Spring Break: Part 2

Thursday: The kids took it easy in the morning, finishing their piano practice and reading at a leisurely pace, then we left to have an adventure in Salt Lake.  We drove to The Gateway and started out with lunch at Panda Express, where Eliza has been begging to eat for a while.  As we were waiting in line, looking at the menu, Jack requested grilled cheese.  Eliza noticed that the cook making fried rice in a giant Wok in the back of the kitchen was doing it "like Suz, spilling it all over the place."  And when we finally got our food, Luke was pleased with his selection of orange chicken, exclaiming,  "This is extremely good!"  Jack was the most happy with his soda, bemoaning even his white rice because there was no butter, though he did eat enough bites to satisfy me that he wouldn't be starving again in 5 minutes.

We walked over to Discovery Gateway, a huge children's museum which we've never visited as a family.  Some of the kids had been there on field trips, but it was great to be able to go together and fill 3 hours, without even seeing the whole thing.  The favorites were the Lego Pinewood Derby area, the exercise area, the Life Flight area, and the enormous system of tubes and plastic balls on the main level.

(Jack was excited that he could dunk on that hoop,
and Eliza couldn't help but handstand every few minutes - do you see them?)

They had SO MUCH FUN playing Four Square.

When we were finished at Discovery Gateway, I started heading south and Ben met me so that he could take the kids.  He dropped Cat off at the BYU Women's soccer game, where she and her teammates were ball girls for the BYU-Argentina game.  Meanwhile, I drove back up downtown to meet choir friends for dinner before our rehearsal that night.

I found out during rehearsal that my sister-in-law was having her baby and ended up going straight to their house when I was finished so I could sleep there with the younger kids.

Friday: This was the day Ben took off from work, which was fortunate because I was taking care of my nephews until the early afternoon.  It turned out that my newborn nephew was very sick when he was born and went straight to the NICU.  (He's doing much better now but will continue to need a lot of care for the next few weeks at least.)  I was glad I could help with the older kids and Ben could be home with our kids.  I went home for a shower and to have some time with my family for a few hours before my brother-in-law brought his kids to our house for dinner and to spend the night.  My niece slept in Eliza's room with her, but the nephews were all together in the guest room.  It took everyone a while to settle down, but they finally went to sleep and we didn't hear them during the night.

  

Saturday & Sunday: General Conference!  The cousins stayed at the house most of the day on Saturday, with Ben making a big pancake breakfast for everyone after I left to go up to Salt Lake.  My brother-in-law arrived in time to watch conference with everyone, Cat was in charge of the prizes and treats, and even provided printed coloring and BINGO pages, and I was told it all went pretty well.  When I was finished with the morning session, I drove straight to the hospital to visit with my sister-in-law for a bit, then arrived home just as the cousins were heading out.  Once the afternoon session was over, we did a little bike riding, then made dinner while Ben watched the Priesthood session.

We didn't see cousins at all on Sunday (which the kids were sad about!), as they were bringing Mom home from the hospital.  When I got home from conference that evening, Eliza was disappointed about a few things that had happened and only wanted one thing for the rest of the day: to have a family talent show.  So we went outside, where Jack and Cat showed off their basketball skills, Eliza and Ben showed off their gymnastics skills, Luke and Eliza put on a skit, and I told several side-splittingly hilarious jokes.

That night during our family scripture and prayer time, we all shared something we remembered or particularly appreciated from General Conference.  The talks that stood out to the kids: Sis. Craven's talk about being careful versus being casual; Elder Rasband's talk about building a fortress of faith; Sis. Eubanks's talk about Christ providing light; Elder Villar's talk and his experience about accompanying his brother and NOT going to the beach.

We were all sad to think about going to school again the following day, but at least there are only 7 weeks until summer now.  We can make it that far.