Spring Break

OK, so I may have had to pay him a dollar to cooperate for a few pictures that didn’t include a crazy face or sticking out his tongue.  I think it was worth it.

This morning the kidlets are back in school after a week of being home for spring break.  It was an us usual break because I anticipated being out of town, so I canceled the few piano lessons I would have been teaching (most of my students were gone, anyway), and Dr. Peds was actually off of work the whole week.  We had planned on traveling, but then decided against a big long trip in favor of a smaller, shorter trip.  Except that because the week started with so much snow still, we couldn’t really think of a place close by that we wanted to travel to because all the trails and state parks are still buried in snow.  Even up to the last minute we were considering being spontaneous for an overnight trip, but that just didn’t happen because we got busy with neighbors and life.  The weather was so nice, and everyone was busy playing outside, so we just ended up staying put.

Anticipating mostly being at home when the break began, I had a little list of things I would be happy to accomplish.  Guess what.  I didn’t cross ANYTHING off that list.  It always surprises me how you can look at a big break from school, or even summer vacation, and it feels like there are endless days stretching before you, filled with productivity potential, and then POOF!  The end of vacation is right in front of you.

However, even though I didn’t cross off anything on my list, a lot of great things happened during this break from school:

• I read a lot of books good books.  
• There was much family music making.  The kidlets practiced a lot, and I’m also working really hard on improving my bass clarinet skills this month with some very intentional practicing.
• We played and ate with all sorts of neighbors and friends, in our yard, their yards, our house, their houses, at birthday parties, restaurants, beaches, etc.
• I got to spend some special time alone with each of my kidlets, and so did Dr. Peds.  The Banana and I went out to lunch together and had a great time.  I took Mr. SP to the bread store to buy bread and a cookie.  YaYa and I went for a walk and to oboe, and Mr. Trouble on Feet and I did some special things while the others were off doing things with Dr. Peds.
• YaYa made several trips to the fabric store and sewed up a storm.
• The Banana had lots of time to play with her friends.
• We were invited to dinner by a family at church along with several other families who all have school aged kids, and together all of us (even the dads helped) made 7 or 8 blankets for a homeless shelter, and we had a fantastic time doing it.  It was really, really fun to have all the kids together helping and running around, and the grown ups chatting together.
• I was able to sleep in until almost 8:00 every single morning.  It was such a treat.

Our break might not have looked very exciting, and I think Dr. Peds really wished we had gone somewhere, especially when the weather turned colder over the last weekend and everyone was back to being cooped up inside the house in our mess,  but I still consider it a success.  Sometimes traveling is so stressful that you need a vacation from your vacation.