Spring Break!

Oh man, I feel so behind. So I'm just going to jump right in.

We spent Spring Break in Arizona with Jeff's family. A fun TRIP (never a vacation with kids, right Cassie?), but also a lot of work. First, here are the things that I didn't love about it:
1. The drive, which ends up being about 11 hours, counting stops (I must admit, the kids did amazingly well. Even Carter, who cried every time we got in the car, did really well on the long drives. The new dvd player in the van may have had something to do with the kids good behavior).
2. The close quarters. In an effort to save money, we shared a 2 bedroom condo with Jeff's sister, her three kids and her fiance and his two kids. It was tight. And because there were really three families in there, we never got a break from the kids. They slept at the foot of our bed, and Carter slept between us. It made for some interesting nights to say the least.
3. The endless junk food. Having little control over the food my kids were eating was hard. Every time I saw Kyla, her mouth was stuffed full of candy. And I'm not exaggerating.
4. The sunburns. Yes, I knew we were a nice shade of shocking white when we arrived, and was prepared with 3 different sunblocks (30 for the body, 50 for reapplication and 8 for legs, as well as Kyla's special 30 for her sensitive face), but we all managed to get a little burned. Damon was miserable one day, with his tomato face.

But those were small in comparison with all the things I loved about the trip:
1. The weather! It was so nice and warm, without being overly hot. It was so great to remind myself that the sun is still out there and that someday it will be warm here, too.
2. Swimming (okay, to clarify, I will say watching the kids swim). The kids wore themselves out at the different (heated) pools every day and were exhausted at night. It was fun to see them having so much fun.

Love Kyla's blue mouth. Yes, she always had candy.

3. Visiting friends and family (of which, sadly, I have no pictures). We got together with all Jeff's high school friends/families one night and it was SO FUN! I only wish it could have gone on several more hours. I dearly love those people, who have become my friends, too. I also got to see my sister, Heather, twice and that was great. I wish she lived next door to me. I miss her. AND, I got to see my bestie from BYU, Sarah and her kids. Man, we scored!
4. Spending time outside. Carter even got to enjoy a bit of fresh air one day while we were swimming, and he even let me put him down long enough to take a picture .

But really, he still spent most of the trip like this, snuggling with me:

(Notice my sunburn. This was our first day there, Sunday. After our Easter activities, we sat on the grass and I couldn't resist a little sun. I paid for it the rest of the trip. )

We took the kids to Tucson one day to the Sonora Desert Museum (like a desert zoo), which was a lot of fun (again, no pics).

5. Sharing in Jeff's childhood memories. Later on Easter Sunday, we drove around Mesa and saw Jeff's old neighborhood before stopping at the Mesa temple.

6. Easter. It was a lot of fun to have a lot of cousins together for egg hunting and entertainment on Easter. We missed conference (and are now trying to catch up, thanks to the DVR), and the kids didn't get to wear their Easter clothes until we got back, but it was a great day.

Allie had a little meltdown the first time we tried to take pictures, so this is the second try. Again, I'm sure Kyla has candy in her mouth.

And because this post is so random with no structure whatsoever, here is a pic of the kids yesterday, in their actual Easter attire.


I know Carter is crying. But that's how I will remember him at this age, so it's very appropriate.

7. My favorite memory, though, is one that really surprised me. It was something I didn't plan on enjoying. One night, Jeff wanted to drive to the Superstition Mountains and take pictures at sunset. That didn't sound very fun to me, but I finally decided to go along (because there would be Mexican food at Rosa's after). We arrived and Jeff disappeared to take his pictures while the rest of us waited in the car. I fed Carter, and knew that we still had a lot of time to kill before Jeff would be back, so I suggested that we take a walk.

And somehow, everything came together. The kids were happy and willing to go. Carter was happy and didn't cry at all. The temperature was perfect. The scenery was beautiful. And everyone cooperated when I wanted to take pictures.

As I was snapping away, all of a sudden, I had an overwhelming feeling of love for these four little people. And there was no reason for it, other than I just felt grateful that we could all be there together. I felt extremely lucky that we were able to do all the fun stuff we were doing, and that we were making memories together. It was a magical moment, one I know I'll always remember. I think this is my favorite picture of the trip.

I love that Kyla is holding desperately to Carter's arm, because that is what she always does. I love that Damon is the big brother, protecting his little buddy. I love that Allie is posing. I just love it. And I love those little monsters. I only wish Jeff had been there, too, at that moment. But knowing he was close by made it alright.

So, it was worth it. And I'm sure we'll do it again. Just not anytime soon. I am still trying to get things put back together, and I probably will be for several days. Which means that things are back to normal. Except I am a slightly darker shade of white now. Woo hoo!