Spring Break Staycation

The kids had a whole entire week off for spring break this year.  Wahoo!  Vacation, right?  Unfortunately, Preston started a new job only a few weeks ago, so he didn't feel like he should take a week off so soon.  Bummer.  Staycation it is.  

So...what to do, what to do.  Monday was easy.  My sweet Grandma was having a hard time Easter weekend, so we headed over there on Monday to bring her lunch and make sure she was doing okay.  She was feeling better but was kind of tired so we didn't stay too long.  So...now what to do, what to do?  It is raining.  I have three little kids...there is a movie theater over there!  Movie!  As we drive up, I am noticing that there is only ONE kids movie playing, and it is called "The Croods."  Doesn't sound very good, does it?  As I am scowling at the marquee the kids are bouncing up and down and giggling and asking if they can have popcorn.  I realize there will be some major whining if I tell them we aren't going to the movies anymore...so....The Croods it is!  Actually, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be!  It was really kind of cute, after a slow start.  If you are stuck in the middle of a rainy afternoon with a bunch of small kids, shell out the $$ and see it.  You will survive and the kids will love it.

Tuesday I had to go to work, but the kids had fun playing with my sister Val.  Arden was especially excited since she usually has to miss out on playtime with Val since she is at school.  After work me and the kids played at the park for like two solid hours.  The good thing about April is that parks are still a novelty.  Around August or September the kids are a little tired of the slides and the swings, but in April, it is hours of fun! 

Wednesday...we headed up to Weber County (since their spring break was the week before ours) to the Dinosaur Park.  It was a beautiful day, and it was just nice to be outside.  Did I bring my camera?  Nope.  I knew Dax would have fun but I was a little worried that Arden would be bored since she is subjected to quite a lot of dinosaur stuff by her little bro.  Lucky for me, they were handing out "field guides," at the ticket counter.  The field guides listed a few dinosaurs to look for and had some questions to fill out about each of them.  Arden had a great time running around and checking each dinosaur we saw to see if it was one of the ones in her little book.  Cora just likes to follow Dax around and listen to him spout his dino-knowledge.  He is pretty amazing.  Here is an example of Dax's lecturing to Corbie: "Coh-wa, this is an Ankylosaw-wus.  Ankylosaw-wuses are herbivores.  Dey have lots of armor on dere bodies and dey lived in the Cretaceous.  Dey could kill predators with the clubs on da end of dere tails."  (Lately, he asks me about which period each dinosaur lived in.  Like I know.  Good thing the internet can tell me.  Dax knows that T-Rex lived in the Cretaceous period and Allosaurus lived in the Jurassic, so it is very important to him to know which period the other dinosaurs lived in so he can know which of his favorite carnivores he should picture eating them).

The next day I wanted to do something we had NEVER done before.  Hmmmm...what to do, what to do?  I looked out the window, and there it was.  Antelope Island!  I think the last time I was out there I was Arden's age.  I had no idea what is out there except bison, but hey, the kids like bison, let's go!

First, we walked through the Visitors Center and picked up maps.  Next we headed out and find ourselves a scenic spot and had some lunch.  I even brought my camera!  I took this picture while sitting at the picnic table:

 After lunch, we drove by some bison and watched them eat for a while.  Riveting. Next we headed down to the "beach."  Okay, it IS technically a beach in that land and water meet, but this wasn't exactly the kind of beach I was wishing for on my spring break.  Oh well, it will have to do.  And seriously, my kids could stand around and throw rocks into water for HOURS.  I am not sure what the fascination is, but wow. I think they each threw about 72,349 rocks into that lake.  Somehow, there were still always more rocks left to throw.

After I finally ripped them away from their rock-throwing, we took a little drive around.  We saw some more bison, this time, NEXT to the beach.  Purty:

Then we saw a couple of actual antelope!  On Antelope Island!  Arden had the camera and was very excited about this picture she took.  See, there is a teeny tiny Antelope in the middle there. Anyhoo...

Next we drove over to the ranch (who knew there was a ranch?  Not me!  Well, now I do...)  There were lots of old buildings to look at, and the kids got to practice their lasoo-ing!

 Rope 'em Dax!

Cora got ahold of the camera and took a lot of pictures of fence posts and fingers, but she took one of me, so here it is, to prove I was here too!

After we were done ranching, we headed out on a little hike.  Arden REALLY wanted to hike up to the top of the island.  Unfortunately, Arden and Cora were wearing flip flops.  I told her we would hike up the trail a little while and then just turn around and come back when we got tired.  We got pretty high!  Lots of other hikers were impressed with the kids' mad hiking skills.

If we ever head out that way again, for sure we will bring our real shoes and see if we can summit!  I am sure the view from up there would be awesome.  After the hike it was getting kind of late and we had to be back for opening day for the Salt Lake Bees (yay!  Baseball means summertime is almost here!)  We headed back across the causeway, but had to pull over and take one more picture of the mountains reflected in the water.

I actually did bring my camera to the baseball game, but I just didn't take any pictures with it.  :)  Friday was rainy again, so our outing was limited to the McDonalds playland.  Obviously no pictures. 

The week actually went pretty smoothly.  The kids got along pretty well for the most part, and we all had a pretty good time.  Bring on summer!