Spring Break

Our spring break has come to an end.  For the first time in a few years, we didn't travel anywhere, and although I missed not being in Florida (especially since our weather hasn't been great), we had a good time at home.  My parents were here for the first part of the week, and then they headed to MN early Thursday morning for a quick visit before they return to FL to finish their "winter".  

Unfortunately we had quite a bit of rain and lots of cloudy skies this week.  We found indoor activities to occupy our time, which included multiple Target trips, lunches out, art projects, and movies/nests in the family room.  On Tuesday we headed downtown to the aquarium, which provided a nice change of scenery and climate!

The sun finally came out on Wednesday, so we headed to the Arbor Hills Nature Preserve for some playing and hiking.  It was pretty muddy, but it felt so good to get out for fresh air. 

We found walking sticks of all sizes!

 

When we got home, we played on the driveway and G&G convinced Sara to finally start riding her bike without training wheels.  She didn't want to listen to what I had to say about it, of course, but got the hang of it with Grandpa's help.  We've worked on it more since, and Sara is gaining confidence (which I've found has been her biggest obstacle). 

On Thursday we went swimming at the indoor pool at the rec center.  Sara was told by two different lifeguards that she was too short for the big slide, and she was so disappointed because she's been able to use it when she's there for swimming lessons.  She is currently 46 inches and needs to be 48 inches to ride during open swim hours ... it made me sad to watch her be denied because I so know that pain of being too short.  She asked me how long it takes to grow two inches and was unsatisfied with my answer of, "I don't know, it's different for everyone."  She still had a great time swimming and practicing her cannonballs. 

Friday was another rain-out, so we drove across town to have lunch with Steve, which the girls thought was so fun.  Yesterday, finally, I got the bug to be productive around the house and started just a couple of quick projects.  Today we planted some new plants out front.  They look good, and will look even better next weekend when we fill in the beds with mulch.  For her part, Emma is ending our week with a black eye (thanks to an accidental piggy bank to the face, courtesy of her sister) and potty-trained (even in public) with the exception of a few accidents here and there! So although we didn't travel, we've had a really great week.  As you can imagine, I'm both ready and not ready for our quality time to come to an end!

Of course I can't end this post without celebrating the Cyclones, who did indeed with the Big XII Championship for the second year in a row!  They played three tough, very close games and came out victorious last night.  We're proudly flying our ISU flags in both the front and back while awaiting the Selection Sunday results.  As a friend so eloquently wrote on FB last night, "It feels good to be a winner!" Yes ... yes it does!