Spring Break

Well all the family left on Wednesday morning, then Thursday I had another Relief Society Meeting to help with.  Friday morning I packed our bags and my four children and headed to San Antonio! It was a bit of a whirlwind, but I promised myself that I wouldn't go if I was going to be stressed out. So I took it easy and all in stride. (This was a trip without Derek, so I was braving it a bit.)

We stopped halfway in Norman, Oklahoma to spend the night.  The kids were super and I got a room close to the door which made packing the car easy. I liked my stay there so much I asked for a return reservation for the following week.

We had a blast in San Antonio with cousins!  This is where Derek's oldest brother lives with his wife and 4 kids. Derek's brother is in Afghanistan for a year serving as an officer in the Army. We purposefully picked this particular week to go because it was spring break for them.

Lexie and Becca were inseparable!  They spent much of their week together playing mermaid barbies.

One day we went to a nearby park and went on a little hike.

This is Ethan. He is 7 and one of the sweetest boys I have ever met.

 

I caught Lexie behind a picture I was trying to take of Tanner.  Silly girl!

Here are a couple more goofballs.  And cute ones at that!  Elena and Colin are a mere 10 days apart in age.  They could pass as brother and sister in this picture don't you think?  They must be Ellingsons!

Josh (age 10) and Tanner locked themselves in Josh's room for three days to construct this masterpiece.  Tanner loved every minute of it and is still talking about how great his older cousin is.

 

I found Springtime in the San Antonio desert. 

 

I took the kids to see the Alamo while we were there.

 

 

We also went on a boat ride down the river walk and here are some of the fun things we saw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last day we were there we went to the zoo.  I didn't take a whole lot of pictures but Eleanor caught this one of us getting on the train.

 

We both agreed there were a lot of kids between the two of us. Meal time especially was crazy and we thought of our mother-in-law who fed 8 children 3 times a day for many many years. We both have always be grateful for the job she did raising our husbands, but this week together with all these kids increased our appreciation and admiration!

Thank you Eleanor and cousins for letting us come play with you for a week! We can't wait to see you again in August!

I left the following Friday and made it back to Norman, Oklahoma.  But the next morning I awoke to a blizzard outside.  Reminding myself I grew up in Utah and know how to drive in snow, I pried open my iced shut car doors, threw my bags and kids in the car, and began our journey home.  I didn't last an hour on the roads.  There seemed to be more cars in ditches than on the one lane of freeway open for driving. This is a picture I took with my cell phone. 

 

I did see one snowplow, but the longer I drove the more terrified I became of the thought of being stuck in a ditch with my four kids and all by myself.  So I called my dad and asked him to get me a hotel room. He found a nice little place with an indoor pool and continental breakfast.  Perfect!  It was the last little town for hours of driving and we had this delightful view outside our window.

 

When I arrived, there were just a handful of cars in the parking lot of the hotel, but when I left the next morning, the parking lot was packed, and overflowing onto the street. I guess we weren't the only ones who stopped due to the storm! My sister Carlie told me the weather in Oklahoma made National news, which made me feel a little better since I was feeling rather wimpy about the whole experience.  I did decide, had I been 10 years younger and without kids, I would have just kept on going and not stopped.  Ah, the foolish things we do in our youth! I was so glad we stopped and waited it out.