Spring Break 2011 day 2

Day Two of Spring Break 2011:

We started our morning with breakfast at the inn. The girls just loooove staying in a hotel, motel, inn, you name it. They feel like queens, and having a delicious breakfast waiting for them when the woke up just solidified that.

Now even though I had told myself that this was an unplanned week, I of course couldn't quite break from my OCD tendencies and laid out a tentative outline. For this day, because of the weather, I'd planned to go in the morning when it was cooler to a park, go somewhere for lunch, and then come back and do some fun swimming in the afternoon at the inn. But I was terribly outvoted. Line suggested and the others quickly followed her suggestion, that we switch things around a bit, and swim first, play at the park second. I tried to take my own advice I'd written before, about saying yes as often as possible so that when I say no, they'll hopefully understand that I would say yes if I could. So, switch we did. And no, the world didn't fall apart. Who knew? Yes, it was a great learning opportunity for all the kiddos because it turned out to be cold during the swimming and quite toasty at the park, but we lived to tell the tale.

I had forgotten my suit, and so all the girls took turns swimming with Boo and Eva. I was so proud as I watched and listened to them all playing with one another in the water. I SERIOUSLY need to live somewhere with a pool, people. I'm just sayin. Then I was even more proud when they befriended a girl named Addy who was swimming there alone, and I was so happy to see them choosing to be inclusive rather than exclusive. I'm not so sure she realized what she'd gotten herself involved in, but they all looked to be having fun together.

At one point in the day we were walking back to our room on the second floor. There was this one stair case that had half of it covered with a small ramp, I think it was for people to walk down the stairs while simultaneously pulling their luggage down the ramp beside them. The girls of course preferred to go up and down that ramp, and no matter how many times I warned them, then tried to run down it. Sure enough, Eli fell down it and bounced a couple of times on the way down. She was of course sobbing and boo-hooing while we were all guffawing. It looked hilarious! And I'd checked to make sure all bones and such were still intact...only injuries were some bruises and a bruised ego. Of course, during the second half of the day she retold the story, saying that "Remember when I fell down the stairs and WE WERE ALL laughing?" Well, as long as she remembers it with a positive spin, I guess.

We made our way to McDonalds for lunch...the only eating out we did while we were there. We enjoyed several picnics and meals from the food we'd brought with us, which I must say, for packing it all last minute was exactly what we needed. This doesn't happen very often, so I have to include this...the lady cleaning at McDonalds said she’d never seen so little on the floor after a group of kids had eaten..











The girls discovered this stage thingy and played there for a bit to get out of the warm sun. They created this game where the person in the middle picked out a section of the concrete floor as the hot spot, and then sang the tune to "Pop goes the weasel", with whomever stopping on the spot they'd picked at the conclusion of the song becoming the next person in the middle.












After the park we discovered this meandering paved path that covers quite a bit of the town. We started at a spot close to the park where we were playing.









After returning to our room for some dinner, we then headed out in time to catch a movie, "Hop". The girls were soooo excited to see this. Me? Not so much. But no worries. Imagine our surprise when we pulled up to the theater to see that it only had a total of three movies showing, and then we saw THIS sign, an even bigger surprise.



So we all piled back into the car to go find an ATM, and since the town is so small it was super quick finding one. The girls and I agreed, that we were all so shocked at how small the town of Moab actually is. So many of our friends travel there for leisure and family fun we just naturally assumed it was a big and hopping kind of place. It's unexpected size is definitely part of it's charm.






One tricky part of the movie experience was that Daddy and I had a good movie theater system. He would take out any fussy babies, and I would get to stay in with the other babies and keep them unfussy. Now that doesn't work too hot. Sometimes I'm amazed at what Boo remembers. She started to get fussy, and so I stood to take her out but Ane was not having that. She wanted Daddy to take her out, not me, and she told me that in a very loud, scream-like kinda way. She eventually calmed down, and thankfully Eva and Eli were okay with me not sitting right beside them in the dark while I was out in the lobby for a while.

We got back "home", cleaned up and then the girlies crashed while I stayed up to do laundry. This one adult only stuff can get tricky. I hated stepping out of the room to go start and switch the laundry. I've learned that those moments when one just isn't enough, that prayer and reliance on the Lord is what sustains me. I find myself in situations like that often, and pray so hard that instead of my sweet husbands presence and hands for helping, I feel the Savior's presence instead and rely on his all-encompassing hands.


