Spring Break

It's always nice that Thad and Dad's spring break match up because we always get to squeeze in a few fun things around town as a family! I'm sure in the future we will go on vacations during this time because it will be harder for the kids to miss school and dad to have time off, but for the past four years we have stuck pretty close to home and had lots of fun doing it!

Brian and I started off the week heading to SXSW with the Hatches again! It is such a cool event that Austin hosts every year during this time and we would have gone down every day with them if we didn't have to pay a sitter for the entire day! We did take the kids last year, but it's not really a family friendly event, so we headed down ourselves this time.

We started off at this random event and the country of Brazil came through with music and dancers and everything and they had Audrey and I go in the middle and dance with them! Brian only got a video of me, but here is Audrey with the main guy:

I should have taken more pictures, but we checked out a few more booths/events and made our way over to YouTube- 

They had some cool virtual reality stuff and a really fun photo booth!

We tried to get a good picture of the four of us, but the booth was on the fritz after our shots, so these are what we ended up with.

The next day the Hatches were able to get into the Trade Show and we were super jealous because we weren't able to get in the day before, but they brought us some Swag to help us feel better- 

I let the boys have a play date with friends and they were as pleased as punch about that!

Mid-week we headed to the library and ran into some friends that came for the Nintendo event that we didn't know about. Unfortunately Nintendo canceled last minute because of SXSW but they still set up the video games for kids to play.

 Sometimes it drives me nuts that they have stuff like this (and iPads) at the library because kids get so much of it outside of the library, but they were super excited and waited in line for a long time to make it to the front row. Eve really want to play with Thad and Oliver!

That evening we headed to THE Round Rock. Yes, Round Rock is named after a Round Rock and after 3.5 years of living here we decided it was time visit!

  

I've driven past it a million times, but didn't realize it was there...oops! Now we know! 

The next day we headed down to Austin as a family to check a couple things off our bucket list. We went and saw "Africa" in the IMAX theater at the Bullock Museum and the kids loved it! So did I!

After the show we headed to the LBJ Library that we have wanted to visit for a while! 

It was incredibly windy, but we had to document! 

 This would have been a little more fun for Brian and I without the kids, because they didn't want to watch the whole movie or read all the stuff, but we had an awesome time anyways and maybe Brian and I will go back on our own before we move. Maybe.

  

I don't know if these pictures were before or after our Austin adventure, but I'm pretty sure these cuties stole my phone for some silliness!

Silly brothers!

To finish spring break off with a BANG, we went on our annual Duke-Monsen hike over in the hill country and then hit up another SXSW event in the evening with Ben and Shannon.

 This is by far the most difficult hike we have done in Texas, there was A LOT of elevation change, but everyone did pretty good and made it to the end without losing a limb or dying of dehydration.

 Tyler.Thad.Cali.Wes.Alyssa.Matthew

The creek was where we hiked to and then we turned around and headed back. The kids had a lot of fun in the water and even though we told our boys not to get wet, they ended up soaked by the end. Oh well, you win some, you lose some!  

Date night was so fun as we headed downtown to watch James McMurtry perform. Brian has been to a couple of his shows, but I had never seen him and it was a blast! Doing anything with Ben and Shannon is always so fun and I'm glad we got to do this before they moved to Arizona for their new jobs.

 (Don't mind the creeper that wouldn't duck out of our picture.)

I have to say, that was a pretty successful spring break!

Grandmas

After Thad's baptism we were lucky enough to have his grandmas stay for a little bit longer. Grandma Teresa only got to stay for one more day and Grandma Cindy got to stay for three more, so we soaked up as much of them as we could!

  

We had a wonderful Sunday at church and then Todd and Kelsie came down to spend time with Grandma Teresa before she flew out the next morning.

June wasn't shy at all and also loved hanging out with Grandma Cindy!

We had a yummy dinner and fun evening together! 

After Todd and Kelsie left, Grandma Cindy told Thad about how when she was little she didn't go to church with her family, but she went because she wanted to and loved the way she felt when she was there. She told a story about how she went with her dad to work in the fields one Sunday and remembered the Primary Program was that day, but that her dad couldn't leave to take her back home so she could go. She said a little prayer and Heavenly Father listened by giving her dad's equipment a flat tire! He couldn't finish up his work so they left earlier than he thought they would be able to and she was able to make it back in time!

The other story she told was about the day of her baptism. She had been looking forward to it for so long and the morning of her mom woke up sick and said they wouldn't be able to make it that day. She was heart broken. But she knew what to do and got down on her knees to say a prayer. A few hours later after her mom was able to rest, she woke up feeling totally normal and they were able to attend the baptisms. 

I loved that Thad was able to hear these stories and I hope he (and all my kids) can have the same faith my beautiful mother had/has. I love her.

Eve wanted to look smart when she said goodbye to Grandma Teresa, so she stole her glasses!

Even though Grandma Teresa's trip was so fast, we were so glad she was able to make it to Texas for Thad's special weekend!

Grandma Cindy stayed to play and we headed up to the Silos for a girl's day out and had a ton of fun! We didn't have to stay long to have a wonderful time.

It was windy but it was awesome!

The next day we were able to join Thad for lunch and then head to Wes' school so Grandma Cindy could be his guest reader.

Wes chose "I Broke My Trunk" by Mo Willems for his book and the kids loved it! 

I didn't get any pictures of them "bandaging" up their own trunks, but that was our little activity we did afterwards.

Wes was so glad Grandma Cindy was able to do this while she was there, such a fun memory for both of them!

Thad was so happy when he got home from school that day and Grandma surprised him with highlighters for his new scriptures- 

It's the little things, people.

And even though she got to stay longer than Grandma Teresa, it was still too short. We're so glad she came and didn't want to see her go. The boys tried to stay up until 9 to say goodbye because we went to my Relief Society activity, but they didn't make it. 

 Eve was wide awake and would barely even hold still for a kiss! Grandma got one, though!

We all went to bed early because her flight left at 6 a.m. and just like that she was gone. We are so grateful for these times we get to spend with our wonderful grandmas and hope they keep coming wherever we are. Love you!!