The Kitchen Sink

 Our field trip Fridays were a little dull through the winter. Not a lot to do indoors in Cache Valley. But one Friday early in March (or maybe it was late February?), we came up with a good one.  We went to Angie's and attempted to clean the sink. 

It was a pretty big failure, but oh so very much fun.  I mean really, look at Molly's excitement. It was awesome.

Next time, we'll come better prepared with empty bellies and extra buddies. And then we'll get the elusive bumper sticker.

Go Fly a Kite

                                With tuppence for paper and strings

You can have your own set of wings

With your feet on the ground

You're a bird in a flight

With your fist holding tight

To the string of your kite

Oh, oh, oh!

Let's go fly a kite

Up to the highest height!

Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring

Up through the atmosphere

Up where the air is clear

Oh, let's go fly a kite!

When you send it flyin' up there

All at once you're lighter than air

You can dance on the breeze

Over 'ouses and trees

With your first 'olding tight 

To the string of your kite

Oh, oh, oh!

Let's go fly a kite

Up to the highest height!

Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring

Up through the atmosphere

Up where the air is clear

                                               Let's go fly a kite!

                             

PS - That shark kite up there? It tried to kill me.  Felt like I was personally holding back the wind. We call it the devil kite.

Birthday Ben

Oh! I love 5-year-old birthdays.  It was so fun to celebrate with Ben and see how excited he was to celebrate his big day.  He came up with a pretty good plan.  First, we took a few cousins with us to the Jump Zone. Always a hit.

He requested a Star Wars cake with the kind of frosting Claire had on her Frozen cake. Easiest birthday cake ever, in other words.

He also requested a watermelon pinata, just like Annie had at her party last year.  Didn't really fit with the Star Wars theme, but none of the kids seemed to mind. I really like 5-year-olds planning their parties - they've never looked at Pinterest, resulting in pretty doable party ideas.

Ben got ridiculously spoiled, but his favorite present was the shovel his dad gave him. He loved it so much, we tucked it into bed right alongside him.

He is such a great little kid. I have a hard time letting him grow up, but I hope he'll always carry and easy charm with him. He's the best. Here is a little glimpse of Ben in the words of Ben:

Favorite color: Blue 

Favorite food: Toast and pizza

What I want to be when I grow up: A farmer and a digger

Favorite animal: Lion

Favorite book: My big fold-out tractor book

Favorite part of school: Playing at recess, but we don't even get it always

Favorite trip: Montana

My perfect day: Go out and dig trenches

What a guy! Happy Birthday, Benny.  Everyone who meets you loves you, but nobody loves you more than Mom. 

Spring Break V: The Rest

We wrapped up our trip in San Diego, which has always been one of my favorite places. We went to Sea World for a day.

I'm all for not killing trainers and treating animals well, but the shows are admittedly not as entertaining as they used to be.  Bummer.  We still managed to enjoy ourselves.

Annie has been a bit enchanted by the idea of pearls lately, so when she noticed a stand where you could select your own oyster and crack it open for a pearl, she had to do it. So, now her pearl is set in an appropriate dolphin setting. You can't tell it by her serious face, but she was thrilled.

Before we left San Diego, we took a quick ferry ride out to Coronado Island for a little bit of shopping and an ice cream stop.

For our final California stop (minus a few forgettable restroom stops), we went to the San Diego Temple. 

A few years ago, we stayed in St. George for Spring Break and our kids were enamored with climbing all over the rocks. Floyd, despite his normally chill and never neurotic attitude, nearly goes into cardiac arrest watching them clamber all over the hillside.  He and Molly stuck to the kiddie hills (not because Molly was afraid of climbing - that monkey would have loved it) while the big kids and I climbed until we were hot and sweaty and tired.  

 Last time we were there, I was pregnant with Molly and plead a big belly to get out of crawling through the crack.  I conquered my claustrophobia and made it through this time. It felt rather brave cause it was really narrow.

And that, my friends, is a vacation wrap.

Spring Break IV: The Pool

 The house we stayed in while we were in Anaheim was really nice. 

But the pool was fabulous.

I'll say it until I die, but when we get around water, I always wonder where my children came from.  They are such little fishies.

One morning, we just took it easy and let them swim until they were swam (swimmed? swum? swammed? help grammar experts?) out.  It took a long time.

Not a lot of words are needed here - I think the pictures sufficiently describe the fact that the pool was beautiful and the smiles were big.

 Also, the chicken fighting was fierce!

Until this duo arrived and were quickly proclaimed champions.

 Diving from the waterfall was especially fun for the kids. 

Moral of this short story: we loved that pool!

Up Next: The Rest

Spring Break III: The Beach

We went to the beach lots of different times while we were in California. That's cause I like it. Someday, I'm want to try living on the coast. First though, I must conquer beach hair, cause this is what my beach hair looks like:

Inexplicable.

But back to the beach. We spent half a day at Huntington Beach. I've usually been to California during the off-season, so it was really nice to be at a beachy-beach on a nice, warm day. 

The kids got really wet, but this time they were actually wearing their suits.

These two, Josh and Cole, would be surfer boys if we lived near the beach. Cole tried to get me to let him try it this year. Maybe someday.

 

Ben must have ran 3 miles darting in and out of the waves. He finally wore himself out and settled in for a nice sand nap. Relaxing, right?

Annie is a beach girl at heart. I always feel a little bad we don't live near the ocean for her. She loves it. Also, her beach hair is much nicer than mine.

Molly, on the other hand, might not be a beach girl. She was okay to dip her toes in,

 but if you set her down, this happened:

  

A few days later, we stopped by La Jolla on the way to our hotel in San Diego. First item not on the list: get an ice cream from the ice cream truck. Considering I only remembered to feed them lunch about 25% of the time, I was happy to oblige this request.

Before we were married, Floyd and I were in California with some friends and on the beach, Floyd wowed me with his knowledge of tidepools and all the little creatures hiding in them.  The man has some kind of bionic vision cause he can spot little crabs and snails and who knows what else when they are completely camouflaged to my eyes.  It's always fun to visit tidepools with him and we hit the beach right at low tide.

All the kiddo's had a good time exploring. We usually lose Cole a couple times at the beach. He eventually wanders back.

Annie found lots of little tunnels and pools to play in.

Benny laughed non-stop. And he carved his name in the sandstone so he could visit it again someday.

'

Also, remember when he caught a bird and brought it into the house? He tried to re-create that moment. Unfortunately, the seagull got away. Darn.

And Molly? I suppose Molly likes rocks more than sand because Molly finally got brave enough to get down from our arms and explore a bit.

She even got brave enough to take a sip of the water. 

It was not good.

We had a great time. It was beautiful and interesting and peaceful. Also a bit windy.

We had such a good time that we made it back there the next evening to watch the sunset (yep, again) with our cousins.  It was a perfect night.

I guess we just needed a little practice wading, cause this time we managed to only get just a little bit of our shorts wet. 

We stayed until the moon came up and I hope the kids remember how magical a full moon shining on the palm trees, the waves crashing against the rocks, the ocean breeze ringing in our ears, and just being together were. Perfect.

Up Next: The Pool