Spring Break 2014

I am finally able to take a moment to post about our Spring Break.

We kept ourselves busy with lots of fun things.

First, we headed South for a few days to the sunshine?

Not a very fun drive, especially when this blizzard is through a treacherous mountain pass.  Fortunately our brave captain weathered the storm and we made it to clearer skies.  It was not pretty and he did not like doing it and hopes to never have to drive in conditions like that again.  (Until the next time we have to anyway.)

We spent the next few days playing in the sunshine in sunny Southern Utah.

 Emma brought her best buddy- as in they are attached at the hip.  We loved having Jennavry with us.  Although she talks way too much....;)  

(For those who know Jennavry, you realize that I am being sarcastic here.)

 On Monday, we went to the Sand Hollow State Park in hopes of finding some sand dunes to roll around in.  We could not find how to get to the sand dunes that we could see, so we found another cool place that had hiking AND some sand to play in.  The view from the top of the rock formation was amazing.  

We had a picnic lunch and I think little Kaido man had a true "sand"wich...and "sand" cookies and "sand" chips.  Oh well.  

 The weather was perfect.  Not too hot.  Not too cold.  The kids had fun in the sand, Brittany tried to photo bomb some of my pictures, and one of my children- who shall not be named because she would be too embarrassed- learned the art of squatting when her bladder was too full to make it home.  TMI?  Sorry.

The next day the boys had planned on going golfing, but the wind was brutal.  Not golfing weather.  So they went to lunch with my dad and the kiddos and I headed to a park.  Kaiden would not get out of the swings.  He was in heaven.

 Even though it was too windy for golf, it was perfect weather for a little kite-flying.

One of my favorite moments ever that I hope to never forget is the image of Ellie running through the park, her little hand holding tightly to her Barbie kite string.

Pure joy was written across her face.

I loved it.

Even though it was kind of a short trip, we were able to squeeze one more short hike in.  We headed up past Silver Reef, Utah on the way to Oak Grove.  I have always loved this area.  I went there so many times in my youth.  It brought back a lot of memories.  Josh, Mark and I were the only ones who set out on this adventure.  The girls were too busy having fun with cousins.

Funny thing...when I was looking at these pictures, I remembered that a few years back, we had taken family pictures in almost the exact same spot.  I found it funny that Josh had basically the same pose.  He's changed just a little bit, don't you think?

 I can't end our Spring Break post without mentioning the fabulous dinner that my parents treated us too.  Josh was included with the adults because he is basically a carbon copy of my dad when it comes to food.  They...love... it and they love trying new and adventurous things.

They took us to the Anasazi Grill and it was delicious.

We started off with some yummy fondue and then the main course was brought to us with a piping hot stone (like 700 degrees hot).  We cooked the meat ourselves.  Then, even though we were completely stuffed, we managed to choke down some chocolate fondue.  Ya, it was pretty gross, but we couldn't just let it go to waste.  

Yep- sarcasm again.  If the chocolate wasn't a bit on the hot side, I would have stuck my whole face in the pan.

Thank you Mom and Dad for such a delicious meal and for letting us invade your house!

I think Spring Break 2014 was a huge success.