Spring Break!

Hoo-Yeah! We finally took a vacation and Jeff actually got to RELAX instead of work the whole time!!! YEAH! We started out by waking up at 5am on Friday and got on the road to go to Utah. We picked up my nephew, Raistlin, in Layton, UT and drove down to meet Jeff's sister, Mindy, in Springville. There is a place there called Jumpin' Jack's. It's so much fun!!! It's a big warehouse filled with bounce-arounds. Slides, jumpers, games,etc. It's basically a place where the kids could climb, slide and jump to their heart's content. Emma loved it so much that she wore a hole in the seat of her pants! It was a good thing that we had our luggage in the back of the van so that she could change and then go back in to play. We stayed the night with Mindy and her family Friday night. We dyed Easter eggs, ate a wonderful dinner and just hung out for the night. The kids got very dirty because they played in the sand box in the backyard and Mindy's husband, Dan, was so NICE!!! He bathed the kids for me - I could've kissed him! I went to bed at 8:30 - it'd been a long day.
We got up at 5am again on Saturday and began the long trek to Denver to visit my mom. It was a pretty uneventful drive. The only thing that was memorable was when Ian declared that he HAD to use the restroom!!! The only problem was that he'd gone 15 minutes previously and we were in the middle of a whole lot of NOTHIN'. So, we found a no name exit and Jeff ran with him down the little hill and let him do his business. I swear, that kid has an extra bladder hidden in his body somewhere! He just went, and went, and then he went some more!
We got to my mom's house in record time and the kids were so excited to see her. Raistlin has never been to visit Grandma Karen before and so he was anxious to see where she lived and to give her a great big "hello". (Did I mention that he's almost 11 years old? Giving a mushy hug to grown-ups is SO UNCOOL!!) Dinner with Mom and my sister Sam that night. It was fun.
Sunday was Easter and we all got up to get ready for church and to see what the Easter Bunny brought us. I think that Raistlin was a little disappointed in that. We had a sit down with the Easter Bunny when we first got married and explained that we only wanted him to bring things that would remind the kids of the Savior on Easter. I don't think that my brother had that conversation so Raistlin wasn't used to, or expecting, what was left for us that morning. Church was great - lots of talks and lessons on the Resurrection. We had a big family dinner that night with Great Grandma & Grandpa Mickelsen as well as our awesome Aunt Lane and Uncle Jerry - love you guys! We ate lots of good food, played fun games and had a wonderful time talking and getting to know each other again. Raistlin wanted to hang out with the adults - he kept telling us that he's not a kid anymore...he's a "tween". I hadn't heard that one before.
Monday Jeff took Raistlin out to lunch and to a movie for some "male bonding" while mom and I took the rest of the kids to the park. On the way, Ian said to my mom, "Grandma? You're old, huh? 'Cause you have wrinkles on your eyes." Grandma told him that she was getting older but that just meant that she's getting closer to being able to live with Heavenly Father again and that was pretty cool. Ian then said, "So, you've died twice already, right?" Grandma: "No..." Ian: "Only once?" Grandma: "I haven't died at all, Ian. You only die once, you know." Ian (sounding disappointed): "Oh." Ahhh. The innocence of a 4 year old.
That night we went bowling - SO MUCH FUN!!!! I've got lots of pictures. Suffice it to say, I wish that I had been given the bumper lanes with the kids. Alas, I was doomed to the grown up lane and a VERY low score. Oh well...
Tuesday was more shopping with Mom and Sam. We shopped a little, ate lunch and then shopped some more. I was TIRED by the time we were done. We got home and the kids were ready to go. We had promised them that we'd take them swimming at the local rec center that day. It's probably the coolest swimming pool that I've seen at a rec center. The area that the kids were supposed to be in had 2 large slides that the older kids could go on with an inner tube. They climbed up a set of stairs that was a couple stories high and then got onto their tubes and rode down. The little kids played on a large playground-type toy that also had a mini-water slide on it. Abbey LOVED IT! Once she got the courage to go down the slide (it only took her about 20 tries) she went again and again and again.
Wednesday was a day to get laundry done and to relax. I think the only thing we did that day was go to the movies with the kids. We went to see Horton Hears A Who. It was pretty cute. I think the kids all liked it. That night we had another family get together - same participants as Sunday night. We were celebrating Raistlin's birthday. Abbey helped Grandma Karen make the cake and I'm pretty sure Raistlin liked all of his gifts.
Thursday was another early morning. We woke up to rain and forcasts of snow and ice on the freeways. We decided at the last minute to take the route over the mountains instead of through Wyoming and found out that it was a happy decision. We had just a few miles of wet roads and all of the rest were dry and good weather. We stayed with "Grandma Ruthie" Thursday night and then took her to breakfast on Friday. I had a girl's night out with some of my friends from Utah that night and then we slept with Jeff's brother, Dustin's, family for the remainder of our trip. Ian and his little cousin, Jacob, sure do love each other. It's so much fun to see them play and laugh.Almost as soon as we got in the car to head home yesterday Ian was crying because he wanted Jacob to come home with us. He even said that we could leave Abbey and Emma home so that he could take Jacob with us... funny kid.
Saturday Jeff stayed at his brother's house to work for a few hours and I went to the zoo with Emma, Abbey and Kris' family (my best friend that lives in Salt Lake). It was so much fun!! The kids got to see all of the animals and even got to see the zoo keepers train a tiger. Cool stuff.
That night Emma & Abbey stayed the night with Aunt Lisa (my sister) while Jeff and I and Dustin and his wife, Crystal, went to dinner with a client. We went to PF Chang's - YUMMY! I've never been there before. I have to admit, I'm a little bit scared of Chinese food but it was so good.
Lastly, we came home. Yeah! Thanks to all who let us camp out at their homes - but my own bed is the best by far. I can honestly say that I missed sleeping in my own set of sheets.
Jeff had to go out of town again this morning. He left around 6:15 and then called me shortly after 7:00. He told me that he left his cell phone at home & that I needed to get all of the kids in the car and "drive like a maniac to the airport". I'm proud to say that I had all of the kids out of bed, had them go potty and out the door in 3 minutes flat. I ROCK!!! He still missed his flight, though. Darn. Wonder Woman can only do so much, you know. I also went shopping today. Lots of cereal on sale here in Idaho. Jeff's aunt, Darylann, met me at Albertsons and together I think we bought over 300 boxes of cereal. You just can't beat $0.57 per box!
That's all folks, sorry it's so long!