Spring Break

We had such a fun Spring Break this year and kicked it off by celebrating my niece's birthday at Circus Trix. I'd never heard of it before so when we showed up and I read "an aerial experience, extreme air sports" on the sign I thought to myself, what in the world am I getting myself into with a 1 and a 4 year old!?! haha For the most part though, everything was age appropriate for Liam. There were only a few things he couldn't do because of an age and height requirement which he was bummed about but loved it otherwise!! About 25% of it was age appropriate for Lyla and by that I mean, the trampolines and these hanging swings ...

Let her loose on the trampoline and she runs and jumps like a wild woman but plunk her in one of these swings and she had no idea what to think! Her facial expression was killing me! haha

I was so thankful to be there with cousins because the hardest part was trying to keep these two in the same place! It was rare. Lyla wanted to stay on the long trampolines and Liam wanted to be everywhere else. ;) I definitely got my second work out in for the day and was really wishing I had worn sweats too! 

Everyone had the best time playing together (even though I didn't really get any pictures), especially Liam and Maddox in the dodgeball part!

We all went to Freddy's for lunch afterward and the birthday girl opened her presents and shared her birthday cookies! She is definitely set for her trip to Disney in November! Girlfriend is rolling in the dough!

I loved that Ava wanted to hold Lyla for this picture and Liam's arm around Maddox is my favorite!!

On Monday we were supposed to meet some new friends at the Nature Center in downtown Boise but they ended up being sick so we made cookies at home first to take to them and went by ourselves anyway! I'd never been there before and the kids had the BEST time! Liam was begging me stay longer after we finished the whole loop but we promised to go visit Sita at her office and take her department cookies too. I can't wait to take them back again later this Spring and Summer when all the flowers are in bloom!

Nature really is the best play place ... there were so many feeders for squirrels so they were everywhere and really friendly. They both giggled as this little guy running circles up the tree trunk and scratching his ear.

My little adventurers! It feels so freeing to be going into this summer with two walkers and not having to carry a kid on one hip and a diaper bag on my back or pushing a stroller along everywhere. They are definitely both independent. 

Lyla was so cute watching the geese! There was a giant pond filled with them and some were taking a bath or gliding down and splashing on the water. She would point and exclaim "WOW"!

Liam's favorite part were these fish hatcheries ... he'd look at the signs and try to spot the different types of fish in the tank. One in particular had a picture of a crawfish "crawdad" on it and he kept saying, "mom, let's find the lobster!" haha He'd run to each one looking everywhere for one and it wasn't until the last tank on our loop that he found one ... eating a dead fish. Liam told everyone we saw/ran into that day about "this cool lobster eating a dead fish". haha Boys!

We did our usual once a week lunch date with daddy but it felt extra special because we did it on a different day since he would be home with us on our usual day we have lunch together! You can tell how much Lyla loves her boys, being in the middle, and holding both of their hands ...

We all needed sleep after all of those adventures on a Monday and when I went to get Lyla up from her nap I found her like this ... haha Girlfriend, where is your shirt!?!

On Tuesday we had a play date with Liam's cousin Olivia! It was so fun to have her and my sister-in-law over to play. We haven't been able to get together during the week all year because the kids go to preschool on opposite days. One thing I'm really looking forward to this summer is doing it more often!

On Wednesday my mom took the day off work to spend with us. We felt so spoiled to get to have her all to ourselves in the middle of the work week! We went to The Discovery Center together and had so much fun!

A giant litebrite, remember those?! They were water bottles filled with different colored water that you could move around from hole to hole and create things ... can you spot Liam's name in the picture on the left??

The one thing I didn't remember them having from when I was a kid was a toddler area. It was perfect because it was for ages 0-4 so both of my kids could play in it. One section had pool noodles hanging from the ceiling and they would run back and forth through it getting tossed around along the way. Lyla's hair!!! ;)

She was crazy about this wooden playground with a slide. At first she found her way underneath and then after that wanted to climb the stairs one foot at a time while standing, thought she was such a big girl and really freaked her momma out a few times. haha

They had so many other amazing experiments and stuff. My mom picked up Subway for lunch while I fed the kids and laid Lyla down for her nap and then she stayed and chatted with me while I started what would become a weeks worth of projects. ;) The first being the sanding, priming, and painting of a bench in our entryway. 

When Lyla woke up, she had just enough time to read a story with them before she needed to run a few errands.

Then on Thursday and Friday, daddy took 2 days off work to be with us!! It was our first weekdays with him since Christmas so we loved every minute of it. We went to Planet Kid one of the days and watched Liam explore and conquer their giant play place filled with climbing nets, obstacles, ball pits, slides, etc. Lyla and I were pretty much the only ones in the toddler area and we just kept blowing kisses to daddy. ;) 

Not pictured, the many hours spent sanding, priming, painting, and sealing our nightstands and dresser which turned out amazing, we love them! They were a black/brown stain before and the stain was looking pretty beat up with dings and scuff marks, not to mention that it didn't matter if I dusted them 1 minute ago or 1 week ago, they always looked dusty. Now they are a really beautiful green/grey color and a once a week dust is perfectly adequate. ;) We also patched 2 walls of shiplap, one in our master bedroom and the other in the living room where the previous owners had left all of the little nail holes and painted over them. They look so much more finished now!

I love when weeks feel both productive and fun and this one was the perfect mixture of the two! If this is a little bit like what summer will look like (minus people taking off work all the time to be with us haha) then maybe I'll survive with these two. ;) Kidding! I love the adventures we have together and am looking forward to a summer in a new city with so much more to explore! XO