Spring Break 2016

Spring break was really rejuvenating this year with a great balance of normalcy and productivity.  Andrew worked fairly typical hours Monday thru Wednesday but usually came home little bit early. He found us at the park most days, and I was really grateful because he was able to jump in and help with the clean up from our adventures.

He also breathed some new life into our typical activities, like creating a maze with Emily to walk through. She almost understood what the lines mean.

On Monday we did a treasure hunt for our most valuable treasure, an idea from the Small Seed.  Emily got the hang of looking for clues and kept saying, “Let’s see what it says” the rest of the night.

On Thursday we had originally planned to go on an adventure in Indy but I liked the idea of us making some progress on projects instead so we did what we do best. Made a list and jumped right in.

I’ve been in discarding mode around here and so we went through our books, kitchen things, and office supplies first thing in the morning and filled a few bags to take to goodwill or throw away.

Andrew needed to do a little work on campus so he and Emily rode the bus together while Nathan took a nap and I called about some bills.  Emily LOVES looking for and finding the bus to ride.  They rode the sky bus to campus (the one with clouds on the side). Later that day she spotted the sandwich bus which she wants to ride soon (subway ad).

As soon as Nathan woke up we picked up Emily and Andrew from campus and went to Jane’s Gourmet Deli for lunch. I don’t really enjoy eating out. I feel like food is overpriced or I could make it myself and have it taste just as good and I have a hard time spending the money on it, but we had a gift card so we decided to give it a try.

I loved it. The people were sooooooo nice and accommodating. They brought out some printer paper and a box of crayons for Emily to draw on.  The decorations were very unique and led to a great I-Spy game. Soon after arriving we realized I left my wallet at home which had the gift card in it so Andrew took off and left me with Emily and Nathan.  We ordered and they brought out a sharp knife and an extra plate for Emily so we could more easily share our sandwich, salad, soup and wrap with her. Andrew returned just as the food arrived and we were both blown away with how incredibly delicious our meal was. I would go back in a heartbeat.  First time ever truly impressed at a restaurant.

I stepped out to nurse Nathan for a little bit and when I returned I found Emily glued to the basketball game on the TV. Andrew was trying tactics of, “Once they score a basket let’s take another bite…”

After naps we made newspaper seedling pots together and Andrew and Emily measured and prepared our garden some more to make our final plans.  We are hoping to build some boxes for square foot gardening in the next few weeks. As we were filling up the pots Emily grabbed a few packets of seeds and began shaking them at Nathan. He thought she was hilarious and gave huge belly laughs that had us all laughing along.

Friday was another busy work day. More sorting and discarding and organizing. Andrew made super fancy quiche for lunch.

After naps we took off to run a bunch of errands. We dropped off Andrew’s laptop battery that had expanded to scary computer splitting proportions at Office Depot. We found pink sandals for Emily at Once Upon a Child. We dropped off a bag of clothes at a consignment shop. We stopped at goodwill to empty our trunk.

Nathan has not been sleeping much the last few nights. Friday to Saturday I think we slept maybe two hours. But we had plans to go to the Bishop’s Store House open house in Indianapolis so we loaded up and went and had a marvelous time.  I was surprised to see how much food and supplies were there – enough to support everyone living in Indianapolis for three weeks! The most unusual item stored is chain saws to help in a disaster. The storehouse is run completely by volunteers. I was surprised at the strong spirit I felt in the building. It is truly God’s work.

We also bought 50 lbs of wheat to get us through the next few months and then headed to cosco to do other bulk shopping. Andrew kept us supplied with free samples, Nathan slept in the ergo, and Emily switched between eating samples in the cart and claiming items to be her baby. We grabbed a pizza and frozen yogurt for lunch and then made the return trip home. Both kids were sleeping when we arrived in town so we pulled into walmart and I looped the parking lot while Andrew picked up 10 pineapples while they were on sale to add to our freezer smoothie stash.

Church started an hour later on Sunday and Andrew didn’t have meetings because Bishop Waddell from the presiding bishopric came to speak.  While I was getting ready I heard Emily and Andrew watching a movie but I had no idea what was going on. Turns out Andrew was learning how to use bobby pins to secure a fresh flower in Emily’s hair.

After church I sang with the ward choir and Andrew talked with his family and played with Emily and Nathan, snapping a few pictures too. After the choir finished singing for a sister in our church and her family we had a huge potluck dinner. We are so grateful for our friends here that have become our family and help make Indiana home.