Spring Break Part V

After spending a couple days with Colleen, we came home late Friday night so we could make it to Lexi's soccer game the next morning.  (It was the first game of the season... right in the middle of spring break.  Duh... But EVERY year in the spring... the league starts during spring break, and half the kids seem to be gone.  Though most of her team was there!  Yay!  You already saw pictures of her first game... under the "Spring Has Sprung" post.)  And it was General Conference weekend, so we did catch SOME of that!  Then Sunday rolled around and we hung out with Daddy for a little while and packed up and headed out for UTAH!!  We were supposed to leave on Saturday, but Damian was post-call, we had a late birthday party, etc. etc.  and we just couldn't make it work out.  Plus, it happened to be his LAST call and day of work in Orange County, and we hadn't spent much time with him the whole month because he was staying in a hotel up there, so we had to give the kids some time with him.  They missed him so much while he was gone.

 We ended up leaving around 1:30, so we didn't get there until late that night, but Gma Pam already had plans for the next day!  She spent the week working half days (which meant she got off at 10 a.m.) so she could PLAY, play, play with us!  She had already told me long before we came that Monday was reserved for shopping and Family Home Evening in St. George, so after a morning full of fun and art (which you'll see), we headed down to shop and go to the temple grounds and visitor center!

There's never a bad time for a tea party!  And doing the "cooking and preparing" for one is all the more fun!  This was Ella's idea, and she was really the only one that actually sat at the table and enjoyed it for any length of time, but Lexi and Braeden had their fun with it, too!

All good tea parties include chocolate, mints, marshmallows, cheese, fruit gushers, and TEA (aka. water!)

She did much more than her fair share of pouring water.  EVERYTHING was covered in water by the time she was done.  Ick.

Braeden was the "water boy!"  So kind to keep her refilled!

She made "marshmallow soup!"

Mmmmm... very tasty!  (Bleck!)

And then she made Gma try it, too!  I only wish I had a picture of the face she made when she had to turn away and gag it down.  Haha!

Notice water getting... in places other than soup or cups??

Braeden is not so proper.  Not only is he shoving stuff in his mouth without utensils, but he doesn't even bother to SIT and ask for some tea and crumpets!

Lexi... also lacking in proper tea party etiquette lately.

And we moved directly from one messy activity to another... without cleaning up in between.  That was left to the maids (me and Gma Pam.)

I must admit, though, that I do love that they really like to spend time doing art.

But, oh... the messes we can so swiftly and easily make!

"I love to see the temple..."  It is so beautiful.  And, though I have some rowdy kids who don't really understand the Spirit they are feeling there, I have to remember that someday they will, and I need to keep taking them there to remind them that this IS where they want to "go... someday!"

Really?  Must we always be fighting about something??  ALWAYS??

This picture cracks me up!  They just spent some time sitting on the stairs and talking!  Hope they could feel that it really is Heavenly Father's house here on earth.  HOPE!

We did go through the visitor's center, do a couple of the activities/movie things in there, and Ella hit the bathroom THREE times... I don't know why. And I don't think she really NEEDED to that many times, but when a 3 yr. old says they have to go and start holding and doing the potty dance, you might as well just call it SAFE and GO! So... we did! Shopping was a little bit of a bust, but we did find a couple of things we needed. Gma Pam totally gave up and BEGGED to take the kids to the park or simply wait in the car rather than take those 3 in another store! (This was after Kohl's and then Old Navy... she was DONE!) 

And, my kids got a treat, and so did I!  Tamie was on her way from Richfield to St. George for a doctor's appointment, so she stopped at my mom's to caravan down with us.  We tried to get her to just come in our car, but she just felt that she might be there too long and need her own car, so... we didn't want her to drive alone, so I sent one kid over, which led to the "I WANNA GO, TOO!" from another, and then the sobbing of the third because "I WANNA GO!!!"  So... we put all 3 in the back seat of her truck, Gma Pam in the front, turned on a movie, and I got to drive all by myself!  Music blasting and my brain to myself for the next 45 mins!!  Woo-hoo!  I know that sounds pathetic, but when you have little kids... your life is going to be pathetic in the simple pleasures you find so desirous at times!  Unfortunately, we didn't get to do really anything with her except eat lunch, but it was fun to see her, nonetheless!