Easter in MN/Elena's 5th Birthday

 Last weekend was a busy one. Friday evening, John took the kids to the Midco to swim, while I finished up packing and wrapping things for our trip to Minnesota. 

We got up early on Saturday, and we left home a little after 7:00am. We made good time on our way to my parent's house, and got there a little after 10:00am. Dad had some french toast brunch waiting for us, and then we got settled in before heading over the Ryan's shop to get set up and ready for the party. 

We celebrated our family easter, as well as Elena's birthday in the shop. Mom and Rachel brought some carnival games for the kids to play, along with prizes. There was also a Pinata, and Easter egg hunt, and lots of candy. The kids had a really good time, and they played together really well. They played really hard all afternoon, and were super tired by the time we went back to mom and dad's. 

For supper, we had meatballs, cheesy potatoes, salads, fruit, and an ice cream cake. It was delicious. I think Elliott ate 6 meatball again, which was pretty impressive. We all hung out and visited in the shop until around 8:00pm, and then it was time to head out and get the kids washed up and ready for bed. It was not hard to get the kids put to bed, all 3 were very exhausted. 

Sunday was Palm Sunday. So, we all went to church in the morning, and then we got packed up and headed to my aunt Barb's house in Gaylord to celebrate Grandma Mary's 90th Birthday. It was really nice to see so much of my extended family on my mom's side. I also spent a good amount of time talking with Grandma and catching up with her, which was really nice. 

We had a really good potluck dinner (with german potato salad even) and enjoyed each other's company. The kids even had fun playing with some other cousins. We left Barb's house at around 4:00pm and made it home around 7:00pm. What a weekend. By the time we got unpacked and settled in, it was time to relax and send kids to bed. 

This past week was a pretty quiet one. The kids went out to Jim and Barb's house on Thursday after school, because it's Easter break and they don't have school on Friday or Monday. So, they have been out there all weekend, having the time of their lives. 

John and I have been enjoying our freedom. On Friday night, we went out to eat at Roam, which was really good, and then we went to Jayden's 30th Birthday party downtown. It was a fun party with a DJ, margarita machines, and cake, but we knew like 5 other people there, so it was interesting. We stayed until it ended at 11:00pm, and then we went to Remedy for a beer before heading home. It was a fun night. 

Today, we did some shopping (Fleet Farm, Runnings, Tractor Supply Company..John was in charge of shopping destinations) and then ate lunch at Gilibertos. I spent the afternoon baking for Easter and John cleaned the garage. I made some lemon cookies, chocolate chip/m&m cookies, and a salted caramel cheesecake. I was busy. 

For supper, we went to TC Referees, and now we are finally just enjoying relaxing and hanging out before Easter Sunday church tomorrow at 6:30 am. Tomorrow is going to be quite a day. After our second church service at 9:00, we are heading to the farm to have Easter on John's side of the family. I am really excited to see the kids again, I miss them! 

I have an easter egg hunt planned for them, as well as some awesome easter baskets. They are going to have a great day. I also am taking Emma to Mercy Me at the Premier Center on Thursday, and I put her ticket in her Easter Basket. She's going to love it. 

Happy Easter!! (Hope the weather can stop sucking soon!)

Cousins Reunited 

Easter egg hunt 

Elliott and his mini squirt guns 

Birthday Girl 

Palm Sunday 

With Great Grandma Mary 

Spring Break: The Final Chapter

 Friday brought our last full day in Arizona (no!!). We started the day off with breakfast on the patio. Then, we headed to a big outdoor shopping area. We enjoyed looking around. The kids got some Pokemon cards they were very excited about. We also stopped at a candy shop. Emma got a cheetah print visor she was very proud of. I got myself a cute sunhat, and John got one too. We had a good time doing a little shopping. 

After the shopping, we went downtown Yuma and ate lunch at Lute's Casino. John really wanted to go there for nostalgic reasons, and the food was good. Emma really wanted to ride one of the electric Bryd scooters that were all over downtown, so we let her. We rented one for about 10 minutes, and let her ride it up and down the sidewalk. She had a great time! It was pretty cheap entertainment. 

