Spring Break ReCap 2013

So I know that no one reads this anymore but that's okay because it's now become my own personal journal of family goings on.

Spring Break this year was great. We stayed home, given that we are leaving for a real family vacation in seven weeks. But this year we managed to have something special each day of the break, which was my goal for the week.

Personally, a week of NOT stressing over my job was the biggest bonus of all. I hadn't realized HOW stressful this job had become until I had a week free from the panic feeling I was experiencing each day. Another nice thing was making dinner each night, being able to try new recipes and being home to EAT with my family each night rather than rushing off to piano lessons that may or may not show up on any given weeknight. Steve certainly liked not having to rush home every day from work to be with the boys so I could leave too.

The last day before break is always the school's fine arts fest (talent show) and BOTH boys chose to participate this year. Aaron played a piano solo and Noah played a trombone solo. I was very proud of them both for their efforts.











The first weekend of break was Easter weekend. Saturday I found a local church Easter egg hunt outside, which  was finny because we have never done a local hunt and this is the last year Noah can do it because he "ages out".  Normally, we try to do things outside on Easter Sunday after dinner, but given that the day was rainy and cold, we found ways to spend time together inside instead.  The boys picked out some projects for us to do together over the week so we started on them.

Boys loved their Easter baskets this year. In past years, we've given them quite a few gifts in their Easter baskets, but this year I really wanted to scale back. And the cool thing is, they didn't even notice. They LOVED their stuffed friends (yes, ANOTHER sock monkey for Noah) and each got an mp3 player for our trip next month.











That afternoon, Noah and I started on one of the projects for the week, a 100+ piece wooden 3D puzzle of a dragon. We really enjoyed working on the project together and it did indeed take the entire week to complete.  He is so proud of his accomplishment and is asking when he can work on another one.












Easter evening we took the boys to my parents for a sleepover, which they LOVE. The next morning, they were treated to a movie with their cousins before coming home Monday afternoon. I enjoyed a day to try to get my house in order before the busy week started.

Tuesday was the day Noah had been waiting for for weeks. He FINALLY had a play date with a friend. As I have said in the past, one of the problems with the boys going to a VERY small school is that friendships are a tricky thing, especially this year, which has been very rough for both boys. A new boy moved into the class this year, and...fingers crossed...could FINALLY be a friend for Noah worth having that could be a lasting friendship. I really really really hope so. He really needs a good friend... don't we all? So this boy came over for a few hours Tuesday afternoon, which Noah loved but Aaron not so much. Hopefully this friendship will last and we can have many more play events with this young man. He was a pretty nice kid.

Wednesday began my goal to have fun with the boys over break. I wanted to do some activities that were different than the norms that we always do, but not break the bank in doing so. We took advantage of the reciprocal membership we have to the local museum and took a road trip to Lansing to visit a science museum there. We went once last summer but haven't been there since. The boys had a great time and even found some activities that we hadn't discovered the last time we visited.









Thursday we tried out a new attraction in Grand Rapids. Given the cost, we only paid for an hour, which ended up being plenty of time. SkyZone is an indoor trampoline park with wall to wall trampolines, a huge foam pit, two dodge ball arenas, and a basketball court. The boys had a good time until Noah was told he couldn't play dodge ball without wearing these big nasty goggles. I even told them I was okay with me if the glasses broke but they still wouldn't let him so he was pretty upset the rest of the time and I am not sure that he will want to go back. Definitely disappointing.




Friday was another attraction that I went back and forth about. A  local arena sets up an "indoor amusement park" which cost a little bit of money but with the coupon online I figured it was the last day of break so we had to go out with a bang. The kids got to try their hand at trampoline bungee, bull riding, and other inflatable fun. There was even a "game show" that we tried to be part of but it was still fun to participate in the audience. Boys even got to try  "jousting". It was a fun day but probably once was enough.

Saturday Hubby ended working longer than we anticipated so I brought the boys shopping with me and then they went to the free movies at the mall while I got more shopping done. Afterward, it was home for taco dinner and then the two semi-final basketball games.


Sunday was an at home get ready for the week kind of day, which is good to have once in awhile.


 It was a great week with my boys. It wasn't because of the things we did, although I think they had a good time. I think we all just really enjoyed the break in the routine and had some much needed-low stress- fun time together.

Although I am panicking about finances this summer, I know that a summer of three months of hanging with these two special boys is going to be wonderful.