I fell asleep that night happy, peaceful, and yet nervous about the upcoming day, since it was the day I had planned to do Arches National Park. I was so worried that it would be too much for all of us, yet so wanting it to be such a great experience.

Spring Break 2011

I have been trying to blog about our Spring Break for what feels like forever, but have really struggled with getting these pictures to upload. They sometimes did, sometimes didn't, and when they did upload, would not upload in the order I selected them to. Geez, what a nuisance. So. It is with great pleasure that I give you...our first day of Spring Break 2011!

This year I had the strongest prompting that we needed to go, somewhere, anywhere, for Spring Break. I was worried that I wouldn't have the driving stamina needed to drive somewhere far, so decided to stay and discover parts of Utah we'd never experienced, one of the very things Naki and I had talked about doing more with the girls. It was one of those experiences that I know I was guided to do. At first I thought that perhaps by leaving and going somewhere I was avoiding some kind of catastrophe here. But as soon as we were on the road, it was crystal clear to me that the girls and I were very much in need of spending time just playing with one another. It was so refreshing for me personally to finally be the source of fun and silliness instead of being the one reminding everyone how many minutes until we were leaving for such and such activity, or reminding people of homework responsibilities, or tooth brushing, or bed making, or chore reminders, or shoe putting on, or taking one more bite of a meal, etc. We, all 7 of us, needed this time to just BE together. It was the best time any of us has had in quite some time. The best part was that by just getting to be with one another, there was a miraculous side benefit of NOOO fighting...NONE! The girls were respectful and great listeners, they were compassionate to one another, and so gracious towards everyone they met. None of us wanted to come home, although that's a necessary part of any vacation. It was simply the most angelic time with each other.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a planner. It was extremely unlike me to quickly pack in 20 minutes the night before a trip and throw some food in the car and not have every detail of the trip planned. But that's exactly what we did. The night before I had also made some hotel reservations at certain places so we'd have a place to sleep. I had a rough idea of what we'd do on certain days because I'd checked the weather for the days we'd be gone, trying to match the activities we wanted to do with the best weather, but other than that I was shooting from the hip. And thankfully, all turned out marvelously. Just perfect!

So, in the order of the first day...

This was all of us, super excited. We didn't even leave at the crack of dawn, another change for my road trip style.


We enjoyed seeing any change of scenery, and these huge mill-things, whatever their proper name is, was new to us and the girls ooohed and aaahed over them.

After a few hours of driving we found this simple rest stop, where we enjoyed our premade lunch which included Malia's cookies she'd baked the night before. It was so fun to see them running around having fun and being goofy with each other.





I was trying to capture video only to have my camera tell me my memory was full. I had mistakenly grabbed the wrong SD card, and it wasn't until that night that I discovered that Line's camera had room on it for all the video and pictures I had wanted to take. She was kind and switched cards with me at the end of the day, so this was the only video I captured on day one.

After we piled back in the car I just could not resist...this was what I got to see out of my windshield. Could the weather have BEEN any better?

I told Ane that it was a good time for a little nap, gave her her blankie, and told her to lay her head down for a little bit. She decided that I actually meant that Line and Malia needed to lay their heads down instead.

This was our first destination...Goblin Park. It was soooo much fun, and thank you Ric for suggesting it. It was fascinating and fun all at the same time. I made the initial mistake of telling the girls we were going to Goblin Park, using a spooky voice, and it kinda freaked Eva out. It wasn't until we were there that she actually realized all was well.










Everyone was assigned partners and before I knew it I couldn't see the big 4 girlies, since I was partners with the two littles. I could hear them, but I couldn't see them. It was easy for that to happen, since these formations were everywhere, all of them taller than we were, so someone could be four steps away from me and I couldn't actually see them. So when I kept going around one formation, then another, and then another, and I still couldn't see them but could hear them, I couldn't figure out where they'd gone. Until, I looked further, and a little higher. They're actually in this next picture...can you spot them?

Here they are again, but this time I zoomed in with my camera. How did they get so far away so quickly? At least they followed the safety rules and stayed together.

Malia showed Eva, Ane, and I how to climb up the gravel-like mountain the girls had found, so we stayed up there and watched the girls play hide and seek.

We set some boundaries for the game, otherwise it would take forever to find anyone in there. It was hilarious having a birds eye view...they could not see where each other were, but from where we were they were only steps away from each other. At the end they had me hunt for everyone. It was super fun. Can you spot the hiders in this pic?

