It was nothing monumental. Not something I’d want to brag about. Just a special time connecting with family, and it was exactly what I needed.
This hectic season of our lives has me on the brink of burnout more often than not. Which is why I am so very thankful that I am a teacher and I can take these breaks from school and work right when I need them the most. This year my Spring Break coincided with Logan’s break, so I had all 4 of my ‘little ones’ home with me all week. I was one happy Mama!
My mother-in-law came to visit and we all went to the zoo. We saw apes, elephants, polar bears, a jaguar and a condor and, well, basically everything that was on the ark. It was a day of full sun and lots of adventure.
Grandma couldn’t wait to start crafting with her granddaughters. Now that they are three, they can actually do arts and crafts (with the help of a grownup). Grandma and her girls decorated paper bags with stickers and glitter. Before Easter they did quite a number on some eggs too!
We went to my parents’ house for brunch and an egg hunt. Oh my gosh, the girls are so funny these days! Emily wasn’t finding a single egg, while Madeline had found almost all of them. I wasn’t supposed to help, but I tried to direct Emily’s attention to a bright yellow egg on the stairs of the playhouse. I said, “Emily, what’s that over there?” and she looked right at the egg and said, “Ummm… Stairs?” 🙂 In the end Madeline found all the eggs except one, but she was a generous sister and shared her stash with Emily. Siblings can be so sweet!
After Grandma flew back home we took a few days to recuperate and get our house in order. Easter stuff went back into storage, we washed all the linens (hello, Spring Cleaning!) and we bought a new grill for the back patio. We’ve had the same cheap-o barbecue since before John deployed to Japan (which I think was in 2009?) so it was definitely time to replace it! Since buying the new grill we haven’t had a night when we were all at home, so it has yet to be christened with its first cookout. When we do fire it up, it’ll be so nice to have burgers that aren’t black-on-the-outside, bloody-on-the-inside! Mmmmm… I love a good grilled dinner.
I took the 3 little guys to a birthday party for a friend’s 5-year-old. It was on a weekday so I wouldn’t have been able to go if it weren’t for Spring Break. Woot, woot! My teenager passed on this event. I can’t imagine why he didn’t want to go with us. 😉
And for one last hurrah, I took the kids for a walk on the pier with my mom. They saw a sea lion playing in the water among the long wooden pillars that hold up the pier.
There were no baseball practices or games this week. I only went in to work one day (because, teacher), and that was just for a short while. While my coworkers took exciting vacations to the East Coast or Cancun or Vegas, we enjoyed family dinners, watching TV together, going outside in the sunshine, and a ton of lounging around. It may sound like an uneventful time off of work, but when your life is already over scheduled with too many ‘events’, this week was the perfect remedy. I was able to refresh my spirit. We spent quality time together as a family. After this week I think we can make it until the next break when school gets out for the summer.
So bring it on, Monday-after-vacation… I’m ready for ya! 🙂