Spring Break!

Nat has been (not so) fondly referred to this week as "the spring break of my discontent."  After many years of either trekking across the country with the kids, or getting time off alone while the kids are still in school, I had a tough time coming to terms with doing neither of those things this year.   Having a sick kiddo to kick off the week didn't help, but I've also been sad that we're not doing anything  novel and memorable as a family to mark this space of time. 

Then again, spending a week primarily centered around our house, working on projects and sleeping in?  That's pretty novel for our family, actually.  And (now that I've spend most of the week adjusting-- wonder where Jack gets that trait??) it's not really that bad of a plan.

Spring Break 2017 so far:

Snuggling in at home for  a few days:

Making salt dough decorations...

 Working on painting projects (updated color and freshened trim in the kitchen, and refreshing the bathroom paint after removing that ugly white cabinet...)

 A "snack-nic" (patent pending) at the Lagoon...

...complete with finding pennies in the bottom of the empty fountain, and rock-hiding of course!!

Easter crafting extravaganza!

A few of my favorite finished salt dough creations..

 ... and the final result-- our new spring window mural.

Big Spring with our friends!

These big girls are showing off newly missing teeth!  (and no, Ivy is not that much taller than her friends.  She just made the executive decision to wear her high heels.  Of course.)

 Butterfly magic!

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 We even got to watch one of them hatch!  Amazing.

This boy.  My heart.                                                                                                                    

I like this picture because it shows their current mode of interacting with each other.  Snarky, with a little bit of affection underneath.  And generally, forcibly separated from each other to keep the squabbling at bay...

 A gorgeous day on Wednesday found us in the Bedford Reservation.  We've not been on a hike down to our favorite stream in years.  I believe the last time we may have still used the carrier for Ivy??

Not this year. Big kids took the trail easily, and Nat and Jack even forged their own path up the steep slope and through the woods on the return trip.

 Had to give this old dog some aspirin the next day, but she tells me it was totally worth it.

 We visited Bridal Veil Falls on the way home.  Waterfall Summer lives on!

 This picture is just so very... Ivy.

 My girl and I had a great hike up the trail together, pretending to be lost in the Fairy Realm, saving the wood fairies from a dark magic cloud using clues written on dried leaves.  I taught her the basics of the magic game I played as a child, and she took it and ran...

A not-so-gorgeous day on Thursday took us to the bowling alley...

This boy is developing some nice bowling form...

 Ivy brought a friend and she was in her "over-helping" glory.

 Jack, in turn, looked out for his sister..

 We have cute kids.

 Rounded out our Thursday with a swim and dinner out with friends.  We ate at the Legacy Village Chipotle and it felt like a walk down memory lane to be there.  We had quite a bit of fun poking around in the new Z-Gallerie, where the clerks were terrifically patient and Ivy and I fell in love with this $160 throw blanket.

 If all goes well, tonight Nat and I will be in Buffalo, enjoying a night out exploring a new place, then a day of architecture tours tomorrow.  Our big spring break escape! Because nothing says "Spring Break party time!" quite like Buffalo.

So, no big family adventures this year.  But, as Toasted Marshmallow will attest, hanging out at home really isn't all that bad.