We left there and decided that instead of staying at the motel that I'd made reservations at locally, we'd drive on over to Moab and stay there instead. What a great choice. Again, during the drive there the girls were absolute angels. We used this time for their favorite activity ever in the car...sticker books. Thank you sooo very much Tonia. Instead of letting a girl pick one book that was there's, this time we did 30 minute shifts, switching after the time was up. Before we knew it we'd pulled into Moab. Of COURSE the first thing we had to do was go swimming. I'd picked the place we stayed based on the fact that they had rooms with three beds (which means I didn't have to sleep on the floor) and that they had a pool that was indoor and outdoor.

The one packing casualty that we experienced was that Mom forgot her bathing suit...and that is not a "forgot" kinda forgot. I truly did forget it since I packed in under five minutes right before we left. But true to nature, all the girls took turns swimming with the littles, who mostly lived in the hot tub. It was adorable watching them take care of each other. We crashed that night, tired and happy.

Every girl should have a sister that while visiting you for their Spring Break chooses to clean your garage while you're at work...not a small feat since I'd been told that it looked like the aftermath of Japan out there. Add to that the fact that all my children flock to her and choose staying with her to clean instead of coming in the car with me. Then the icing on the cake is when she took all the kiddos with her to Kangaroo Zoo for dinner and playing so that I could go through every container on the garage shelves to sort through them and find spaces for all of the items that were piling on the floor of the garage. What is your magic spell you've placed over all of us? We love you. Thanks for coming with some of your sweet kiddos and brightening our days. We miss you already.

Tonight I read this verse in the Book of Mormon, and it needs to be on a plaque somewhere in my house. It reads,

"And now we only wait to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouth of angels, of his coming; for the time cometh, we know not how soon. Would to God that it might be in my day; but let it be sooner or later, in it I will rejoice."
Alma 13:25

Would to God...

Line's before and after

Line was in definite need of a makeover. Her image was way out of date, and her hairstyle, glasses, and shirt choices were reminiscent of Rosa Parks...



So with the help of our favorite hairdresser, she worked her magic and now Line's a whole new girl, and loving it.



Seriously though, Line has been working for weeks on a school project about Rosa Parks. The conclusion of the project was her class "wax museum" this past Friday, where she dressed like Mrs. Rosa Parks and gave an oral report on her life. She of COURSE did a marvelous job. But the crazy part was how she kinda looked like her. I needed to take a pic.

The other pictures of her are of her new look. I let the girls know that I'd scheduled hair cuts and Line surprised us all by telling us that she wanted bangs. Ohh...bangs...all my girlies' dream hair cuts include bangs, and for me each hair cut that includes bangs means more teaching how to use blow dryers and flat irons, and more juggling all of our getting ready time in the morning, which I've been warned about for years would happen, having six girlies! But I am thrilled to see them figuring out some beauty tricks early, and these ones don't scorch the crap out of their hair, like their Auntie Ginny and I did on our poor poor bangs all those years ago. I can still remember the sound my hair would make as it was singeing and the steam coming out as I "curled" my bangs. I'll never forget the morning Mom threw away the curling iron because she was tired of us frying our hair. I think Ginny and I hyperventilated that morning, trying to figure out what to do with our poor hair without our precious curling iron.

Congrats on the great job at school and the new cute look. Love you Emeline.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

We all had such a fantastic day yesterday. The night before we all painted our nails green and decorated them with shamrocks and four leaf clovers. Before we went to bed we also had a fun time running through everyone's closets to see what St. Patrick's attire we had. The morning of we enjoyed some Lucky Charms with some green milk, munched on some nummy green shamrock rice crispie treats after school, and convinced our brains that green eggs still taste the same as yellow ones for dinner. But the best part was knowing that we feel the luckiest to have found our own personal pot of gold...each other. Hokey, I know. But the girlies and I honestly talked about that yesterday. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Oh, That Woh-man! (Closer lovers will know where that quote comes from)

We were in Sacrament Meeting today and things were surprisingly manageable for me as we sat there listening and singing. Through out the meeting, as usual, Eva would tap me and want to show or tell me something. Today she'd aggressively tap me while simulataneously saying something to get my attention. I'll admit that the first couple of times I didn't actually notice what she was saying. Then on the third or fourth time I wasn't sure but it sounded like she was saying, "Mormon". After trying to really decipher what it was she was saying, I realized she was saying, "Woh-man!" to get my attention. You should have seen the twinkle in her eye and heard her loud stomach chuckle when she knew I'd finally gotten her sarcasm. I LOVE glimpses like this of my Eva, the one that makes me laugh instead of cry.