyway, super proud of them for all that waiting! I'm kind of amazed I didn't abandon the trip...but, we really did enjoy our day even if everybody else was there, too. We managed to find a few corners to tuck ourselves into and enjoy some peace and quiet- Hello, Okapi- we love your little forest and we were so thankful to take a break back there! The other major woohoo for the kids, big kudos and proud moments all around- they walked the whole time (they'd done it a while ago on our last trip to the zoo, but even then, they were not thrilled and were tired not long into our visit) and never once complained- again with maturity leaps! I'm likin' this! Really, I was just so proud of these kids the whole day. We took a lot of leg breaks spread here and there throughout the zoo- lunch break, Okapi forest snack break, carousel break, and play zoo building break- and then we called it a day after three hours of all that fun, just enough for those little legs to do all that walking and for us to soak up the sun and get that fresh air. It was a perfect day, even with the two hours to get to the zoo! Next time, we'll go on some obscure day though. And we'll take a different construction-less route!

An interesting note about this zoo trip in particular- little Miss Annabel was particularly concerned this time around when I read some sign at some point saying that the animal was endangered and then explained what that meant. Annabel was really distraught. It never occurred to me that would be her reaction, but wow- that really tugged at her little heart and made her so sad. And this in turn tore at my heart. Plus, I have a confusing opinion of the zoo these days- some days I love what it can do for us, showing us animals from all over the world and teaching us lessons like this one about endangered animals, but some days it really strikes me how sad and unnatural some of the animals look (the orangutans are a great example- because at our zoo, they are sort of drab mucky brownish and sad looking, but my Aunt Jackie blogged some amazing pictures of orangutans she'd seen on tour in the wild and wow are they more red-ish, how they are supposed to look, I should think- perfect example of how the animals at the zoo can break my heart sometimes). But, I digress.

I shall digress again, because all this talk of sensitivity about animals being endangered reminded me of a story we'd read recently that really got us all going and heightened the kids' sensitivity, it woke me up- Subway Story...the book has you fall in love with this subway car, she really feels human and friendly and cute to us the reader, and then she gets old and doesn't get called back onto the rails again, so they strip her of her doors and all and she thinks she's getting new ones (I think I see where this is going- she's going to be some unique eatery- I've seen those somewhere before) but NO- she's actually being dumped into the ocean to be repurposed as a reef. Oh my god- did NOT see that coming. My sensitive little kids did NOT like this book at all- they like the first part but man that second part was just so sad and they would not read it again. (This was actually a true story, too- about the Redbird subway cars from the 60's.) So we're just reading and reading and bam, I didn't see that coming. And then, I didn't think the kids would react that way. Same thing here with endangered animals. But maybe this is where is starts, when you're little and something tugs at your heart like that and you want to make things better for the world...start 'em young, right? Anyway, lessons for me and for the kids spring up everywhere nowadays, even at the zoo and even from some chilling library book. (It was a beautiful book by the way. I love the author- she's written some fun books- The Bear Ate Your Sandwich and The Secret Plan were absolutely loved and read a million times, so yes, I took a chance with this subway book thinking it would be just as amazing, and it was, but wow it was sad, too.)

Anyway, back to the zoo...we had a wonderful day! My kids are just amazing and adorable!

That same night, after the zoo day, we went out to dinner because we didn't feel like cooking and it was so nice out we didn't want to stay home. So Red Robin it was. And then we stopped at the soccer fields near our house on the way home to finally test out Daniel's Christmas present- the Stomp Rocket! And wow is that thing SO fun! The kids ran back and forth about a million times, stomping to launch their rocket, running off to get it, back to stomp, off to get it and so on. Yes, these are the same kids who walked the whole day at the zoo, too. I was sure they'd pass out from exhaustion at some point! What a way to wear them out- this rocket is awesome! It was the perfect way to end such a gorgeous day. Daniel thought it was just great that he could finally try it out...he's been waiting for Spring for this very reason- this toy. I think we'll be at those fields a lot this summer! And Annabel of course squeezed in some soccer time, too- she starts her own soccer league next week and CANNOT wait (after all, she's only been waiting two years!).

We spent Thursday with Grandma Mary Kay at the sports/play yard near her house that we've been to over the years and loved. The kids wore themselves out some more there- riding toys, climbing gyms, bouncing and sliding on huge inflatables, playing soccer and baseball and just literally running like crazy. And then, when we came home after playing with Grandma all day, the kids still wanted to play in our front yard AND go to the sand park near our house. Annabel is working really hard on practicing her two-wheel scooter. She is desperate to make it go just like Daniel- she's expecting it to go like his magically, but we urged her to practice like Daniel once had to and she finally, after watching even Bella go fast on it on Tuesday, is very keen to practice! So practice practice she did. So cute. She's getting there. The trip to the sand park was fun, too- although the sand was super wet, like muddy stain your clothes and shoes wet, to my chagrin, but the kids sure do love that moldable wet sand. Such a fun day, again. Spring Break was really turning out to be a super fun week! And I believe it was that Thursday night, between Wednesday's outings and Thursday's outing, that the kids were out cold. I was, too, for that matter. Whew.

Friday was the day we dyed eggs and Saturday we hit some open houses to see what's out there (the kids love open houses; this was our second time out, and they are so well behaved we get so many compliments from the realtors, which I love- nice pat on the back for us all!) and then Sunday was Easter. And then the kids were back in school this past Monday- where they wanted to be all along! As much as I would have loved a beach trip (and I shall get that again...someday!), our Spring Break really was a great week. I needed that.