We headed back to Jill's house and grabbed our suits so we could go swim in Jeannine's pool again. It got up to 97 degrees in the afternoon, so we decided that swimming would be a good idea. We still had our parking pass for the RV park, so we "broke" in and swam in the pool. It was nice. It was pretty crowded, because a lot of people were enjoying cooling off in the pool. But, we still had fun. John and I enjoyed a lovely beer in the pool, on a 97 degree day, with the palm trees swaying in the background. It was pretty rough. The kids really enjoyed cooling off and splashing around in the pool again. 

We stopped for some frozen yogurt on the way back to Jill's house, and then Jill made us beef stroganoff for supper. It hit the spot. We tried to spend as much time outside that evening as we could. We watched the sunset, took pictures, and played some games on the patio. Then, it was finally time to start packing some things up and head to bed. Our final night in Arizona had finally arrived. The kids did give John a surprise birthday celebration. They made decorations and Jill bought some cupcakes, and we wished John a happy 36th birthday. It was pretty special. 

On Saturday morning, we had some time to finish packing, eat breakfast, and then we had to make the 3 hour drive to Mesa. We said our goodbyes to Jill (what a good host!!) and we headed out. The drive felt long this time, but we finally made it to Mesa. We filled up the van for the final time (yes!) and then returned it, ate a small lunch outside the airpot, and then made the trek through security. We all made it through without any troubles again, and then we had a good hour to wait for our flight. 

Our flight left at 2:20pm, and we had an uneventful flight back to Sioux Falls. On the way home, I sat by Elliott and John and Emma sat together. We touched down in Sioux Falls at 7:30pm (Sioux Falls time). Barb and Jim came to pick us up. We had a lot of chatter on the way home, and we watched USD lose their game in the NCAA tournament on the way home. 

It was sad to leave Arizona, but it was so nice to be home again. We lugged in all our luggage, ate some supper, and called it a day. We did have to sing in church the next day, and had to get up at 6:30, which felt like 4:30. Sunday was a long day back home. 

This past week has been a rude awakening. It was back to work, and then a really busy week as well. Oofda. I'm glad it's Friday evening, and we can just relax for the weekend. 

Overall, we loved our spring break trip. The kids handled everything well, even each other. They really enjoyed all the new experiences, and flying in an airplane. I think we will definitely be taking more trips in the future. 

Pokemon cards 

Downtown Yuma murals 

The pool!

Frozen yogurt!!

Southern Sunsets 

back massages 

Happy Birthday, Dad 

Ready to go home 

Spring Break Part 3

 On Tuesday morning, we packed up and left Jill's house shortly after 7:00am. We filled up with gas (which was $4.89 a gallon) and headed to San Diego. John drove, Jill rode shotgun, and I rode in the back with the kids. We enjoyed watching the scenery for quite a while, and then eventually the kids watched their Ipads and I caught up on some podcasts. 

We got to the San Diego Zoo around 10:30am. We bought some tickets, slathered on some sunscreen, and started exploring. We started off with the zoo bus tour, which was pretty fun. We sat on the upper decker part, and we got a nice tour of the highlights of the zoo. The kids really enjoyed being on the top of the bus, but it did get a little toasty up there. We had a beautiful, sunny 86 degree day. 

After the bus tour, we decided to walk around for a while. We hit everyone's favorite animals. We saw the snakes for Elliott, all the big cats for Emma, the Polar Bears for John, and a few penguins for me. After some exploring, we ate a very expensive lunch at the zoo. The kids shared a Pizza, John and I got some wraps, and then we all shared some pops and chips (for $87, yikes!). 

Once our tummies were full, we decided to ride the Sky Tram. Elliott, John and I rode in one, and Jill and Emma rode in the one behind us. It was cool to see everything from so high, and then we decided to keep walking around. We spent about 6.5 hours at the zoo, and we still didn't get to everything. That zoo is huge. We also saw the Koala Bears, a Leopard, a couple aviaries full of birds, many kinds of monkeys, flamingos, and many more. When we had finally had enough, we left to go check into our hotels. Jill was staying in one hotel, and we booked one next door, at the Days Inn. Jill's was definitely nicer, but ours was clean and nice enough for just sleeping. We ate supper at Pei Wei, which is a fast casual Asian place. The kids got Teriyaki chicken bowls which they really enjoyed, and John and I also got some really good food there. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was after 8:00pm, and everyone was pooped. We showered, watched a little TV, and headed to bed. 

