Spring Break

We were determined to give the kids a spring break to remember. With both boys in school, I knew that they had been working hard throughout the school year and could use a break. And since I work for the school district, I had a vacation at the same time they did. I needed a break, too.

Great Wolf Lodge

In February, I won a free night's stay at Great Wolf Lodge through a Facebook contest. We decided to redeem that and started off our break with a wet and wild waterpark! The kids were super excited. We picked up a pizza on our way in and ate a quick dinner before spending the evening swimming (or, in Aubrey's case, splashing). If you look closely, you can see some pizza faces!

After a few hours at the water park, we went upstairs for showers and changed into our pajamas for story time. We used some Starbucks gift cards to get the kids their own hot chocolate while I relaxed with a peppermint hot chocolate and Jeremiah enjoyed a strawberries and cream smoothie.

She's a java girl. But really, it's just hot chocolate.

The boys waited in line to meet the Wolf. I'm not sure of his real name, Aubrey calls him Wolfie.

Wolfie. And the boys were starstruck. Aubrey was scared speechless.

That night, Jeremiah surprised the boys by taking them to the arcade. There was a lot of black lighting so the pictures aren't super awesome. Of course they had to play air hockey. And basketball. And skee ball. Jeremiah and I tried "Deal or No Deal." He did great, I didn't.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, we went swimming again. Aubrey was more willing to get wet although she still wanted nothing to do with the water slides. Not that we didn't try. We pushed her down one and I thought she'd never forgive us. In fact, I'm pretty sure she preferred to stay with the lifeguard who "rescued" her.

This is the front of the wave pool. The boys loved going deep with Jeremiah and letting the waves crash into them.

Aubrey and I hung out at the end of the big tube slides, waiting for Jeremiah and the boys. Every time a group would come out of the tubes she would stand up, clap, and cheer "You did it!" Super cute. I loved it.

The boys coming out of the slide. Hayden was a bit fearful, he didn't like going backwards and he didn't like when they went over bumps and he would get air. But he still went. Roman, however, is an adrenaline junkie and would have gone sky diving if we'd asked him too.

The boys loved the clubhouse where you could push buttons and pull ropes that would get innocent bystanders wet. They especially aimed for me, aren't I so lucky?

Aubrey and me at the toddler pool. That's about as much of me you're going to see in a swimsuit!

Yes, he's dressed. We huddled in towels waiting for Jeremiah to bring us some clean, dry clothes.

Pump It Up

So it kind of sounds like a iron-pumping guys-on-steriods kind of gym, but Pump It Up is really an inflatable playarea for kids. My sisters and I bought Groupons awhile ago and saved them especially for spring break. The boys had a blast and never stopped for a breath. Aubrey was scared of just about everything and clung to me and my sisters like a monkey. However, I was expecting this. She's never been a fan.

You could shoot ping pong balls at people on the other side. Hayden and Rix loved it. What boys!

The kids all took several turns on this baseball toy. Air would hold a wiffle ball in place while the kids batted in into the ballpark. Aubrey wasn't much of a natural but at least we found something she wasn't afraid of!

More air hockey. It's Hayden's favorite arcade game. Besides skee ball.

Roman and I went through an obstacle course, obviously meant for smaller people, but it was fun racing him through all the tiny places.

Look at her face! Petrified! And she didn't trust me for awhile and chose to hang onto my sisters instead. After awhile, all you had to say was "Slide?" to Aubrey and the tears would flow. Madelynn, on the other hand, climbed up by herself a dozen times and loved every second of it.

Hayden at bat. And the line of cousins behind him waiting (sort of) patiently for their turn. And Celeste doing some sort of ghetto dance move?

Aubrey after being forced (by me, again, mean mom) into the obstacle course.

What got her to smile? The water fountain!

April Fool's Day

So I didn't go all out for April Fool's. It really was just like any other day, until dinner. We had this cute little tv dinner from "Hello Cupcake." Chicken legs, peas and carrots, mashed potatoes with butter and gravy, and chocolate pudding. AKA cupcakes. So fun! We then had "dessert" which was turkey meatloaf cupcakes with potato frosting, rolls, and peas. Sorry, the last two were normal. Except next year I'll make some biscuits with holes in the middle and call them doughnuts. And for juice I made jello and put it in individual clear cups with straws. All three kids fell for that one, they tried and tried to drink it up and decided their straws were broken before figuring out it wasn't juice :)

Overall, we had a pretty great spring break. I was a little more relaxed about Wii playing. We played outside a lot. Jeremiah came home in the evenings. We even took a few naps. I can't wait til the kids are older and we have a more steady income so we can plan some more adventures!