Easter & Spring Break

I am actually blogging with pictures today.  Don't get used to it.  :)

 

Our Spring Break kicked off with a lot of naps and family celebrations.  I like naps.  And regardless of how *not tired* the girls said they were they both took 3 to 3 1/2 hour naps on Friday and Saturday. 

 

Did I mention that I like naps?

 

The girls and I went to my cousins house Friday afternoon for dinner and an Easter Egg hunt.  The kids hunted plastic eggs, played with cousins and enjoyed jumping on the 'trump-o-line'.

 

We spent Saturday evening at my parents house with a few friends.  The evening concluded with decorating Easter Eggs.  Because we are masters of procrastination.  And we are awesome.

 



 

Sunday was a hard day.  The reality of preparing for a holiday dinner without TDM's mom brought some emotions that I wasn't prepared for.  I was quite factual about everything that was happening when she was sick and then it hit like a ton of bricks Easter morning - usually there would be about 18 phone calls back and forth between TDM's parents house, our house and the farm.  There weren't any phone calls.  I wish I could say that TDM and I worked together to bake pies and get other dishes ready to take to his brothers but that wasn't the case.  Emotions are tricky things, and I am learning that they don't usually present themselves the way that you expect them to.  It was a hard morning, and it got harder when we arrived at his dad's house for an egg hunt.  She wasn't there.  And she won't ever be there again.  It was hard and there was sadness and a few tears.  And I think that after the initial realization and pain that the day turned out pretty well.  We went to TDM's brothers house where the food was plentiful, the kids had a blast and it turned into a relaxing evening of being together.  Oh!  And there was pie.

 

 

Which meant that there was my favorite-est thing about pie:  Leftover pie!  So I did what anyone would do and had it for breakfast on Monday to help me come down from the sugar high of the weekend. 

 

On Tuesday the girls had an out of town dentist appointment.  We left early, drove to where there is a Hobby Lobby AND a Big Red Store.  For a few minutes Miss E was worried that the trip to the Big Red Store might end in failure but as we were checking out she saw that they FINALLY had popcorn made so all of life was instantly made better.  And there was even enough time to pick the popcorn kernels out of everyone's teeth before we saw the dentist.

 

Two checkups, one cavity, a couple of hours at the Burger King play land and we headed home.

 

We spent Wednesday with some friends where Smiley Girl 'sworded' everyone and Miss E picked up the toys and organized them.  The mama's had a good time too!  And we had an awesome conversation about borrowed socks. 

 

Smiley Girl:  Oh no, oh no, oh no!  We forgot to give Hankah's his socks!  (Not his name, she just sounds like a girl from the New England states!)

Me:  It's okay, we will wash them and give them back to him.

Miss E:  But they will have girl cooties on them!

Me:  It's okay, we will wash them with daddy's clothes and that will take any girl cooties off of them.

 

Thursday morning we threw clothes, snacks and 12 Barbie's in the car for an adventure to Uncle Pedro's house.  After a quick trip to Walmart to replace our car DVD player we were on our way.  It was pretty rainy and I did have a small-ish panic attack going across the bridge.  But then I realized that the absolute worst thing that could happen is that the whole bridge would collapse and we would plummet into the water below.  And then I realized that I probably wouldn't live long and then I would see Jesus so it would be okay.  Instead we made it across to see this:

 

And I couldn't resist snapping this picture of Hardee's to torment TDM with.  He loves Hardee's and used to go there for breakfast whenever he could when he was on the road.

Once at Uncle Pedro's we played with the Wooh's which are now called dogs, Uncle Pedro made taco's out of kids, we ate meals made from cheese TWO nights in a row and just enjoyed being with them.

Friday night Miss E was invited to go to work for a little while with Aunt GG.  Aunt GG works at a little store right near their house.  Think of it as the original Wal-mart.  They have a little of everything.  Gas, groceries, liquor, hardware, hand scooped ice cream and a little deli.  It's a fun place and Miss E had a lot of fun helping.  She got to put expiration dates on a few items with the sticker gun, scan a few purchases, straighten the shelves and she made a couple of George Washington's ($1 bills) as tips. 

Saturday morning Uncle Pedro and Aunt GG were leaving for a backpacking trip so after eating French toast and bacon and saying our goodbyes we headed for home.  But we had to take a couple of detours.

The first one was just about a mile out of the way.  This little bit of metal randomness is alongside the highway and after the girls spotted it last year it seemed like a good thing to drive by again.

 

There is also a giant mosquito and what looks like the beginnings of a dinosaur but I they weren't being very photogenic.

The weather was much nicer for our trip back across the bridge.

We came home a different way than we went - which worked out great because there is a Hobby Lobby in that town too!

Did you catch that?  I went to Hobby Lobby twice (TWICE!) in one week!  We also went to whatever the Gordon Food Service store is called these days (I always flash back to having to answer the phone with a very sunny and professional "Gordon Food Service Marketplace" when the stores were rebranded in like 1993.)  And as we were leaving town TDM sent a urgent request that we stop and buy a part for his truck.

It wasn't buyers choice though.  He was all picky about it being a certain part number and that it fit his truck.

Boys.

I even drove a little out of the way to show this bit of excitement to the girls but by the time we got there both girls were fast asleep and they missed it.  It's close to home though so I can take them to see it any time.  And maybe I will drag TDM along too - because he didn't even know it existed until someone told him. 

Take note:  This is precisely why you take a different route and drive down roads that you don't have any reason to drive down. 

And yes, that is two cars face planted in the ground.