Spring Break Stay-cation!

Lucy's preschool has been on spring break for the last 2 weeks, from March 12-23, so we've had a LOT of extra time on our hands. You tell me: What 5 year old needs TWO weeks for spring break?!? Poor Luce gets really disappointed when there's no school (and she can't see her best friend Brooke Lynn), but we decided to make the best of it anyway. Because we just came back from a big vacation we weren't able to travel anywhere so it was a true stay-cation.

The first week went really smoothly and was actually a lot of fun. We were able to sleep in and have some late-starting mornings which was nice, especially for me because I get tired of always cracking the whip. I usually go to the gym in the mornings anyway so Lucy just tagged along. By the time we got home it would have been time to get Lucy anyway, so she didn't miss school too much. We have had AMAZING spring weather (80 degrees and sunny) so we spent a couple mornings enjoying the park.

Zach LOVES the park! He loves to dig and run and get dirty and eat his picnic lunch. We met some friends one day and he had a blast running around.

That weekend my sister in law was nice enough to drive up with the cousins and spend the weekend with us in Pinehurst. Lucy was ECSTATIC and Zach always loves to see baby Sophie. We bought a wading pool at Wal-Mart (best $15 I ever spent!) and the kids had a blast outside!

Sophie wearing her green shirt on "Ben Patrick's Day!" (as Eva dubbed the holiday).

That night we decided to get Chick fil A for dinner despite a MONSTER thunderstorm/downpour, and the kids had a blast playing on the equipment. Jon was nice enough to then let Sarah and I check out the brand new Kohl's (hooray!) during the grand opening sale kid-free...at least for a few minutes.

There was an incredible double rainbow (but we didn't cry over it; check youtube.com if you don't know what I'm talking about) and a misty sunset that night as we crossed the lake to get to our house. Very appropriate for leprechauns and pots of gold!

We drove by this guy crawling towards the road near our house. He was HUGE! Snapping turtles are pretty freaky creatures-- sure makes you think twice before jumping in the lake!

Take a guess at what this is.... Sidewalk chalk?? Nope. Paint?? No again. It's POLLEN! The pollen here is CRAZY! I've never seen anything like it in my life. All the pine trees in the area go crazy at the same time every year for about 3 weeks, and there is literally an inch of yellow pollen everywhere.

You can see how much pollen was knocked out of the air when it rained. All of our patio furniture is covered in dust; when you drive down the road and there's a gust of wind huge clouds of pollen fly off the trees. It's wild! Allergy-sufferers BEWARE.

Week 2 was not as smooth as week 1 unfortunately, and we all started going a little loopy! Lucy was "bored, bored, bored" (she expressed that repeatedly)-- I guess there's only so much playing at the park and in your wading pool before you've had enough. I spent most of this week sitting at the computer and finishing up our Cardon blog book for 2010-2011!

My kids (and I) love to make treats, but since I usually end up eating 3/4 of whatever it is I rarely do it. Lucy got the coveted job of cutting the peanut butter cups for me on this one.

The first week I decided to go all out and try a recipe from Pinterest-- Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Brownies since the missionaries were coming to dinner. One of the elders couldn't finish his so he wrapped it in his napkin and stuck in his pocket to take home. It was cute.:)

Tuesday was the official first day of spring, and if you live by a "Rita's," you know what that means: FREE WATER ICE FOR EVERYONE! We stopped by after the park with some friends and enjoyed our cool treat.

Zach's new pose: The Fish Face. Maybe it's from his Swedish Fish flavored water ice?

Eating water ice with our friends Milo and Oliver and their new baby brother Sullivan. Hooray for spring (and freebies)!

We are SO lucky because although our ward boundaries are enormous and everyone is way spread out, we lucked out and got some neighbors who are LDS and who happen to have a 5 year old girl named Sophie that plays GREAT with Lucy! They play Barbies for hours.

Fish-Face helped me make another treat for week 2 which was also delish. We made devil's food cupcakes with fresh raspberry frosting. YUM! Perfect for the spring weather.

Luce had to get creative a few times with Zach as her most loyal (and obnoxious) playmate and invent a few games. They played school, library, and "Top Chef" restaurant.

In honor of Jon's upcoming birthday we hired a babysitter (2nd time in our marriage) and went to "The Hunger Games" movie for a much needed date Friday night. It was definitely worth the extra money for the sitter and to see it in the theater!

Saturday morning Zach helped me make pancakes and bacon, I taught my Body Pump class at the gym, and we spent the afternoon shopping in Cary for birthday presents for the boys in our family who almost share a birthday in 2 weeks! Zach is VERY excited for his special day.

In addition to Fish-Face, Zach also walks around with this bucket on his head and says, "I am a Ro-Bot. I am a Ro-Bot" in a monotone voice, which in addition to being hilarious is also the only time he refers to himself in first person. Usually he starts every sentence with "Zachy wants," or "Zachy says"-- so maybe he's onto something there. All in all we enjoyed having Lucy home with us during spring break but I think we are all pretty relieved school starts up again tomorrow. I better start planning some things to do for summer break!