It's odd. Here I sit drinking a warm cup of chai (you all know how I love my tea....) pondering last night's snow storm and waiting for the next to arrive. The flakes are bound to fall and my snow shovel is patiently waiting (I could patiently wait to shovel the driveway for a long, long time.....). The part that is odd is that I'm sitting here developing our spring break photos (which was a few weeks ago already) when it doesn't really feel like spring at all. Sunday, it was spring, today, it is winter. Yes, it just strikes me as odd. The even crazier part is that we traveled all the way to the Texas coast (1,000+ miles) and found warmer weather upon our return to Colorado. Crazy, right? We had precisely two warm days that resembled what I thought the weather would be like. I laughed at all the shorts I packed for myself and the kids and shook my head as we wore and wore again (and again and again) the few pairs of pants we brought along. I guess spring brings crazy weather no matter where you live. Lubbock greeted us with a powerful windstorm and San Antonio opened up its skies for us with an impressive thunderstorm. I have to admit, much of the weather we encountered made me pretty happy to call Colorado home. We get crazy weather, but for the most part it's a crazy I can handle. Some of the weather we experienced reminded me of other places we've lived and couldn't wait to leave. So, I guess it's all good.
We had a very busy "vacation". Nikolas was truly a saint during the very long road trip. Emalie....um....not so much. She decided that she no longer needed to sleep (night or day) and that running around like a sleep-deprived almost-terrible-two-year old was far more fun. Whew-- I'm not sure how we survived all the fun, but we did. Everyone is back in the groove at home-- except Emalie. She's decided that maybe sleeping at night is ok (but not every night, of course) and that maybe a little shut-eye will appease the parents during the day....but only a fraction of what used to be normal. You know how people say they need a vacation after their vacation? That's true for us-- but the thought of going anywhere soon is not very enticing! Maybe just a little rest and rejuvenation will do the trick for us. Now, if only we can figure out how to get it.
So, let us begin a recap of Spring Break 2013. (I'm secretly laughing to myself thinking how very different spring break is for me now compared to say, oh-- KP 1996). I guess as you age you just redefine "fun"! Ha ha ha......
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| Cuddling up in Emalie's bunk was one of the kids' favorite pastimes during the stops along the way. |
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| Eating....playing.....same-same. |
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| One of the few times Emalie sat still enough to play with her toys. Cute picture but no smile (and wild hair, right?!)! |
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| Nikolas will sit still any time, any day if he can play his iPad. |
Sea World, San Antonio: We were more than thrilled to discover that we were admitted to Sea World for free since Sven is active duty. What a wonderful perk!
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Nikolas was about ready to pounce out of his seat waiting for the Shamu show.
He has ALWAYS loved orcas. |
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| Emalie's excited, too-- she just doesn't know why! |
What impressive creatures they are......
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Nikolas' favorite show on tv these days is "Gator Boys".
I guess we should be living in Florida now instead of when he was younger. |
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| Emalie doesn't really watch tv shows-- not ones meant for kids anyway. After day two of the drive, we decided that maybe a video wasn't such a bad idea (it was that or insanity). We resorted to a Sesame Street DVD. Every time she sees Sven's computer now she says, "Elmo?!". |
The dolphins were next on the list of Nikolas' favorites. We got into Sea World for free, but made up for that savings with buying fish trays to feed the dolphins! That boy could have spent the entire day standing next to their pool. It was so wonderful to see him enjoying it so much. His love for orcas and dolphins reminds me of myself when I was younger.
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| It doesn't seem that long ago since I took a similar photo of Nikolas, but in actuality it was about 8 years ago! |
Moving on to the Beluga show. Yes, there was a beluga or two, but the spotlight of the show wasn't really the belugas. I must say though that the acrobatics were pretty impressive.
This is how we all felt after a long day at Sea World. I wish I would have had a stroller to fall asleep in!
We spent two nights at Lackland AFB in San Antonio. As we entered the gates after the day at Sea World, we saw a whole lot of marching going on. I guess this sign explains it. Whew-- glad I'm not one of them right now!
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| Pretty sunset at Lackland AFB. |
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| Home sweet home at Lackland AFB. |
Fast forward a day and we've arrived at Port Lavaca. The trailer is still in one piece (which is impressive if you know our road-trip history) and we're all no worse for the wear. We made it and we're ecstatic. It's so nice to be with mom and dad again!
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| Nikolas in his element. I think he may have out-fished them all! |
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| Said Sesame Street dvd..... |
Learning from the master......
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| This scene just made me laugh. |
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| Just a small glimpse into Emalie's crazy behavior! |
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| Don't mess with them, right? But for once, they seem to have swapped expressions! |
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| And this is what happens when you play with balls too close to the water. Ironically, a few days after we got home mom asked if we'd lost a ball. We remember putting it in the truck but it wasn't there when we unpacked. Mom said it was out floating in the bay. I guess that's where it wanted to stay! |
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| So much to learn from Grandpa. |
Easter morning......
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"MMMM! These things are darn tasty!"
(She'd never had jelly beans before.) |
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| Believe it or not, this IS a SMILE. One night at dinner Emalie said "MA!" (which she does A LOT). We looked over at her and she had this crazy expression on her face. She was mimicking a girl on the Girl Scout cookie box she was holding. Now, whenever we tell her to smile, this is what we get! |
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| Emalie's favorite spot in the trailer: next to the cupboard that contains her boots! |
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| Oh, the mind of a preteen boy...... |
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| Hangin' with Grandpa. Nikolas is quite content. |
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| I had to capture this element of our vacation-- Emalie's boots. We bought them specifically for the trip and she wouldn't take them off (without tears and screaming, anyway). |
How's that for a view? I can hear the waves lapping against the shore now.....
we won't be seeing anything like this when we get back to Colorado.
Sea shells by the sea shore...
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Don't you love mom's shocked, happy expression when Emalie sat down next to her and put her arm around her?
Priceless! |
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| We now know for ourselves what mom and dad mean when they say the people down by there are so nice. Here mom and dad are with their neighbor Al. What a great guy! Nikolas really thought so, too. All the way home, he kept asking us: "Don't you like Al? Isn't he nice? I really like Al." I should say so-- Al bought Nik donuts and let him plays with his dogs all week. What more could he have asked for?! But in all seriousness, I can see why they feel at home down there with great friends like that. |
Nikolas saying goodbye to Al's dogs....
And one last photo of us all (ok, the only photo of us all) before we hit the road. Every time we say goodbye I tell myself I won't be sad-- and I'm not......until we say goodbye and then I totally am. I just wish we weren't separated by so much time and distance. But, I'm thankful we were able to make the trip down there and spend time with them.
Back on the road again. Here, I think we were in San Antonio again. We've decided we need a mini-tub in our house because it is the perfect size for Emalie's baths. We enjoyed our trip in the trailer and were pretty glad we had a bigger one for our bigger family. It makes me wonder if one day Nikolas and Emalie will be visiting Sven and me at home in our RV.....ha ha ha. You just never know, do you?!
Miss you, Mom and Dad. It's your turn.....hee hee hee!
