Spring Break - Part 1 - Pooling Around

Last week Eric had to go to Needles, CA for work, so the kids and I decided to join him. We have tagged along with him to Needles a few times before, and needless to say Needles is not very exciting. But Laughlin is exciting, and only about a half an hour away, so we decided to spend the night there.

But.....before leaving town we had to stop at the Travelodge on the Strip for Eric to do a job. It afforded us the opportunity to visit our first pool of the day.

Fortunately we did not yet have our swimming suits on, because the pool was semi-gross.

After a while, a long while.....we were finally ready to hit the road to California, and visit our second pool of the day at the Rio Del Sol in Needles.

Baywatch Beauty

Soon, it was time for us to visit our 3rd pool of the day, at the Best Western in Needles. By far, the nicest of the day. They even had free popcorn for us to eat!

Along with this awesome, GIGANTIC chair.

By the time Eric finished up, it was around 5 o'clock. I really wanted to go see the Burros in Oatman, AZ again, but was worried we would miss them because they head into the hills around dusk. We took our chances, and hurried over there as fast as we could, only to find the roads covered in Burro poop, but no Burros. I'm not going to lie, it was a crushing blow. If you have not yet been to Oatman, GO! Seriously! I think it is so cool there.

On our way to Laughlin we spotted a Burro heading into the hills and quickly stopped to try and see him (or her), but by the time we all got out of the car, he had high-tailed it out of there. Another crushing blow. I herded everyone quickly back into the car, because I must confess that every time I am out in the wilderness all I can picture are snakes jumping, or slithering out and scaring me to death. It's a sickness.

See below for part 2.

Spring Break - Part 2 - The River

After checking into our hotel, and eating dinner, we walked down to the beach. We stayed at the Avi Hotel & Casino. I'm not sure I can whole-heartedly recommend it, because I did not love our room, but the pool and beach area are AWESOME!

The next morning we woke up and headed to the pool.

This pool (or really pools because there are a few of them), were by far the nicest of the trip.

Sadie spent most of her pool time laying out, or in the hot tub. She is like me and can't stand cold water. And on this trip every single pool was ice cold!

After some pool time, we went to the beach. The sand was so soft, and the weather was perfect.

Running through the sprinklers.

On the way home we stopped in Primm so we could all ride the rides for free!

I made Jackson wear his cowboy boots so he would be tall enough to ride the Desperado roller coaster. Unfortunately it was closed down due to winds. Another crushing blow! But overall the trip was great fun, and thereby a success.

8 Months

It's true....It has been 8 months since I sold my car. A very, very long 8 months. In the hopes of being as DRAMATIC as possible, I will say it has been a trial and a sacrifice. But look what I got yesterday:

My new to me Chrysler Pacifica!

And now I will enter another period of trial and sacrifice by paying for it each and every month! Again, just trying to be overly dramatic. But in reality I am THRILLED. I have had an unrealistic obsession with Chrysler Pacificas since they first came out in 2004. No one else shares my obsession, including my husband, but I have always coveted them. So when I decided that a Hummer was just not realistic, I moved on to searching out Pacificas. And I will say, THEY ARE NOT EASY TO COME BY. We have been looking for a few months and finally found one last weekend. I was pretty happy with it, but it had a few more miles on it than I liked. Luckily we decided to think about it over the weekend, because on Monday we found this one! Much lower mileage, and cool features. I'm so excited.

Easter Scenes - 2011

Easter. What can I say other than the candy supply has officially been replenished! The kids started off the celebrations with an egg hunt on Saturday.

Sadie got the most Easter eggs by far. Probably because she had the help of one of her favorite Young Women.

On Easter morning Eric and I both had a meeting to go to at 7:30 a.m., followed by church at 9. I asked the kids the night before if they wanted to do the egg hunt and get their baskets after church, but they most definitely said no. So, that meant we all got up very, very early.  But it was worth it.

Their baskets.

Jackson lost a tooth the night before Easter. We were a bit worried that the Tooth Fairy would take the night off, since it is the Easter Bunnies big day, but she came!

After church, we colored eggs.

Happy Easter!

Overzealous

Sade's was a little overzealous in her make-up application this morning.

Gymnastics!

 Poor Sade has had to wait to take any classes because of Megan and Jackson's busy schedules, but the day finally arrived for it to be her turn! Three year olds doing gymnastics=one of the cutest things you will ever lay your eyes on.

Some notes:

Caution: Bragging Moment - Sadie was the best behaved. She was also the best listener. I know because her teacher told me. Did I mention she was also the youngest? Oh yeah....she's perfect.

She also got her feelings hurt. One day after class she was really mad. I could tell because of the scowl on her face, and her arms clenched across her chest. She refused to tell me what was wrong. Even at 3 she doesn't like to discuss her feelings. I finally bribed her with some gum, and she let me know that she was sad because two girls would not sit next to her in class. When she sat next to them, they would get up and move. Heartbreaking.......

Now Sade really loved gymnastics. But what she loved most, was that she knew the next day was ballet class. See post below.