Spring Break Mini Vacation

With Zack going to school his spring break and my spring break have never fallen at the same time, except when we were both students and I worked at the bank, but then he was working for the school district and we both had to take time off work to hang out anyway. But I digress.....  Our spring breaks once again did not line up but we each took the Friday of the other person's spring break off to hang out together and have family time. For the last weekend of my spring break which was the first weekend in April, which  also happens to be General Conference for my church and this year happened to include my birthday, we rented a cabin with Zack's parents and a few siblings in Star Valley Wyoming. The setting was gorgeous and we had a nice time relaxing and doing whatever we wanted. We left after Zack got out of class Friday and took our time making our way to Star Valley, Wyoming. The drive is so relaxing and beautiful. We were the first to get to the cabin and explored the area, set up our stuff and then played some card games on the wrap around porch while Warren played with a cat that was outside.

Friday evening was spent talking, playing games and just hanging out. Saturday we drove into Jackson Hole and wandered around  window shopping, shopping, more window shopping and then had lunch at a pizza place. We then decided we were going to go check out a park I had seen online while everyone else drove into Teton National Park. Warren loved the climbing park we went to, Phil Baux Park. He had a blast climbing, playing, and running around. Zack and I loved watching him climb and watching other people climb as well. Saturday night the adults went out and we celebrated by birthday which was the next day. We went to Dad's Bar and Steakhouse, it has awesome reviews online, and it was yummy. A hole in the wall place but so good. If we go back we will know that there is a separate entrance for the restaurant. I had a steak marinated in hot sauce, for someone who loves spice, it was a good marinade. After dinner Zack had his mom try and find somewhere that was still open that had ice cream, we forget stores close early in small towns,  but she found some ice cream at the gas station and we came back and had ice cream with the kids. Sunday morning we packed up said goodbye and all went our separate ways. We choose to drive though Soda Springs and show Warren some geysers, the carbonated water, and park I played at when I was young. My dad would often drive to or  home from Yellowstone through Soda Springs and we would stop and take a break, play on the playground, watch the geyser and maybe drink carbonated water. It was fun to pass on some of my memories from my childhood to my own child.

My boys at the antler arch in Jackson Hole.

My little family at the arch.

These cousins are so cute together and they are so good to Warren. He loves them and so do we.

Mommy and Warren having lunch at the pizza place. 

Rocking climbing at Phil Baux Park

Almost to the top.

Climbing with Daddy.  Oh and the lady in the back was there with her husband who was practicing. He would climb along the bottom, all around the base without touching the ground.

We made it to the top!

This was the view from the cabin we rented. GORGEOUS! The sunsets were amazing. We took a few walks in the evenings to soak in all the beauty. I even went running on my birthday and thought I could run if this was my view. It  was exhilarating to run in the crisp mountain air with no one around and to run on dirt roads was awesome.

Me and my eternal sweetheart enjoying the sunset. The view of the stars was describable. With little or no light pollution you could see so many stars! AHHH to live there!

 Soda Spings

We couldn't have timed arriving to see the geyser any better. We arrived started walking up and it started to go off. The information about the geyser is very fascinating. From what Zack read this geyser was messing up Old Faithful somehow so now it is regulated to only go off once every hour. There is much more to the history but too much to write here. I love seeing Warren so intrigued!

The geyser was actually really impressive and you aren't that far from it and can walk all the way around it.

Hooper Springs, it has carbonated water. We had Warren try some without telling him what it was, he did not like it. I tried it again because I had forgotten how much I disliked it (the last time I drank it I was a kid) and quickly remembered why Warren was spitting it out. There is a video I just can't upload it.

March 2016

I am going to try and remember the fun things we did in March of this year. Luckily I have some pictures to help me but I obviously will not remember everything three to four months out.

The beginning of March I hosted a evening, well it was an all day event, to make freezer meals. I think we cooked for 7 or 8 hours and ended up with a ton of food.  I can't remember the specifics but it was a lot, and I wrote how much we made on Facebook. My stepmom and stepsister came and we cooked and chatted and the kids played with my dad and their dads, then they disappeared to pick up a truck and look at another one, I don't know exactly but I do know that by the end of the day my house smelled super yummy... oh those meatballs, and I was exhausted.

Most of the loot, some bags were already put away because we had over 90 burritos and a few other things.

In March my grandma also hosted her annual Easter Egg Hunt. These hunts are not for the faint of heart or for who you might think they are for. She still puts on an Easter Egg hunt for her grandkids so me and my siblings. My mom does the Easter Egg hunt for her grandkids. This year was more laid back but we still had to complete a word search before the hunt could begin and the winner got prizes. We then went out to find the eggs that Warren and his cousins hid for us. They would take the eggs back out of our baskets to hid them again. I think we found the same 30 eggs (big difference from most years with 120 plus eggs) about 3 or 4 times, but they had a great time.

Squishy finding an egg.

Yes that is a plastic bag, he had been painting with his cousins earlier and I didn't want him to get paint on his clothes. 

The adult Easter egg hunt!

Jessie can be ruthless!

Later that month Warren had had his first friend from school come over to play. I thought it would  be fun to have STEM activities planned for them, (that's the teacher in me, I had just completed a STEM course) but they just wanted to play, so we played with what I brought however they wanted, then played  with the trains.

Instead of building a tower, Warren just wanted to put the as many marshmallows on a piece of spaghetti as he could.

Mom was trying  to help guide and direct him to build some sort of tower to hold Oreo's.

But that didn't happen, so I built my own.

Tada!

Coloring Easter Eggs with Koolaid, it really worked.

 Warren with some of his projects that he worked on at school. He had an amazing preschool teacher and teacher's aide. We loved his preschool experience and so did he.

