April 2014: Spring Break

Look at this picture of Camden and tell me that the Toad hat was not the best purchase I've ever made. 

April meant the weather was getting warmer! We were finally seeing the light at the end of the winter tunnel. What better way to celebrate the spring-like weather than by busting out the kites!?

We have a big soccer field close by and it was perfect for kite flying. I love watching the boys' faces as they get their kites in the sky. Watching them run as fast as they can to get their kites up is pretty hilarious to watch as well.

The second week of April was Spring Break! I know Ryan was just in half-day Kindergarten, but we were so excited for a break from school. It felt like we had our days back again! Kindergarten really cut our days in half so there were only a handful of activities that we could actually accomplish in the mornings since we had to have Ryan fed and ready for school by 12:20 every afternoon. The first day of Spring Break, I loaded all the kids and the dog into the car and we drove up American Fork canyon for a picnic and some hiking. Roxy was psyched out of her mind to have been invited to come.

I love American Fork Canyon. It is so beautiful  and it is so close to our house! I was surprised that we were just about the only ones up the canyon. It made it really easy to have Roxy with us because she could just stay off the leash the whole time we were up there!

Roxy loved getting in the water and exploring. She was so happy to be off leash conquering the great outdoors. I'm pretty sure it was the best afternoon of her little doggy life.

We ate lunch at a picnic table just off the road. After lunch the boys were playing on some boulders that were set out as a barrier from the road. I was keeping an eye on them and when I heard a car coming I told Brady to come stand next to me to be safe. He stood his ground by the rock and as the car drove by he gave me a smug look and said, "See? Missed." Oh, that boy!

After we cleaned up from lunch, I let the boys wander around the picnic site and into the woods. They had an absolute blast. It made me so excited for long care-free summer days. We just soaked it all in and didn't care about the time or being home for naps or school or anything. It was delightful.

And like I said, beautiful.

As we hiked away from the picnic site and along the river we came to a little opening in the trees. There were patches of snow on the ground. As Ryan led us through the trees he kept saying to himself, "This is so beautiful. We are the only ones who have ever been here!" Later during our hike he told me, "This is the most beautiful day of my life!"

Ryan named this little grove of trees his "Beautiful Place" and talked about bringing Zach and his friends up to show them all around. Camden spent most of his time in the stroller or in my arms. I set him down for a picture and he loved it! He liked to pick up the leaves and feel the dirt and rocks with his hands.

As we were leaving, Ryan asked for my phone to take a picture. He took a picture of the picnic area sign so that we could remember where his "Beautiful Place" was when we came back with Zach and his friends.

We spent one Monday night flying kites for family night. We brought Roxy along and I threw the ball for her while Zach and the boys flew the kites. Camden was happy to sit in the grass and take it all in. It was one of those moments where we were all together and everyone was happy. Naturally, I had to take a picture to document it.

On Tuesday during spring break, we met up with Brittany and her kids and Holly and her boys and did a little repeat of the day before up the canyon. We went to the same picnic area and ate at the same table and went on the same little walk to Ryan's "beautiful place". He was thrilled to get to lead the way and show his friends his special spot up the canyon.

Zach took Wednesday-Friday off of work so we headed down to St. George for the rest of the week. It just so happened to overlap with a trip his parents had planned to Arizona, so we ended up staying at his parents house while they were gone. It reminded me of the trips we used to take when we lived in Las Vegas. It was completely relaxing and lots of fun. Zach's parents were so generous to let us stay in the their house even without them there!

We went on a little hike up to a water fall that we did once before a couple years ago when Ryan turned 3.  It was a lot of fun  and we were happy we got an early start because we passed a TON of people coming in on our way out. I guess it must have been Spring Break for St. George as well because there were so many kids with their moms!

Luckily, since we started out first thing in the morning, we had the waterfall to ourselves when we arrived. Roxy had fun chasing sticks and jumping into the water for a while until other hikers finally caught up to us. We stopped at the end of the hike and let Camden down to play in the sand. He was very intrigued with the water, but was content to play in the sand once his brothers joined him.

One night we did s'mores out in the backyard- a St. George favorite!

A new Children's Museum opened since we were last there. It was just a couple bucks to get in and it was really fun. We got there right when it opened and, like the hike, I was so happy that we did. By the time we left, the place was packed! I guess it was a popular Spring Break activity for everyone!

Brady all "ALONE" 

They had different rooms set up with different themes. There was a farm room, an airport room, a theater room, a science room, a sports room and a castle room. I'm sure I'm forgetting something... Anyway, the castle room was awesome. It gave me all sorts of ideas for an amazing play space in our next house. (Already planning for our next house. haha.)

On the way out, I caught the boys holding hands. I love their relationship. They are little buddies. Moments like this make me forget all the whining and yelling that sometimes take its place.

Ryan and Brady are at a great age to just go out in the backyard and play together for hours. Camden, on the other hand, still needs some serious supervision. He hated being stuck inside while his brothers were running wild in the backyard. There wasn't really anything to keep him busy out there so I had to get creative. Seeing as he's always trying to splash in the dog's water at home, I filled up a tupperware container with water, gave him some spoons and cups and let him have at it. He loved it and I was surprised to find that Brady loved it just as much! They spent quite some time dumping water from cup to cup and splashing away together. Brothers are the best.

We had family movie night one night and watched Epic ( a movie Zach's parents had). We had soda and popcorn and red vines. 

Camden was all about the red vines!

We spent the next morning fishing at a stocked pond not too far from Zach's parent's house. They didn't get too many bites, but both Ryan and Brady caught a fish so it was definitely a successful trip!

At first we didn't have a stroller for Camden. I got him out of the car and went to go sit with the other boys to fish and it proved to be too much for our courageous crawler. Whenever I set him down he would make a B line for the water. I ended up driving back to Zach's parent's house to get a stroller. After I got back with the stroller (and some snacks!) things went much smoother.

There happened to be a kite festival the same Saturday we were in town. The boys were so excited! Pam had left the boys some nicer kites at her house so we had some fun ones to fly. I'd never been to a kite festival before and it was a lot of fun.

We went downtown to the splash pad on our last evening in town. After the sun started going down and it was a little too chilly to be wet, we got the kids dressed and let them ride the carousel. It was a fun night! We love St. George!

It was really hard to get back into the swing of things when Spring Break was over. I had had a taste of summer and I wanted more! We were less than stellar when it came to getting homework turned in on time (if at all) and Ryan went to school without his hair done more than I'd like to admit. That last month of school was so hard for me and I wasn't even the one going to school!

*Written on June 23, 2014