Spring Break 2013 Part 2

The rest of Spring Break we spent in Mapleton doing lots of things.  I didn't take many pictures...maybe because my hands were a bit more full than they used to be since we have a baby.

On Weds. April 10th we went on a tour of the Springville Fish Hatchery.  The kids liked seeing the little fish.  Everytime we'd pass the hatchery when driving Provo the kids would point it out.  We went to a fun park in Mapleton and hung out with Grandma and Grandpa Judi.

Thursday, April 11th, we went to the BYU dinosaur museum.  Ty has been having nightmares about dinosaurs lately, but I think the museum helped him realize that they are dead when he saw their bones. 

After the dinosaur museum we went on BYU campus to eat at the Wilkenson center.  Kate bought a BYU shirt with her birthday money at the bookstore.

Then we headed to Melinda's house.  We left all the boys at her house with Dave and Grandpa and the girls all went to IKEA.  Then we had dinner together celebrating Ben, Kate and Anders' birthdays.  Then we went to Ethan's school and watched him in his choir in the play Peter Pan.

The kids spent the night at Melinda's house and the rest of us (including Nick) went back to Grandpa and Grandma's house.  The kids loved being with their cousins.  Ty wanted to spend the night and sleep with his favorite toys there.  We've never left him overnight before, but he did fine. 

Almost every morning in Mapleton Dave and I went running.  It was nice and flat and so much easier than running in Los Alamos.

The morning of April 12th Melinda brought the kids to Mapleton.  Then we all went bowling at BYU, then we ate BYU creamery ice cream. 

On Saturday, April 13th, we met Mike and his family in Provo and we hiked up the "Y" on the mountain.  It was pretty cold, but we warmed up quickly as we hiked the steep path.  We didn't take the camera because I was carrying Nick in the Bjorn and the camera was in the way.  Melinda snapped this picture at the bottom of the hill.

Jack and Kate hiked up the trail with their cousins and waited for the rest of us at the top.  Luckily no one fell down the Y...it was pretty steep. 

After the hike we all went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and had pizza. 

Then the next day we headed home. 

Kate's 9th Birthday

Kate had a fun 9th birthday!

She started it out in Fairview.  Jack made her a really sweet birthday sign and we hung up a few balloons to surprise her when she woke up.

She had blueberry muffins with candles in them for breakfast.

 

Then she got to open half of her presents. 

Jack & Ty gave her some "girl" legos.  She also got some soccer socks and a new dress (which she wore that day).  Grandma Cox took Kate to a gift shop in Fairview where she got to pick out her present:  new earrings and a multi-colored pen.

Before lunch we packed up and headed to Mapleton to Grandma and Grandpa Judi's new house.  Kate opened the rest of her presents...

Another dress and new colored pencils.  And birthday money from and Grandma and pa Judi...

Grandma Judi made Kate a birthday cake...

Then we headed to Melinda's house in Draper.  She gave Kate a really sweet present -- a box that looked like a book full of surprises.  We all went to dinner at Chuckarama - Kate's choice. 

Then we all went to the Jazz game.  Too bad they lost. 

 The kids liked seeing the sports guys be on TV. 

A little about Kate at age 9...

• She is pretty responsible. She is a great helper with Nick.  She's pretty good at getting him dressed and even changes his diaper! 
• Kate loves to read!  She usually checks 15+ books out from the library at a time and breezes through them quickly.  I find books in every room that she's been reading throughout the day.
• Kate likes to be with her friends.  Her favorite friends are Sophi, Annika and Nina. 
• She loves to wear high heels and wishes that she could wear them to school.
• Is a good student.  Her teacher, Ms. Carr, has wonderful things to say about her. 
• She is currently playing soccer and just finished playing basketball. 
• She enjoys going on walks and hikes with dad in the evenings.
• She loves to mix and match her earrings. 
• She's a great sister and a wonderful daughter!

Spring Break 2013 Part 1

We decided to go to Utah for Spring Break.  We drove all day on Saturday, April 7th.  We ended up spending night in Mapleton and Grandma and Grandpa Judi's new house.  Then the next morning we headed to Fairview for a few days.

We listened to General Conference with Grandma and Grandpa Cox and helped Grandpa feed his animals in the fields.

