Spring Break

Spring break was the third week of March and we were all excited for a break in routine. Lucky for us Thad's and Dad's breaks were the same week, so we even got the pleasure of daddy joining us for our week off. A couple weeks before, Thad and I had made a list of things we thought would be fun to fill up our spring break week.

We had never bowled as a family and we made a family goal to make it to the San Antonio temple twice this year so we figured this was the perfect week to do those things along with a couple extras.

On Sunday Thad came down with a fever which ended up lasting most of the week causing him to be lethargic, but luckily he was up for bowling on Monday so we headed to Mel's up in Georgetown to kick off our spring vacay.

And here's Brian just being the best dad and teacher around.

He is so patient with our boys and they had so much fun taking his tips and trying to knock all the pins down! 

 Wes was pretty mesmerized by the ball return and we had to remind him several times to not put his hands in to grab the ball!

 It is so fun to do new things with kids and watch their amazement.

This red-headed fire cracker of ours was so excited each time and I loved watching him play.

Brian brushed up pretty quick on his skills he had been neglecting for so long!

The balls may have been a little heavy for these boys-

but they managed!

And of course we had fun hanging out on the sidelines eating appetizers and passing this sweet girl back and forth. 

  

 

I have a feeling there will a lot more bowling dates in our future. We sure had a good time!

Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day so we had a very green day!

The boys tried building this trap to catch the Leprachauns, but it didn't work. 

 They did leave a consolation prize for these excited boys though, so they weren't too disappointed.

After a yummy bowl of lucky charms, we went on a hike with the Dukes and every single person was wearing green. It was pretty impressive.

We haven't been big fans of this Ergo carrier we invested in, but the older she gets the more we like it, so we're not feeling so bad about the purchase anymore.  

Thad loved the idea of a walking stick and each kid had one at some point along the hike. 

I don't think we could have completed this hike without the Duke children. My kids bummed rides off whoever they could and Matthew didn't go far without one of mine close by! 

See what I mean? Matthew made this hike possible for Wes. Thank you, Matthew.

She liked the carrier so much she fell asleep.

She's perfect. 

  

Before we turned around to head back, they kids played at this stream for about thirty minutes and loved it! It started out as throwing rocks-

But turned into building a bridge across the water to the massive rock on the opposite side- 

The kids piled all the little rocks, but got Michael to finish it off with a bigger rock so they could hurry and get to the other side before we had to go. 

 It was mostly the Duke kids that got it done, but they were all pretty proud of their accomplishment at the end of it!

When we got back to the cars, we enjoyed a delicious green picnic and getting as dirty and sweaty as possible. 

  

The kids were pretty exhausted and fell right to sleep on the way home. 

Yeah, it kinda looks like Wes got in a fight, but don't worry, it was just with the ground and all the shrubbery...uneven ground isn't really his thing. Can you even imagine what he would have looked like without all the help from Matthew?!

We spent Wednesday relaxing to try and get Thad well because we were heading to San Antonio the next day. 

It didn't quite work, but we enjoyed it anyways.

 Thad practicing his bball skills, of course, and Eve discovering paper.

Even though our sick day didn't quite cure our Thad we headed to San Antone anyways and had wonderful morning at the temple.

Brian and I took turns doing initiatory work, so the kids and I checked out the grounds while dad was inside.

The boys were a little disappointed they couldn't go inside, but Thad kept reminding us that he can go when he's twelve. I love him.

And I have no doubts about it! That boy is so good and it sure is rubbing off on his little brother. Wes a is a lucky guy.

And they just couldn't resist the water towards the end after being so patient to wait for us both to finish up.

We picnicked in the parking lot and changed clothes in the van before heading down to the River Walk for the afternoon.

  

  

Thad and Wes were so excited to buy these tiny Books of Mormon at the distribution center and Eve was a fan too!

 We headed down to the River walk and stopped by the Alamo to start out.

 We didn't go inside because we promised we will come at a time when the line isn't 100 miles long during spring break and will check it out then. So we just wandered around the grounds instead which was very nice as well!

The River Walk was sort of stressful with a wandering three year old and a massive stroller, so we headed down a little ways and turned back to find a more family friendly lunch location.

 Brian went to go check out the price and wait time for the boat tours, but you can see that line behind Wes...well it was an hour long wait. I don't think so.

For lunch we googled a Diners, Drive Ins and Dives location and ended up at The Cove.

It turned out to be a really good burger and out back there was a playground for the boys to get some energy out before the ride home. Success. 

And that Eve...well she was just a trooper! She is not much of an on-the-go sleeper, but she was very well behaved while she was awake, so no complaints here. We sure love her!

After all the kids had a nice little snooze on the ride home, we ended the night with a Utah Utes basketball victory!

We topped the weekend off with a movie night, more basketball, date night, more basketball, relaxing and ice cream.

 We spent our movie night in because Wes' cough picked up again and we didn't want to the THOSE people at the theater. It was just fine and the boys are always happy with a Redbox movie!

We got a sitter on Saturday night and went to The Domain for some Sushi. I tried to like it more, but it's just not my thing. I will keep trying. Eve was loving dad's shadow and turned into a kitty cat for a few minutes! The video we have is even better!

After dinner and a little shopping, we finished watching the Utes game in the parking lot because we're awesome like that. They won. 

As you can see, our spring break week was a total success. When dad is around it is just the bomb.com and the boys were in heaven seeing him every morning. Thad is such good kid and got right back to it Monday morning. We love spring break and are looking forward to summer!