Sunday, April 7, 2019

Spring Break shenanigans

Last week was our Spring Break.  It was a nice break and the weather was even spring-like at times.  Glenn and Will took a few days to go turkey hunting in Kansas for Will's first official hunt but Glenn will write about that on the next blog post. Reina and I stayed here and I worked for a few days while she helped her grandparents with the little cousins.  On Wednesday, the little cousins came over to our house for the day.  I realized that while a lot of my friends were posting pictures of beaches and sunshine and exotic vacations, I was getting to watch Toddler Cousin eat soup and I think I might have had the better end of that deal. 
Who wouldn't want to watch this kiddo feed himself soup?!
While the guys were gone, Reina and I had some fun girl time.  We watched more chic flicks, ate meals that weren't cooked in our home and took the dogs on some walks/bike rides.  It was a fun to hang out with my favorite 10-yr old.  
Sled dogs and a bike riding maniac in front. 
 When Will and Glenn got back, the kids and I packed up for a few days in Denver.  I heard about the City Pass from one of my co-workers and it was such a great deal.  For a big discount, the kids and I had access to the zoo, aquarium, children's museum and the natural history museum and we managed to squeeze in all of those places and shopping and eating into 2 1/2 days.  It was one of those little trips where everyone was in a mostly good mood, the kids got along and we didn't have any hiccups.  It was a really nice way to kick off the last part of the school year.

Reina at the aquarium

Reina sipping on a fancy shark drink at the aquarium restaurant.  
While at the aquarium, we got drenched by some hungry sting-rays.  It might've been the highlight of the week for Reina because I was soaked and ended up with a mouthful of sting-ray infused salt water. 

After the aquarium, we checked out the Children's Museum.  Most of it was designed for kiddos younger than my two but they still had a lot of fun.  Will got bucked off the little kid zipline which was entertaining for the rest of us. 
Look!  They do like each other although that could also be a chokehold. 

My big kid. 
I took 0 pictures at the zoo, probably because I like to look at the animals almost as much/more than the kiddos. We walked all over, saw most of the babies which is always a highlight and had some ice cream.  That night, with the help of the hotel staff and some strangers, we figured out how to take the light rail into downtown Denver so that we could eat dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was one of Will's requests for the weekend.  He particularly likes their club sandwiches, who knew?  
Will and a lot of food. 
One of Reina's requests was to see the big blue bear outside of the Convention Center. 

Two kids and a big blue bear bottom 

Another shot of the big kid
On the last morning, we got moving pretty early and made it to the Natural History Museum for a few hours before meeting Pop-Pop and Grandma H for lunch.  The kids spotted a virtual reality space exhibit and insisted on getting in line for that right away.  I was going to opt out but I saw how much fun the people in front of us in line had so I decided to give it a try.  Turns out, I accidentally got on a roller coaster.  We wore virtual reality goggles and then the seats move up and down so that you feel like you are (in our case) in a submarine in a prehistoric ocean.  About 30 seconds into the ride, I felt Reina's little hand snake over and grab mine and I was just as happy to hold her's.  The ride was only 5 minutes long but I'm not sure my stomach has stopped feeling squeamish.  
R & W on the side closest to us.  They opted to stay and try the outer space experience while I sat that one out.  
So it was a nice Spring Break.  We get back into the swing of things tomorrow with a busy week of schoolwork, volleyball, confirmation and Glenn's birthday party.  Whoooo!