Wednesday was a really fun day. We spent most of the day visiting beaches and spending time at the Ocean. We ate a big breakfast  and then we started at La Jolla, and found the sea lions. It was pretty cool to see Sea Lions just hanging out on the beach. The kids were pretty impressed with the Ocean. They had an absolute blast playing the sand, running in and out of the water, jumping over waves, collecting seashells, and just generally exploring. We kept going down the shoreline and finding more beaches. We visited Shell Beach, Pebble Beach, and Seal Rocks Beach. We were on those beaches all morning, and then it started getting busier, so we moved on. 

We headed back to the car and then went to Mission Beach. The kids really enjoyed Mission Beach. It was a little busier there, but it is so big you couldn't really tell that it was busier. There were people surfing, swimming, and playing games on the beach. Elliott probably had the most fun here. He liked to run away from the waves, and play in the sand. He also made up some games on the beach, and really kept himself busy. I thought I had covered everyone well in sunscreen, but every singe one of us got burned on the back of our legs, and some of our shoulders and cheeks. We lasted on Mission Beach for quite a while, but it started to get hot and we had other stops to make. 

We made a quick stop at Sea Port Village. We bought a couple souvenirs, some expensive ice cream for the kids, and enjoyed sitting in the shade for a while. We finally made it back to our hotels in the late afternoon, and the kids wanted to swim in Jill's pool. So, we all headed down and did some swimming (after being at the beach all day). 

At around 6:00pm, we got the kids out of the pool, cleaned up and fed, and then tucked them into the hotel room while Jill, John, and I went out to King Crab. We figured the last thing the kids wanted after the long beach day was to sit in a restaurant and eat seafood. They had their Ipads and did just fine without us. We ate some really good food at King Crab. I had fish tacos that were amazing, John got some fish fillet, and Jill had a lobster sandwich. It was delicious. We finally made it back around 9:00pm, and brought 2 very tired kiddos (and adults) to bed. What a day!

On Thursday, we packed up and got checked out of our hotels. We decided to go to Point Loma and check out Cabrillo National Monument. I'm glad we went. We had really amazing views of the ocean, and of San Diego. We also got to check out a lighthouse, and learn some history about the San Diego area. It was sort of foggy when we were there, so we didn't have a chance to spot any whales (not sure if there were any there anyway). John, Elliott, and I even went on a little hike together as well. We stayed there for a couple of hours, and then it was time to move on. We headed back to the hotel because I forgot my water bottle and Elliott left his souvenir pennies behind, but we were able to find all the things (crisis averted). 

It was finally time to say goodbye to California (and $5.89 gas). We stopped in Alpine, CA and ate some lunch. We found a hole in the wall taco place, that had amazing food for a great price. We all filled up on tacos and chips and salsa, and then got ready for the long drive back to Arizona. 

We did make a stop at the Sand Dunes on the way back. The kids had a lot of fun running up and down the sand dunes (even though it was 94 degrees and sunny, and felt really hot). Elliott was really excited because he found a canvas bag, a whiffle ball, and a deck of Uno cards. That was one of the most random parts of the trip. 

After the San Dunes, we made it back to Jill's house. We unpacked, settled in again, and then John and I ran to Walmart for a couple things, and a pizza. We decided we were tired, and sick of eating out, so we got a pizza to bake at Jill's. It was good. We ended the evening with some games of Uno and Sequence, and then watched a little basketball once the kids were in bed. March Madness was pretty fun to follow while being thousands of miles away from home. 

Elliott's ready for the beach 

My Acai Bowl for breakfast 

Breakfast chatter 

La Jolla Sea Lions 

Discovering the ocean 

Emma buried dad 

Point Loma 

The Sand Dunes