Spring Break 2011 Part 1

We had so much fun on our close-to-home spring break trip last year, that we decided to do something similar this year.  We've discovered that the most important things (the only things necessary, really) on a trip with three little boys are (1) being outdoors, (2) a swimming pool, and (3) free breakfast.  So this trip was a great success!  We stayed in Green River so we could be right between the two places we wanted to go . . . Arches National Park and Goblin Valley State Park (see "part 2").

Hiking to Delicate Arch

 We made it!

 It's a good thing Colton had a ride down though (you can say it, "Ahhh")

Then for a quick lunch break at the bottom

Next up . . . Double Arch

AND then hiking to Landscape Arch.

Some where in between we found plenty of time for playing in the dirt

and climbing on the rocks.

Around the Park:

Balance Rock

 Queen Nefertiti

The Fiery Furnace

Parade of Elephants

 Spooky Eyes (not the official name)

One of the Windows?

Best Hikers Ever!

And before we got out of the park . . .

He's gone mad!

Corbin's 8th Birthday was celebrated just his style . . .

A Mad Scientist Party!

1st Experiment: Is it a liquid or a solid?

 2nd Experiment: Magic Milk 

3rd Experiment: Jelly Rocks (sorry, no pictures, but trust me, they were cool)

4th Experiment: Sodium Bicarbonate (according to Corbin) or, to others, "the exploding volcano"

Other party fun:

Playing with Magnets

Balloon Rockets

 Corbin was the only one who blew his up all by himself!

 Thanks to Russ, the other kids got theirs done too.

 And Launch!  Those things flew around the room forever!

Playing with the Scientific Computer Mainframe:

(It's too bad we didn't get a picture of the whole thing, but it had wires stretching all over the "lab" including the ceiling.  It was cool.  Thanks, Russ!)

And we can't leave out the presents!  Corbin got just what he wanted - money, Legos, some books, and a couple other fun toys.  Thanks, everyone!

And Cody was very excited to give Corbin his present that he bought with his own money - a double pack of his favorite gum, and he had money left, so he wrapped it in a dollar!  What a great brother!

Last Experiments:  Frosting Concoction and Ice Cream Slime Drinks.

Happy 8th Birthday, Corbin!  We love you!

Phew! Does this craziness ever end?!

So I need to do a little "catching up" on my blog, even though I don't believe in that, but so much has been going on this month!  Since I don't have time to post it all right now, here's a little taste of the happenings and the postings you will soon see (hopefully).

The week Cody finished school (which was Spring Break for Corbin), we painted the big boys' room (finished pics coming soon):

After Cody finished on Wednesday, we headed out for a little trip to here:

And here (can you tell where we are?): 

We came back, had a day of rest, and then on his birthday, Corbin turned into a mad scientist:

Russ went back to work and I packed for Denver to go see this:

I got home just in time for this:

And then for all the Easter morning excitement:

Now we are sort of back to normal life.  Russ is off to Seattle for a few days, and we are getting back into the routine of school, chores, meetings, etc and hopefully soon it will be warmer than 40 degrees so we can actually play outside!

He really is a firefighter!

On our way home from Salt Lake a few weeks ago, we made a surprise stop to see Russ at the fire station . . . and right across the street we saw this:

We were really excited to get to see him in action!  They were doing training on an abandoned house, but it was interesting to watch.  We saw them pulling guys out and heard them give emergency evacuation horn.  We hardly ever get to see him really "at work", instead of just at the station hanging out, so this was really fun! 

We're proud of our firefighter!  Love you, Dad!

A Bittersweet Goodbye

Two days after his "Car Culmination", Cody had his last day of preschool at BYU.  We were very sad to say the least, but Cody is also very excited to start Kindergarten.  We will miss all of his amazing teachers, especially our good friend Miss Dorie.  This preschool has been such a good experience for Cody and for us as parents - we both learned more than we could have any where else.  I am grateful for their dedication to helping Cody become a successful learner and for helping me learn how to work with him on critical life skills.  I feel like we got a double bonus as I had the opportunity to team with them in helping Cody grow and develop and prepare for his future schooling career.  I called Dorie my "parenting therapist".  I felt good knowing that he had a teacher that cared about his development and his future as much as I did, and that we could work together on doing what was best for him. 

Thank you, Miss Dorie!  We will really miss seeing you everyday!

And thanks to all the other student teachers who made this experience so much fun!