Spring Break

Whoo, spring break!  The girls had the week off school, and we had quite a bit going on.  At the end of the week Monica had her Lamb of God performance, and both of the girls went on Saturday night.  I'd say we haven't adapted to daylight savings yet, and I think it'll be a rude awakening tomorrow morning, but that's not till tomorrow. :)  Anyway, it helped the girls stay up through the performance, and they both loved it!  Brooke and I actually went the night before as well, but Winry took my ticket Saturday night and went with Brooke and the rest of my family who came into town.

Last Sunday we went to the Runkels' for a baby shower.  It was great to get up there and see them again.

We played a few games while we were there, and our family swept the prizes!  I won putting on a diaper and drinking a bottle.  Monica won blowing up a balloon and dropping a ping pong ball in a cup, and Brooke won the game where you couldn't say baby.  If you heard someone say baby you got to take their clothes pins, and Brooke basically had everyone's by the time the game ended!

On Monday Monica asked the kids what they wanted to do for spring break, and they said work on 72 hour kits.  So they pulled out the backpacks and started going through them.  Lots of food swapping for fresher items and checking clothes sizes, etc.  Winry got to try on her poncho and really liked wearing that.

The kids spent the WHOLE day talking about emergency scenarios.  They all had the general gist of what if our house caught fire to them being stranded alone in the wilderness to how much food they may or may not eat, and how long they'd save stuff, and where they'd find water, how many times they'd blow their whistles, how many items of clothes they'd wear before going to sleep, and what they'd use for a pillow.  It was a LONG day of "doomsday" prepping.  You know, cause if our house caught fire, all civilization would end.  Anyway, I did my part, and took them in the backyard after work and showed them how to make a tent with a rope and throwing one of their emergency blankets over the top.  They loved it.

Mmmmm, pie day.  Monica made a key lime pie, and it makes me sad now, because it is gone now.  It was very tasty.  It deserved the elegance Grayson brought to the eating of his pie.

Grayson at times decides that the stairs would be an ideal place to lay down.  He just fits onto one step so nicely.

Friday brought leprechauns, which brought St. Patrick's day.  We had shamrock waffles for breakfast with whipped cream.

And Brooke had shamrock hair.  It's really too bad it wasn't a school day, because that's hair worth showing off.

Winry was playing with Barbies and one of their heads broke off.  I told her I'd try to glue it back together, and I used the good stuff, which means 2 hours to set, 24 to fully dry.  So Barbie got the clamps!

Saturday morning we went bowling as a family!  I thought I got pictures and videos all around when we got there, but looking back it seems I really just have pictures of Winry, this being my favorite.

Here are the final scores.  Grayson beat me by a pin!  I do pride myself in my aiming of the ball ramps that the kids use.  Grayson actually took off part way through to wander the arcade with Monica whose back started hurting.  Winry and Brooke filled in for Grayson, and I filled in for Monica.  I never quite got hooking the ball down, and helped her get several gutters in a row.

Friday night Brooke and I went to Lamb of God, and Niki stayed at our house and helped Winry and Grayson get to sleep.  When we were heading into the building Brooke and I found this cool statue seat.

The original plan was for Monica's parents to go to Lamb of God on Friday night, and then watch the kids on Saturday when Brooke and I would go with the rest of my family.  However, thanks to COVID they didn't end up making it out, so Brooke and I used their tickets on Friday.  We found out there were boxes there, and headed straight to one when we got in!  It was a pretty cool seat.  I would definitely take a box if possible again in the future.

Katie and her mom also came on Friday night, so they sat in our box with us!  They're both singing coaches and have degrees and stuff, and I could definitely tell they were listening to things differently than I was.

The show ran until 8:30, and Brooke was getting pretty tired by the end.  She never actually fell asleep, but was pretty tired at the end.  The show was SO good.  I was a bit bummed that I didn't get to go again on Saturday night.  Many of the songs took scriptural stories and made them more conversational, with a singer taking the part of someone in the scriptures, and I really like how it brought the story more alive.  The music was all super good, and Monica did a fantastic job.  I'm really excited for her next show.

Saturday morning Grayson saw Buc-ee and had to wear that!  He was also playing with this balloon, and I believe trying to blow it up.

Niki drove down in a rental car on Friday, but on Saturday Celeste and my dad were going to come down too.  Niki headed up to meet and pick them up, but instead went rogue and headed all the way up to help clean the church.  My dad ended up staying at Tyson's house to help work on their addition, but Niki and Celeste went out for a day on the town with Brooke and Winry.  They went and got their nails done, and I can only imagine how excited the girls got when they suggested it.

After they got their nails done they went to lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory, and then stopped at the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner.  The girls had a wonderful time, and I'm really glad they "went rogue" as they said.  They got to go see everyone, and have a special day.  I think they had a lot more fun than if we'd all just been hanging out at home.

As for the rest of us, we went to Target to look at Easter candy and see if there was any clearance St. Patrick's day stuff.  It was a great trip.  Grayson sampled many toys, but this stuffed peep definitely had the most staying power.  Many were a hug and then put it back, but this guy shared his seat for quite a while.  Monica and I relished in remembering how simple things were with just one kid, who you can also confine into a cart when you head out.  So the whole family was having a wonderful day.

I've really been enjoying playing the piano recently, but it's too loud once the kids go to sleep.  We have a digital keyboard, but we didn't have a sustain pedal, so I made one!  I found a design online and 3d printed it, and then wired up some electronics inside of it.  I got lucky and ended up having everything I needed on hand.  It works really well and it's really nice to have!

And I think that makes it a wrap for the week.  Oh, march madness kicked off.  I was able to get the first 3 games wrong, and I had Purdue winning it all, and they lost to a 16, so... it's looking bleak this year.  At least it's fun to watch, right?