Spring Break Wednesday

Today we took a road trip to Elephant Rocks. It's about an hour and 45 min. away, give or take. It was kinda spontaneous because we were heading out that direction anyway to get a tool for Jared to be able to finish the framing in the basement. When I woke up Kyle and told him where we get to go, he said, "But first we have to get the nail gun.". I thought it was so great how his sharp mind was so quick to remember the awesome tool Dad was going to get. He loves watching Dad work on the house.
The following photos are pretty random.  I'm trying to figure out how to blog again.  I can't keep up with the new and improved, I guess :)


the "Engine House" ruins

Inside the Engine House

All of 'em! Jace's friend, Tom, and Lance's friend, Isaac.  Bringing them made this road trip so much more fun.

Tadpoles

Tadpole fishing

 Then back home just in time for Lance's piano lesson, then a little basketball before hamburgers, showers and bed (except Jace, who went to basketball practice with Dad.  Someone was bummed about not having enough basketball time today, but they didn't take very long to crash once the head hit the pillow!  

Spring Break Tuesday.

Yup.  Just another boring day of NO SCHOOL!  I don't think it really matters what we do; just that the kids are having fun and feel that sense of freedom and togetherness.
We went on a bikeride to the "mini house."  A little shelter at the entrance of the subdivision that's probably more for show.  Kyle continues to improve his endurance.
Kyle had a friend over during the early afternoon, and Lance had a friend for the late afternoon and during their Tae Kwon Do class that they take together.  I have yet to get pics of that, hopefully Thursday I will.  Jace always has the kids on the block over for basketball.  He's pretty much been playing every spare minute that he has.  He's on his way to the NBA.  In fact, he's at church right now with Dad hopefully finishing up basketball practice.
Cami just goes with the flow.  She's getting to be quite a pro at dribbling the ball. 

Spring Break Monday

We did some boring stuff first so we could do the fun stuff.  After rooms were clean, we went on a short bikeride.  It is fun to only pull Cami behind me and watch Kyle working those muscles as we go up the hill.  He used to get frustrated (last week when we began bikeriding - long time ago!), but his endurance and focus seem to have improved a ton!  Hopefully mine will, too :)  Kyle has a friend a few streets over from us that have him over to play sometimes so Cami and I can sweat through some more hills and get a workout.

Later, we went... Fishing!

This is the first time I have ever taken all four kids fishing without Jared.  Our awesome neighbors, who have a son Jace's age, invited us, and the day was perfect for it.  86 degrees.

 Jace packed a bunch of cheddar cheese cubes and he caught 6 fish!  He reminisced about fishing at the cabin and using cheese as bait.  Look closer at the fish's belly.  It's yellow.  Maybe too much cheese.  I told Jace it was probably the same fish he was catching each time.

 Persistance...

 Pays off!

 I am so grateful to our neighbors.  We probably would have just done more boring stuff today! 

I didn't want to mess with bothering Jared at work to ask him about our fishing poles that are SOMEWHERE in the huge basement downstairs (that he's been finishing this week - I'll post pics!) so I just grabbed some wooden poles and asked Jace to grab some string and we were off!  You can tell Cami was really into this fishing thing with her red pole propped so she can use her hands for more important things like Goldfish Crackers.  We took a detour during a bathroom break to enjoy the playground. But the boys couldn't get enough of this!  We'll definitely visit Des Peres Park again.

Later, Lance and Kyle got to go to their first Tae Kwon Do class and got their white belts.  Earlier this month, Lance was invited to a birthday party at the Martial Arts Academy, and one of his party favors was 2 weeks of free classes!  Plus, they said his brothers can join him!  Everyday.  Monday thru Friday.  (Cami was fine, we just did cartwheels and handstands in the other room) 

They earned their red tape, by breaking wood with their hand. 

We got home, planted some Pea seeds, and Jared later cooked some Teriyaki Elk steaks. 

Family Night Activity:  Limbo - Lance's idea.  We wanted to do something with the "Sticks" (2x4's) that the kids helped Dad unload from the car for more basement work, thus Lance's brilliant activity idea.  We played the Limbo Rock and had a little limbo party downstairs.  I forgot how fun that is.  I remember doing that on roller skates.  I wanna get some roller skates and skate around our basement before it's finished.

  Tomorrow will probably be just boring stuff.  I don't know if I can top today's excitement.