Spring Break Recap

We made it through Spring Break! Woo Hoo! The kids were disappointed this year that we weren't leaving town (like EVERY ONE of their friends), so my goal was to try to do fun new things each day to keep it exciting.

Day 1: The Living Planet Aquarium

We met Suz, Ryan & Allie for a fun day. The weather was horrendous, so it's good that we chose an indoor activity. And while the Living Planet Aquarium was no Monterey Bay Aquarium, the kids had a blast and Joseph was happy because there was a jellyfish exhibit. Joseph loves those jellyfish!

Oh yeah, Suz, these two are just for you:

After the aquarium, we met up with Grandma and Grandpa at Sweet Tomatoes for a yummy dinner.

Day 2: Movie Fun

We decided to go see Race to Witch Mountain on day 2 of spring break. Apparently, so did everyone else because the theater was packed! We had to sit on the very top row, in the very corner. At least we got four seats together.

As far as kids movies go, I really enjoyed it. Sophie spent most of the movie on my lap. She thought it was way too scary.

Day 3: Kennecott Copper Mine (or so we thought)

The big plan for today was to tour the copper mine. The weather was still cold and windy so we decided to have lunch at the Pizzeria and wait until the afternoon to see if it would warm up. It didn't. So instead, we headed up to Daybreak and hung out with Grandma & Grandpa at the new house. We then headed over to one of only two "stand-alone" Chick-Fil-A's" in the country for dinner. I love Chick-fil-A. After dinner, we parted ways with Grandma and Grandpa and made a run to Target for a hula hoop. Hula hooping and jump roping are the favorite activities of the girls right now.

(yes, she's hula hooping in front of Target...do you have a problem with that?)

On our way home, we made a quick stop at Ikea for a few things. We ran into Ethan & Sarah which was really fun. And of course, though we had just eaten dinner, we had to buy a few 50 cent hotdogs and cinnamon rolls.

Day 4: Triathlon

This morning Joseph, along with Ethan, Brian & Colton, ran in the Telos Triathlon. They all did great! After the race, we all headed over to Guru's for brunch. The girls and I were going to go to see the new Hannah Montana movie, but we were all getting pretty tired. So instead, we hung out at home and played/relaxed for the rest of the day.

I also tackled the girl's room on Saturday. I took three HUGE bags of toys/stuff to DI. It feels so good to de-clutter and organize. I must say the room looks pretty nice. Let's see how long it can stay this way.

Day 5: A Day of Rest

Of course we went to church this morning. Joseph had to teach the Gospel Essentials class and I was conducting in primary. After a few church meetings and some relaxing, we headed over to Ethan & Sarah's for a fabulous dinner. There were hoison ribs that were to die for, the most delicious homemade noodle dish (sorry Ethan, I can't remember the name), delicious miso soup. Everything was so good. Jacob thought he had died and gone to "rib heaven."

You know how when you spend tons of time with the same people, you all start acting alike? This was not planned. They all showed up like this:

After dinner we stopped at Redbox and rented a DVD for after the kids were down. We saw this:

It was good. I'd read the book a long time ago, and the story stayed true. In my opinion though, I think Meryl Streep should have taken the oscar for her role in "Doubt." Kate Winslet was fabulous, but I just think Meryl Streep was better.

So, there you have it. The McRae family's spring break in a very big nutshell. Next up for us? Mom & Dad's official move to Daybreak this weekend and Suzy and Ryan's WEDDING in two weeks! Never a dull moment!

Happy birthday big brother.

Dear John,

From the getgo, we were partners in crime:



Here's wishing you a fabulous 42nd!

Love, Jen

Yum.

Joseph was in Portland this week and returned home this morning. It's been a rough week with Sophie being really sick. I was very happy to find this little treasure sitting on my pillow when I got home from work this afternoon:

We loved shopping at Trader Joe's when we lived in CA. There is no other store like it. Betsy introduced me to these delicious morsels years ago. In fact, we all loved them so much, we gave them out at Betsy & Steve's wedding. See for yourself:

Thanks honey. Chocolate always makes life a little sweeter (no pun intended).

It's getting a bit ridiculous.

Sammy is officially turning into a dog. He no longer wants/is able to go through his cat door. He now stands and waits by the cat door until I open the door and let him out to use his litter.

Then I have to leave the door cracked open so he can come back in when he's done. Like this:

Many of you remember sweet Frisco (R.I.P). He never had a problem using/fitting through the cat door.

My next step in solving this problem is to gently suggest to my fabulous, handsome, witty husband that we should get a new, updated cat door. One that can accomodate the girth of dear Sammy. Maybe we'll actually need to get a small dog door now that I think about it. Something like this would be nice:

Or I guess there is always this option:

Jake's Birthday, Pt. 2

This evening Jacob had his "friend" party. Boy parties are soooo different than girl parties.

We started out the party by heading to the movies to see this:


Then we headed over to the Pizzeria for a delicious dinner. It's amazing how much food those boys can put away.
Then home for cake, presents and lots of loud screaming, running, trampoline jumping and a very serious game of "Truth or Dare." I learned tonight that no eleven-year-old boy says "Truth". It's all about the "Dare." Hopefully there was no permanent damage done. :)

Eleven . . . how is it possible?

It seems like just yesterday you were our sweet little Jakey, always greeting us with your big, happy smile.

Eleven years later and we love you eleven years more!

For Jake's birthday, we checked him out of school and took him out to lunch at Pizzeria 712.

Then we had a quiet family party that evening. We started the evening with presents, per Jacob's request.





He got lots of cool stuff, but the crowning jewel was this:



Joseph & Racer hooked us up with a most awesome BMX bike from Racer's Cyclery. Jake was so surprised.

After a dinner of ghetto tacos (Jake's favorite ... ask me later what they are), we celebrated with ice cream sandwiches (Jake's not a cake fan).




Count them... there are ELEVEN candles on that ice cream sandwich.

Happy Birthday to our April Fool!