Spring Break - California

Just 2 days after Easter, I packed up the van and went to visit my family in California for 8 days.  I was kind of sick of the cold Utah weather and just wanted a little break where it looked like Spring.  Brendan stayed home and worked, so it was nice having Holly drive with me and help out with the kids.  I was really worried about the drive back to Utah by myself.  Even driving around town with Hazel and Hattie can be difficult when one of them drops their stuffed animal or sippy cup and screams for me to pick it up, but it was actually a great drive.  The kids watched movies and sang songs, and we took a few breaks along the way.  Hazel even slept the last four hours of the drive.  I think the Lord blessed me.

One day when we were there we went and visited Whitney in San Francisco.  She works downtown in the financial district as an accountant for Deloitte.  We went to lunch with her and she showed us around her work.  When she had to go back to work, I took the kids to Golden Gate Park to play for a few hours until Whitney got off.  When Whit got off work I picked her up and took her back home to our parents for the weekend.  

 Whit took us to The Toaster Oven for lunch.  It was really good.  They had a bunch of cool old toasters on the wall.  After lunch, we went and got some really tasty cookies from a nearby bakery.

 We walked around the conservatory of flowers for a little while.  It was beautiful, but I couldn't get the kids to look at me for any pictures.  Then we headed to the carousel and children's playground.

 Hattie and Hazel love carousels and since I had told them about this carousel in the park, they couldn't wait to take a ride. (And yes Hattie is sporting a mullet these days, but we're just grateful for any kind of growth.)

 There was a really cool cement slide that you had to use cardboard to sit on for a smooth ride down.  There were a lot of big kids going on it and a line at the top and I think Hazel let 20 people go ahead of her before I had to yell for her to step up in the line or we'd be there all day.

Hazel's favorite toy at the playground was this little bowl that would spin around with your body weight, and of course Hattie loved the swings.

 Back at my parent's house, Hattie just loved her fudgesicle.  She was licking every last drip from the wrapper.  Whitney also put pigtails in her hair for the first time.  Hattie loved my brother Blake.  She took all of her naps in his room without a complaint.

The girls were excited to have Holly paint their toenails for them.  Their favorite toys at the house were all the dollhouses and accessories.

Besides going to San Francisco and me going shopping, we didn't really do very much but hang out at the house, which was fine for me.  Being almost 8 months pregnant it was nice just not to have to clean up a house and make dinner every night.

Easter + Family in town = Fun

My 16 year old sister, Holly, came and visited for a week.  She hung out with Breeze a lot and went to some of her college classes with her, and she was able to hang out with the kids and I.

Hazel and Holly reading the Friend together.

My friend invited us to an Easter egg hunt and party at a restaurant just down the block from us called The Awful Waffle.  It was hosted by some local bloggers and was a lot of fun.  They had free meals for all of us and then some Easter crafts and a little egg hunt of course.

My sister-in-law, Jessica, was in the play Chitty Chitty Bang Bang up in Salt Lake at the Hale Center Theater.  Breeze and Holly came and saw it with us and Bruce of course came too, and also Brendan's brother Christopher and his wife Brianna because they have been in town for a few weeks.  So it was a big meet up and the play was great!  (Terrible quality picture I know.)  

Later in the week, my sister Dawn came into town with her husband and 5 kids for Spring Break and Easter.  

The day before Easter when we were filling the eggs with candy for the hunt, Hattie got a hold of some chocolate eggs and decided to feed them to Dane.  He had chocolate handprints on his face.  It was pretty cute!

My oldest sister Dawn and her husband McRay.

The kids before our little hunt in the backyard.  Hazel had just received a new apron for Easter and didn't want to take it off.

 Hazel found a dollar in one of her eggs and was very excited! 

Jon and Hattie were just excited about chocolate. 

 My sisters Holly and Breeze came over for the egg hunt and Easter dinner.

 Cousins playing the duck game and eating together.

 I caught Hattie giving a kiss to Dane and thought it was the cutest thing.  She is such a sweetie!  Unfortunately, we didn't get a family picture of us in our Easter clothes after church.