A bean plant and grass he grew at school. The grass got so long he cut it with scissors a couple times before it was time to get rid of it.

His bean plant he grew from a seed in a  2 liter bottle with water in it and the seed placed in the wet paper towel.

The last week in March was my Spring Break so Warren and I got to hang out all day. One day we made play dough and had some fun with it and cookie cutters. This picture was for me to send to Daddy and all the hearts were because we love him.

Warren's big ball of play dough.

It also snowed during Spring Break, actually several times. We didn't see much sunshine until midweek.

Seattle 2015

After we left Portland Friday morning we drove to Seattle to meet up with Zack's family for some fun in Seattle. I had a list of things that I wanted to see including the Gum Wall, Pike Place, and the Fremont Troll. We packed so many things in one day. We started the day out by visiting Pike Place fish market. It was really cool to see them throw the fish. It would have been fun to walk around more, but with all the kiddos, and our time constraint it didn't work out.

 Pike Place Fish Co.

After visiting Pike's Place we walked down some stairs and we were at the GUM WALL! I have wanted to see this wall for so long, and I loved it. The only regret was that I forgot to get bubble gum and we only  had Trident. It worked but our bubbles were not as big as they would have been with bubble gum. I am so glad we went to the Gum Wall when we did because the city came in and removed all the gum. People are still allowed to put gum up, but they cleaned it to help the brick from eroding. I want to go back now and see it with less gum and add my piece as well. Such a germy place but so colorful and interesting. I am so glad I can check that place off my bucket list.

Gum Wall

Tiny bubble

Trying to blow a bubble with Trident is challenging.

 Space Needle and Park

Our next Seattle adventure was the Space Needle. Zack's dad Kim, said if he was going to the Space Needle he was going to eat in their restaurant. It is pricey but it was so much  fun. I loved visiting the Space Needle, Warren loved it and was not afraid of being up so high. The views were awesome. We had to wait for our tables to be ready so we got to spend quite a bit of time up top in the observatory. I was able to feel the building sway slightly but it did not make me sick. Zack and I both would like to go back to the Space Needle. I would love to see it at night as the sun is setting or as the sun is rising. The food at their restaurant was really good, and the atmosphere was awesome! The restaurant rotates so you get a 360 degree view of the city. After the Space Needle we walked to the coolest park right behind the Space Needle. Seattle spends a certain percentage of their budget on art, and this playground was a work of art. It had a musical theme, and so many cool things to explore. We could have stayed there for a long, long time. The park also  had amazing views of the Space Needle.

Love this guy, and I loved this moment. So much fun, joy, and awesome memories.

Warren loved looking out through this, even though all he could see from his angle was sky.

Finally enjoying his meal, it had been a long day, well couple days. Lots of driving, waiting, and new experiences.

The view of the Space Needle  from the super fun park behind  it.

Look at this awesome park, who wouldn't want to stay and play?

This photo was taken at Ride the Duck across from the Space Needle. The odd metal looking building was cool and the park was right by it.  I can't remember it's name but I think it had something to do with music.

Look at this awesome dessert. They used dry ice to get it to smoke.

More art outside of the Space Needle.

Ride the Duck

We were going to go take an underground tour of Seattle, but our waiter at the Space Needle suggested that we spend our time outside because the weather was nice, and cooperating for outdoor activities. Across the street from the Space Needle was a place called Ride the Duck. They had amphibious vehicles that are able to be driven on land, and as a boat. Our driver was really cool. The tour took much longer than normal because it was the day before a marathon in Seattle, and there were several graduations in the downtown area. Traffic was insane and we were stuck in it. Our driver was definitely trying hard to keep us excited, and tried to come up with things to say when we were stuck and not moving. We got to see a lot of Seattle, but my favorite part was going out onto Lake Union. Oh my it was so much fun. There are people that have homes on floating docks, like really nice homes. It was cool to see people living on the lake, and to go from the road to the lake in the same vehicle. Mike bought the kids duck whistles and Michaela and Warren loved theirs and were blowing them almost the entire ride. Warren and Roscoe also got to go upfront and be the 1st mate while on the lake. I think Warren really enjoyed himself, and Roscoe did for sure. Roscoe was so funny when he was the 1st mate, and I thought Warren was just adorable. 

Our little quackers.

Such a fun ride with my sweetheart.

Beautiful  views on Lake Union.

My little 1st  mate.

Look at this cool house that is on a floating dock.

Fremont Troll

I also found out a troll I had seen in some movies was in Seattle and it was free to go see. It is the Fremont Troll underneath a bridge on Fremont Street.  The troll is made from concrete and really cool. You have to drive up this narrow road, that appears not to go anywhere, then walk up underneath the bridge, and all of a sudden you are at the troll. We only stayed there a few minutes because it was getting late and we still needed to drive to Jenelle's house which was about an hour or so outside of Seattle. I am  so glad we stayed for a few minutes. Warren enjoyed climbing all over the troll, and I am sure he would have liked to stay longer if we had time. It was an adventure getting  back to the freeway though. The streets were crazy steep, and we kept getting turned around. We got to see some of the less traveled streets of Seattle though.

As soon as we got there Warren just wanted to climb all over the troll.

Grandma and Grandpa Ludlow and Warren at the Fremont Troll.

 I am not a fan of this picture, but it is the only family picture we have at the troll so it will have to do.

We loved our time in Seattle. The city had so much energy. I could have walked around the city all day and only seen a small portion of it. Seattle is definitely a city I want to spend more time in. I think I would be more relaxed if we went back without little kids. I was a little nervous walking around with so many people, I kept thinking that Warren could get lost so easily. There was also a lot of things that he just didn't have the patience for that I would love to see, someday. Thank you Seattle for such a wonderful 10 hours.