You cannot change the direction of the wind, but you can adjust your sail.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Spring Break

The kids got a full week off for Spring Break this year. We tried to make all sorts of plans to go somewhere and everything kept not quite working out, so we had some adventures here.

We only had one day that was really nice outside, so we went to the Hogle Zoo. Sophie had never been to the zoo before and had a great time. I decided to pull her in the wagon so we could bring along a picnic lunch. I thought the wagon was going to roll over us all coming down a few hills, but we managed to survive with only a few bumps and no major wrecks.

Jack is almost the size of a gorilla. The kid is really starting to stretch out. He had one sad moment when he picked an animal to ride on on the carousel that didn't move up and down. But he survived and will probably always notice such things on all carousels he rides in future. It was funny how he couldn't believe it and kept asking why they would even bother putting on a non-moving animal. This is from the kid that once picked to sit on a bench on a carousel with his grandma (who is not a fan of going around and around anyway). He has apparently changed his stance on this. Bella saw the peacocks for the first time and has decided she would like to be one for Halloween. I have seen the baby peacock costumes by Tom Arma, so I will probably try and figure something out based one those. If she doesn't change her mind, it will be pretty funny.

Sophie thought all the animals were great. She would repeat their names as we told her and point and laugh. She had a ton of fun. She liked the carousel, she liked part of her lunch-which is a success in my book.

She had a great time until the train, which concerned her greatly...She didn't cry, but she looked like this most of the time. Twas hilarious.

On Wednesday, we all went to the Children's Discovery Museum. The museum has a kid sized town full of activities. There is also a big water table with plastic bubbles to play with and all sorts of arts/ crafts, and tactile exploration things. Jack went a few years ago on a school trip and seemed to really like it. The biggest hit was the rock wall. The wall wasn't too high, so most of the time the kids spent going across vertically. They did it so many times they could barely move their arms. I love to see that level of exhaustion. We were at the wall for at least an hour, then went back again as the last thing we did. There was a play vegetable garden right next to it for Sophie to play in while Jack and Bella crawled all over the wall.

On Thursday, we met Nate for lunch and went to the Disney Store. Then on Friday, I surprised the kids by taking them swimming. I was a bit apprehensive because last year Sophie was not so fond of the water. So I warned the other two that we may not get to stay as long as they would like if she hated it. But she didn't, she loved it. She didn't mind the splashing or going under water or being carried around. She liked the deep better than the shallow and loved going around the lazy river. We swam until all pruny and water logged. There are no pictures because my camera isn't water friendly. I was pretty tired by the end of the week. And so it wasn't so bad when they went back to school and I got in a few naps.

5 comments:

M. Nelson said...

My main goal for activities on days off is to get the kids tired enough to fall into bed early each night. Looks like you achieved it.

Anonymous said...

Those are the perks of living in a big city. Or at least near one. We have to drive 2 hours to hit any fun stuff like that. Sounds like you had a great time! Sophie is gettting so big!

::lindsay said...

Hi Jill! I hope you don't mind me checking your blog. I was looking for a new book to read, and wow! You've read so many books this year. I've read like 4.

Looks like a great Spring Break. How fun!

Oh, and Carson's a huge fan of legos around here too. It's funny because he got the exact same lego ship for the exact same price too. It was a crazy good deal because you are right--they never, ever go on sale!

Kim said...

Fun-filled days are great for everyone. Like you said, it's the best when they are so tired and just crash at night!

Jessica Christensen said...

Sounds like it was a fun week. Wish we could have joined in. Look at how big your kids are getting. =( Bella's hair seems to have grown quite a bit since the fateful cut.