The next day Dave and I went on a nice run and got back a little before it started storming.  There was a break in the weather in the afternoon and the kids got to ride horses with Grandpa.  It was cold and we'd left our coats at home, so the kids only had their hoodie sweatshirts on. 

 

Kate and Jack rode horses too, but I didn't take many pictures during Spring Break.  We thought it was funny that a bear was riding a horse.

 

We went on a walk down the road.  The kids took turns holding Skippy's leash.  Ty loved walking him, but it seemed more like Skippy was "walking" Ty.

Monday after horse riding, we headed to Ephraim and went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant.  Then we stopped at Shave & Cream and had some yummy BYU creamery ice cream.  Kate couldn't finish her single (three scoops was only $1.50!) and Jack said that next time he's going to get a triple (9 scoops of ice cream!).

The kids played plenty of Wii and loved being around Grandpa's animals. 

Spring Break 2012 Days #7 and 8

We drove all day Saturday from San Jose to Flagstaff, AZ.  It was a twelve hour drive and the kids were amazing!  They were so good.  Maybe they were worn out from a week of playing with cousins and seeing so many things that they were happy just sitting in the car.
When we checked into our hotel we went swimming in the hotel pool.  Then we went to bed.

The next morning was Easter Sunday.  The kids each got to find 3 Easter eggs that were hidden around the hotel room.  For some reason, I forgot to take pictures of Jack.  Sorry bud!

We went to Sacrament meeting at a church in Flagstaff, then we drove the 5 1/2 hours home.  The first thing that Ty asked me when we got home was, "Can we get the train out?"  His favorite thing to play with. 

It was a really fun Spring Break!  Totally worth all the driving and hours in the van.  We loved being with Norm and Melinda and their boys and Derek and Meagan and their kids.  We got to see beautiful things and be with fun people.  It was great! 

Spring Break 2012 Day #6 San Francisco

Friday we spent all day in San Francisco.  Meagan and her kids got to come spend the day with us too. 
We parked near the piers are headed towards Pier 39 to get some clam chowder in sourdough breadbowls for lunch.  The kids had yet another peanut butter sandwich.  They didn't care though. 

Then we went to see the sea lions. 

Kate, Brooklyn and Jack got a great spot to see the sea lions.  They stayed there for a while watching them.

 

Sweet Jake...

I loved watching these girls take pictures of Jake and Emma...

 The kids listened to a volunteer tell them all about sea lions (and about not throwing garbage in the ocean).

 Trying out our zoom lense to see Alcatraz.

 Kate loved all the sourdough animals that they made at Boudin.

 Jack loved seeing this ship.  He took lots of pictures of it.

 Ethan and Uncle Dave...

We went to Ghiradelli and got a piece of chocolate.  Ty was sweet and shared his piece of chocolate with me.

 Then each family ordered an $8 sundae to share.  Patient Dave only got to eat the hot fudge in the bottom of the cup.  The kids ate it fast!  It was good.

At dinnertime we headed back to San Jose and met Derek for dinner.  We loved staying with Derek and Meagan.  Our kids loved playing with their cousins. 

Spring Break 2012 Day #5 Big Basin Redwoods State Park

Wednesday night we drove to Derek and Meagan's house in San Jose.  We spent the next few nights at their house.  Thursday morning all 9 of the cousins played together.  Dave and I took all nine of them on a walk to see Brooklyn's school.  It was quite the parade of blond-haired kids. 

Thursday afternoon we went to Big Bason Redwoods State Park near Santa Cruz to go an a hike.

 The kids loved playing in the base of this huge tree.  There were at least four holes in it. 

 Eight of the nine cousins -- Jake was on Meagan's back. 

Jack, Ethan, Brooklyn, Ben, Kate, Jack, Emma, Anders

 Ty didn't want to ride in the backpack, so he walked with Dave most of the way.  Then he decided to sit down in the middle of the trail and not walk anymore.  

We ate a lot of snacks on our trip.  We dried apples and jerky at home before we drove to CA.  It was all gobbled up fast.  The kids ran around a lot and were always hungry.

 

This waterfall was our hike destination.  It was a couple miles from the vans.  

Dave, Melinda and I ran down the road and got the cars and then picked up the kids who were hungry and cold. 

After our hike, we went to Sunnyvale to visit my aunt Diane and her family.  Her son, Ewan is the exact same age as Jack.  They hadn't met before.