Spring Break: Day 3 and 4

Last day of driving SOUTH!  We left Las Vegas and headed to the Palm Springs area.  I struggled to keep them happy and could sense that there was not much that could keep them occupied, happy and content. So we settled for some Curious George videos which allowed Kent and I to listen to our audio book.  The drivers were much crazier than anywhere we had been before and the scenery was not quite as interesting.  We all couldn't wait to make it to our destination!

Can't you tell we are happy to be out of the car and having fun!?

It has been five years since Kent and I came down to California together for a vacation.  The kids can't get enough of the fact that their Daddy is here!  It sure makes it nice for me to get to relax a bit more and have help!

The kids are sure swim-babies!  No more floaties!  Brooke loves to do cannonballs into the water and one time she even ended her cannonball with a swim to pick up a toy on the bottom of the pool!  I could not believe my eyes when she did her first front somersault in the water!

When we arrived, Gpa John helped Oliver put together his new Spiderman Lego car.  Too cool!

Road Trip: Day 2

We left Salt Lake City this morning for Las Vegas.  "Only" six hours of driving today!  We started off rested and ready for the day!  Brooke sang her heart out to some music from one of the Glee Soundtracks...

Oliver is really interested in coloring sheets these days.  He asks us to search for them online and print them off on a daily basis.  His last request was for a "Lego cannonball coloring sheet"... sorry, Oliver, no luck there!  Today he branched out and used three colors on this page.  Normally it's just one color that fills the entire thing!

And Brooke also enjoyed some coloring.  I found these lap desks for $8 each at Staples.  They have been really nice on this trip, the kids even played with Play-Doh!

We really enjoyed the scenery through central Utah and needed a lunch break at Cedar City.  I found a pretty amazing playground for them to explore.  It was very windy, but not too cold so the layers of coats eventually came off.

Brooke was timid to explore this new playground but she is lucky to have a brave brother to follow. My only complaint was the fact that I couldn't keep track of the kids for most of the time.  What a maze!

They had large sand pits and dinosaur "bones" to find.  Such great ideas for a playground!

Back on the road again!  We realized later on that we got to travel for about thirty miles through Arizona!  It was the most scenic part of the trip.  The red rock was so beautiful!

As we got closer to Vegas we started to see Joshua Trees, cactus and palm trees.  The kids thought we were in California and got SUPER excited.

There was a windy stretch of road in Arizona that was so amazing!  Kent and I thought it was so spectacular!  Makes me want to visit the Grand Canyon someday!

Our one and only stop in Las Vegas was Circus Circus.  When we arrived, Brooke was very nervous.  She broke into tears when we told her we were going inside.  Finally, I convinced her that it was just to use the bathroom.  Talk about sensory overload!  Both Brooke and I were probably at the height of our anxiety level in this place.

Every half and hour they have a short free show.  It was pretty awesome to see the Russian Bar Act.  The acrobat did multiple jumps and even two full rotations in the air before landing gracefully on the bar.  Next adventure was to drive the Vegas Strip and see the sights!

On of Brooke's favorite part of Vegas... Hey, Caitlin.  What's that statue?! (Sorry for the inside joke, I don't plan on explaining)

FINALLY, around 6pm the kids got their wish.  They got to go swimming!  Brooke has become such a Daddy's girl.  She couldn't wait to swim with him!

Time to relax and watch a show before the pizza arrives!

Our hotel turned out to be a really nice surprise!  We had no idea we were getting a suite with a full kitchen. It was nice to eat off of real plates and at a table!  We ordered a large pizza which was barely enough for us. Kent and I were a little sad when Brooke had asked for the last piece (her third!).  We let her have it and she ate it all!  Tomorrow we get to drive to Thousand Palms, CA our final destination!

Spring Break 2014- Day 1

After weeks of planning and preparations, we packed our (wonderfully clean!!) Pilot to the brim and headed out of town.  Our final destination is near Palm Springs, California (1300 miles away!). At 8 o'clock it was already past the kid's bedtimes and we both wondered if they would ever be able to calm down their excitement/nervousness and fall asleep.  Our plan was to take turns driving the twelve (+) hours to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Oliver fell asleep first, as usual, and Brooke worried about not being able to fall asleep.  As soon as we told her that she could stay up all night if she'd like, she was sleeping.  I drove six hours and swapped driving with Kent.  A few hours later Brooke woke up car sick.  After a few more sick moments, we decided to find the nearest place to buy some Dramamine which was Walmart in Mountain Home, Idaho. We felt very odd and totally out of place to walk into a Walmart at 5am with two kids!

After walking around and breathing in cold air, we gave Brooke 1/2 a pill and took off down the road just to have her get sick again!  A few minutes later, Oliver joined in on the "fun".  Kent and I looked at each other in disbelief as both of our kids were throwing up at the same time, and pulled into the nearest truck stop.  In the freezing 30* weather, pitch black gravel parking lot I found yet another set of clothes for Brooke and a new set for Oliver.  Plus a Dramamine mixture for both of them.  The kids got to watch an episode of Doc McStuffins while Kent and I rested for twenty minutes and waited for the medicine to do it's magic. We took our chances, turned of the show and headed down the highway with success!  Kids took a two hour nap and we got to enjoy the beautiful sunrise and interesting high elevation scenery of Southern Idaho and Nevada.

We arrived at Salt Lake City and found an IHOP for breakfast.  Oliver told me he needed another pair of pants.  What?!  I just changed them!  To add more bodily fluids to the list, we discovered that he had an accident in his car seat!  Somehow, I kept my cool and actually giggled a little about the whole thing.  What an adventure!

It's pretty amazing we were still smiling!

We saw this as soon as we entered Utah.  At the same time a car passed us going about 100 miles/hour!

Kids got to watch Frozen in the car (once they were feeling better).  What a treat!  How can you not sing along?!

Ok, slightly embarrassing.  I was in love with all the cows and their little baby calves.  I just had to get a picture.  I spotted what I thought was a Mama and her baby and quickly took a picture.  THIS is what I found on my camera!  I thought other's might enjoy the laugh with me!

Entering Salt Lake City.

got triplets?

Kent and I wish we could attend the Utah Symphony concert when they play Dvorak's New World Symphony.

What a unique city.  I really enjoyed our drive through the streets of Salt Lake City.

Drive by photo of the temple.

We headed to a park to get a little exercise.

The kids are hanging out and Kent is napping in our hotel in Salt Lake.  We are looking forward to only driving six hours tomorrow down to Las Vegas.  The weather should be warm enough to enjoy our hotel's pool!  Wish us luck!

Violin Recital

One of our favorite recitals for our violin studio is the family concert.  Parents/siblings/friends come up with their own music for the concert.  We heard everything from the most beautiful Ave Maria on violin to a Beatles medley to Irish folk tunes.  What fun to see such talented families come together and play music as a family!  We practiced two songs "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Bile Them Cabbage Down".  Kent brought the school's bass home to practice with and Brooke was really excited to see the HUGE violin!  She said, "Mom!  It has a ginormous scroll!".

I love this picture SO much.  I can't describe how proud I am of this beautiful little girl!

Friends

Brooke (and Oliver's) best friend is Riley.  Riley and her little sister Cora (8 months) got to visit us today!  Guess who was the center of attention?!

Such good friends!