Spring Break Stay-cation: Part One

The kids were out of school for Spring Break this past week. It started with Easter weekend, but I've already posted about that (thank heavens) so I can just cover what we did for the rest of it. Rophone wasn't able to get the week off from work so we knew we had to find some local fun to fill our time.

Monday and Tuesday were rainy and cold so I didn't make much of an effort to get the kids out to do anything. Plus, that early in the vacation the ability to hang out at home with out having to go anywhere is still a fun novelty. I felt really crummy so it seemed like a grand plan to me (stupid gall bladder-- just had an ultrasound today and it needs to come out). 

By Wednesday I was feeling quite a bit better and the sun was back so I wrangled the kids for a hike. I have plans to do a lot of hiking this spring so I wanted to take advantage of the great weather and no school schedule to work around. There was one kid I couldn't wrangle, however. She appears to be 'turning teen' for real. Whatever. I wasn't going to let her spoil my fun. 

I made Edith get in the backpack, though, and took her picture. I spoiled her fun for sure. While she was in the backpack, anyway.

Get used to it, Edith.

The beginning of this hike isn't usually my favorite-- it's a wide, barren, paved/gravelly road. But, this time around I found it to be a bit more enjoyable. Probably because instead of being bugged by the ugliness of the route I lagged behind and let myself be entertained by my kids instead. 

Big warning us to watch out for the dog poop (thanks, Big) and Bud feeling the need to give the dog poop a closer look cracked me up.

A little ways into the hike there's a great spot to scramble over some piles of rocks and explore a little. I freed Edith from her backpack prison so she could give it a go. She thinks she's big enough to do it, too. Even after she gets stuck she hollers at you while you help her. We always spend a bit of time there and sip a little water. 

A little further up the trail there's a wall that's just perfect for a little free climbing. Or free dancing.

I really do love this hike and I'm so glad it's only a mile from our house. It was the perfect first activity to start off our spring break adventures. Too bad one kid was a party pooper, but we had fun anyway.

I had a great time with the kids, but I'll admit to being more than a little excited when Rophone announced that he'd gotten enough work done during the first part of the week to enable him to take Thursday and Friday off to play with us. Hot diggety dog!

On Wednesday afternoon (with very short notice) the management company decided to do some work on our main bath. The thought of living with only one bathroom for a few days was terrifying, so we quickly packed up and went to my mom's vacant house to camp out for a few days. Inconvenient? Yes. But, hey, it made our Spring Break feel a little bit more like an adventure.

We decided to take a more leisurely hike/walk (yes, a halk) on Thursday morning so that Edith could spend more time exploring and expending energy. The gradual slope and nice, paved path make it perfect for a toddler to maneuver on their own. And then Edith insisted she needed to ride in her stroller. Ha! At least she only rode for a little while.

When we got to the bottom of the falls we were surprised to see that they had dammed off part of the water to create a little pond that they had filled with fish to feed. The kids were bummed that the water is still too cold to play in, so it was nice that they could feed the fish to make up for it.

Usually we don't make it past the base of the falls when we take this hike because the kids just want to play in the water. I was glad to continue on up the path this time around to see what we could find.

We were happy to find a steep, zig-zagging trail etched into the side of the mountain and some boulders to climb. Edith and I helped each other hike the trail.

At this point it was nearing lunch time, so we decided to continue up into the canyon to a little resort town for some lunch and shopping. Such a nice, pleasant idea, right? But, alas, when we got there, a different child decided to be a party pooper.

And then there was the fact that Edith had gotten it into her mind that we were going to the park, so every store we entered she would sadly ask, "But, where's the park?" It was pitiful and sad so we decided to scrap the shopping and just go to the park. Big, still feeling party pooper-ish, refused to get out of the car when we got there. Until we told him what he was missing out on, that is. Then he couldn't get out of the car fast enough.

The weird part is... see that little kid watching Bud on the digger? He was dressed very much like Big does every day (even wearing gray and green high tops like Big) and he's just as obsessed as Big is about the digger toy. What makes it really weird, though, is that Big and his mini-me from the park share the same first name. See? Weird.

Anyway, even though the older girls are a little large in stature to play on a park play structure, they enjoyed being out in the fresh air in a different place. Once the digger pulled Big out of his funk it was a lot of fun for all.

I think we've made up for the first few rainy, do-nothing-much days kind of nicely, don't you think? The amazing part? Even though we're pretty lazy folks over all, we did even more over the next few days.