Spring Break

When I hear the words "Spring Break", this image does NOT come to mind:

Our Spring Break in Utah looked more like Christmas Break but hey...what are you gonna do? We made the most of our trip anyway!

We played with cousins at the Children's Museum (forgot camera), went to the zoo which was really nice becuase the cool temps scared everyone away. We had the place to ourselves!

We went to the aquarium too. The boys were THRILLED to touch the sting rays. They have a whole new exhibit on the rain forest too. The boys loved the piranhas and the anaconda!

Nate hopped in the car with his parents and headed down to St. George to do another century ride (100 miler) with Grandpa Ric and brother in law Justin. They drove down and back in 2 days so I opted to stay in Salt Lake. Adding another 10 hours to our drive didn't sound very appealing to our already short trip.

This particular ride included a 6,000 foot climb. Nate was ready for the challenge with all of the training he has been doing over the winter. He had such a blast. It was the first time that he has been able to actually ride with his dad and he was VERY excited about it to say the least.

(Actually, I am not sure what he was MOST excited about.....riding with his dad or eating at In N Out!)

The boys and I enjoyed playing with Grandmas and meeting up with friends for lunch. We tried to do a little shopping as well but 3 boys and shopping don't always go hand in hand.

We had a nice Spring Break even though the weather didn't cooperate as we had hoped! I guess the weather doesn't REALLY matter when you get to hang out with the people you love!

Got Kids?

I saw this car in the parking lot today and couldn't resist pulling out the camera. WOW..that is a whole lotta kids!

Dallin and Parker were in the backseat fighting (again) about whether or not Dallin was happy about Parker joining our family 4 years ago. They have been having this reoccurring fight now for about a week and it is really starting to get on my nerves.

Parker thinks Dallin hated him when he was a born.

Dallin insists that he has always loved Parker, even when he was a baby.

It really is the DUMBEST fight I have ever heard but for some reason it stopped bothering me as soon as I saw the back of this van.

Spring has Sprung!

I haven't blogged for a couple of days becuase it has been so BEAUTIFUL outside this week! We've spent almost everyday at the park. Yesterday Parker's preschool was able to go to Krispy Kreme for a little tour and a treat! I was happy to come a long and help. (I don't think I helped my waistline out though!)In the afternoon we headed over to the zoo and met up with Aunt Nanny and Uncle Robby and baby Carter. Apparently EVERYONE had the same idea as us. I felt like I was at the San Diego Zoo...not the Boise zoo! Didn't take very many pictures...but here are a couple. We're SO excited that Spring is finally here! Happy Spring Break!

Hey....where is Landon?

It is a busy Sunday morning. After an hour and a half of bathing, combing, putting some coordinating outfits together, going on numerous "sock hunts" feeding everyone for the second time, packing the bag of things to do, AND getting all of the shoes on we are FINALLY ready to get in the car and head over to the church.

Hey....has anyone seen Landon anywhere???

I think I just heard a little noise coming from the pantry. (The door is closed AND the light is off.)

We found him!

I can't take my eyes of this kid for 30 seconds. Ths kid drives me absolutely NUTS!

Yikes

I have somehow been able to avoid this type of situation for a full 6.5 years. But today.......it finally happened.

I took Parker to McDonald's for some pancakes. We call this our "secret" date. We don't tell Daddy and we don't tell Dallin about it. It is our special one on one time.

As I order the pancakes Parker says to the (rather large) woman ringing us up......"Wow.....you are a very BIG FAT lady."

One word......AWKWARD.

Perfect Little Family

A friend who reads my blog once told me, "You have such a perfect little family." She was right. My family is perfect. Here on this blog, that is.

I decided a long time ago that the main focus of my blog was not to write about ALL of the frustrations and disappointments that go along with parenting. Oh, I do let a few get into print...especially the ones that I know I will be able to look back on and laugh at. But for the most part, I like to "accentuate the positive" and keep my blog upbeat and hopeful. So, you probably won't see long posts about my Parker's lazy attitude about chores, or our fights with Dallin about his picky eating at the dinner table. And I'm not going to vent about the piles of toys I find scattered all over my house, or the fights we have over bedtime, or the stubborn inability of Dallin and Parker to sleep past 7am as of late. When I look at the BIG PICTURE, I see the good things outnumbering the bad by 100 to 1. So why focus on the negatives when they mean so little in our daily lives?

Even on my worst day, when I'm tired and the boys are talking back and I feel like I could scream...I really try to remember the good.

So, do I have the perfect little family? Of course not. But in my memory, and here on this blog, they come pretty close.

3 amigos

I just love these 3 boys. They are best friends worst enemies and everything in between. Yesterday they were just AT eachother ALL day so we went outside to play for a little while to burn up some energy. While we were there a big kid started to tease Dallin becuase he had his little stuffed bunny with him. (I know I know..the kid is in kindergarden...he really SHOULD know better) Dallin's feelings were hurt. Parker marched right up to that big kid who was 2 times bigger then him (with his big red Cars helmet on, and skateboard in tow) and said, "HEY KID....YOU better KNOCK IT OFF and be NICE to my brother!"

They may get after each other but they are always looking out for eachother. Makes me smile.

Unfortunately......

Have you heard of the "unfortunately..." meme? You do a Google search for the phrase "Unfortunately, (your name here)". Don't forget the quotation marks around the phrase. Here are some of mine:

Unfortunately, Staci wasn't in Hawaii to see this beautiful sunset. She is in, of all places...Antarctica, which has got to be the antithesis of Hawaii.

Unfortunately, Staci stares eerily at everyone. Eddie and Ginger are confused. So very confused.

Unfortunately, Staci, the manager in charge of the schedule, has taken it upon herself to schedule me wayyyy too much.

Unfortunately Staci was feeling a little "Travel Sick" ha ha, OK so she was hungover.

Unfortunately, Staci is an ugly baby. (Whoa...this one is a little harsh!)

Unfortunately Staci has some symptoms of this...mostly just headaches, but she tends to act more like she has Blepharospasm.

That was pretty entertaining! Give it a try...you know you want to!