Spring Break 2010

Jeremiah's mom rented a condo in Mesquite from April 4th til April 11th and invited us to spend the boys Spring Break with her, Jessica (Jeremiah's sister) and Draysen (Jessica's son, my nephew). Since we didn't have any plans and a get-away to somewhere warm is always tempting (especially when it's snowing at home!), we went and had a great time. :) Jeremiah couldn't go with us because he just got a new job (Utah Timber Frames) and started on the day after we left. YAY and BOO. :) Here's the rundown on the trip and some fun pictures to remember it by...

SUNDAY

We started the vacation on Easter. Jeremiah's aunt Karri came over to Jeremiah's parents house with her kids and we had an Easter Egg hunt. :) I didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few...

After the Easter Egg Hunt, we ate some great food and headed to Mesquite. We all piled into Sandra's Pilot - don't ask me how we fit everything because I still have NO idea! The weather was windy, but warm. We picked up some groceries for our stay and went back to the hotel for an easy night.

MONDAY

The next morning, the kids were begging to go down to the pool. We tried to tell them it was super windy and cold and that they really didn't want to be down there, but they insisted. Sandra and I took them down to feel the pool water. That didn't work. Draysen jumped right in and my boys were trying to follow. :) So, with the kids in their street clothes (except Tanion who went back to the room to change), they all played in the water for a little while - the wind blowing the whole time. :)

That afternoon, we made a trip to St. George. It was windy and rainy in St. George, so we played inside at a Dinosaur Museum... It wasn't like the one at Thanksgiving Pointe. This one was more informational and showed you things like Dinosaur tracks. Archer and Robyn thought it would be more fun to just run around and try to climb on the actual excavation dig sites. Yeah. A panic attack later and we were sitting in the car waiting for everyone else to be done.

TUESDAY

Tuesday brought sun and a semi-warm (mostly cool) pool. We played in the pool a little but spent most of the time in the hot tub (which was really a warm tub). We just took it easy that day - played at the pool some, went back up to the room for a while, went back down to the pool. Ah, vacation life is tough... Here are some pictures of the kiddos - all ready to head down to the pool. :)
I can tell you that something scary happened. It was time to come back up to the room and Robyn was over by the gate, waiting for me. I ask Sandra to keep an eye on her while I go over to the boys and see if they want to come back and to get towels. Mind you, I was already IN my swimsuit cover-up type dress. The second I turn around, I hear Sandra saying "Robyn! Robynson! Robyn!" I turn around to see Robyn babbling about something, not watching where she was going and walk (fall) straight into the pool. Picture Sandra and I both on a dead run, me reaching the pool area first, JUMPING IN and grabbing Robyn (just out of 3ft, but still!) - trying to pull her out of the water but my swimsuit cover-up dress thingy is over her head. The whole thing lasted maybe a whole 5 seconds, but life really does move in slow motion when you are scared to death.

Robyn was totally fine. She coughed a little, cried for maybe 2 seconds and then started telling us about a spider. I'm guessing she saw a bug, was worried it was going to get her so she didn't take her eyes off of it, and then she fell in the pool. The rest of the trip, she was telling everyone who would listen "I fell in the water!"
WEDNESDAY

Just like the rest of the days, we started Wednesday with swimming at the pool (and hot tub). We were generally at the pool a few times each day, actually. :) We stayed at the pool until after lunch time. Then we decided to go play on the grassy area of the condo area. Archer and Robyn had a fun time looking for blowy flowers (dead dandelions) and pine cones. DarTanion and Draysen would chase each other for a while, then get bored and just sit down. I rented Astro Boy for the kids to watch after dinner (they really liked it). Just another fun, relaxing day. :)

THURSDAY

April 8th (Thursday) was Archer's birthday. Since we were in Mesquite, I decided I would let him celebrate however he wanted to. Well, that meant bowling. We went bowling over at the Virgin River (I think!). Everyone seemed to have a fun time. :) Then Sandra traded in money for coins in the arcade for the kids. They played for about another hour in there and each got a little sack of goodies off of the tickets they won. After bowling and the arcade, we got some pizza, cake and ice cream and headed back to the hotel. We sang to Archer (who HATES when people sing - especially to him), ate dinner and took it easy. :)

FRIDAY

On Friday, we did the usual morning swim and then headed to St. George. Sandra wanted to check out a few fabric stores, so Jessica and I packed a lunch and went to a 'park' with the kids. It was actually the St. George town square and they have lots of different ways to get wet in 'not scary pool-like' waters. My kids LOVED it. They wanted to know if there was one in Provo, too. :) I actually really liked it there too. We ended up staying there for around 4 hours! Afterward, we met up with my Aunt Candy and her family (who live in St. George) for dinner at IHOP (kids eat free with the purchase of an adult meal!). Dinner was good, but it was really great to see Candy and family. :) {Thanks for coming! We love you guys!}

SATURDAY

The realization that this was our last full day in the sun made me kind of sad. I had enjoyed getting my sunburn in St. George - even though I know it would be gone with no sign of ever having one by Sunday afternoon. Instead of going to the pool by the condo, we went to the CasaBlanca pools across the street. Can I just say how much I LOVED their pool!? It wasn't cold, there was a water slide and a water fall, lots of room to sit and tan or enjoy the shade AND they had a place to get drinks. HEAVEN! :) We hung out there all morning on Saturday. I tortured Robyn and Archer by making them swim instead of just hang out on the side of the pool (I know, I'm mean). Then Jessica took both DarTanion and Robyn down the water slide at different times - I went down it with Robyn right as we got there and dropped my glasses (and Robyn) in the water. No worries, though. We found them both. :) It was after 2pm when my DarTanion and Archer both insisted they were starving TO DEATH and Robyn fell asleep in my arms. I asked Sandra if she could take us back to our room so we could have lunch. Sandra took us back, but then her, Jessica and Draysen stayed at the CasaBlanca til almost 6pm! Everyone had some sort of sunburn after Saturday. :)

SUNDAY

Sandra woke up bright and early on Sunday and we all got to packing our things and getting them back in the car. I had packed a few things the night before so that Sunday morning wouldn't take as long, but it still took a good hour and a half! We finally all got loaded in the car and by some miracle were able to drive straight from Mesquite to Provo without a bathroom break! (I was shocked!) We listened to a book on tape (Don't Cry Wolf) for most of the ride home and since we were missing a few discs and because I had to leave before it was done, I have now borrowed the book from the library. It's pretty good, so far. :)

It is good to be home, back to my computer, my blogs, my FaceBook, my house, my hubby! It's good to be back into our routine and back to basically normal.

BIG, HUGE THANKS TO GRANDMA SANDRA HARDMAN FOR TAKING US WITH YOU AND LETTING US HAVE LOTS OF FUN!!! WE LOVE YOU!