Spring Broke

We left off last week with me in Denver while the kids kicked off their Spring Break.

I attended my poster session, but was excited to get out of there. It was nice that at least it was a good session, with several people coming by to ask questions about the project and give some ideas I hadn't thought about. My brother, Aaron was coming to pick me up, so once he told me he was there, I closed up shop and found him outside. We stopped by the newly opened Whataburger in Colorado Springs, because that was my favorite place to eat in El Paso when we lived there. I wasn't really hungry, but sure didn't want to miss a chance to taste their burgers again. We found that there was a line out the door, but figured we'd try it out anyway. It was colder than we'd realized, but we toughed it out. Of course, once it was our turn, they told me they didn't have the full menu yet, so my favorite burger was not available. I ordered the next-closest thing, but then their soda dispenser was almost out of syrup, so that didn't taste good, and when our burgers came, mine was only about halfway cooked. They were so swamped and we were both so tired that I just ate the outer half of it that was mostly cooked, and then we left, hoping that they'll get their act together before the next time I visit.

We got to my mom's house and had a brief greeting before we all went to bed, so very tired. I slept ok, and then was up to chat with my mom and brother before they left for church. At home, Kira got the kids all ready before making it to church on time - very impressive!

Once my mom and brother had left, I worked on some of my stuff upon which I was behind, and then I waited for my ride to hang out with two of my best buddies from high school. They both live in town, so we thought it would be fun to get together and catch up. It'd probably been 20 years since we'd all been together, although I'd seen them both separately since then. It was nice to chat and reminisce, and wonder how we all got to be so old.

We parted ways after a couple of hours, and I chatted with my mom in between my siblings calling to check in with her. We all chatted on speaker as they called in, so it was almost like a little family reunion for me.

I also caught up with my family before they went to bed. Kira had made French toast and bacon for a fun dinner. We called it an early night. I slept alright, and then in the morning I got all packed up. My mom drove me over to my favorite bakery in the universe to grab breakfast, and then we came home to eat before she dropped me at the airport for my flight home. I spent most of my time at the airport working on my backlog of grading, but got a decent chunk done before it was time to board. The kids had a fairly laid back day of break, and then by the time I started my train rides home, they were off to play at Zao Island, a mini-golf and arcade place.

I beat them home, where Hannah had just arrived to witness Apollo's reaction to my arrival. He didn't seem to realize it had been so long, as he reacted just like every other time I get home from the city (which is still quite the show of excitement).

Anyway, I made myself a sandwich while she and I got all caught up. Kira and the kids came home with fast food, and we greeted each other and then got them to bed. We older kids watched a little and then I had to call it a night because I had to go back in to teach my long day the following morning.

I was so glad to have finally slept well in my own bed. I awoke feeling about as good as is possible at my age and in my health, so the day in the city was not too bad. I was nearly all caught up on my grading by the time I made it to class, and things went well for the day. Kira managed the kids at home, and Avey helped out some neighbors by letting their puppy out each morning while most of them were in Florida (the dad was still there, but at work during the day).

Kira had a phone meeting that night for her church calling, and so she missed most of our evening watching.

I woke up extra early the following morning - apparently my body was trying to reach an equilibrium of energy and exhaustion. That wasn't too bad because I used the morning to get all caught up on my work and feed the kids to let Kira get some time off. Avey made waffles for breakfast, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Hannah even came over for the occasion. In the afternoon, Kira had meetings on the phone, so I was in charge of the house. Once that was over, we loaded the kids up into the car, picked up some fast food, and went to a skating rink we'd never tried before. It was very busy and loud, but the kids had a good time. Merritt went around the rink one time, and then declared himself all done, so he played at the arcade the rest of the time. I dashed across the street to get a few items at the hardware store, and then came to supervise the younger two playing arcade games.

We came home for another late bedtime.

I went into the city again on Thursday for a normal day of work, and then Kira left for a Relief Society activity at dinner, so I did bedtime by myself. She had a good time for the most part. Hannah stayed home, and Avey played a video game with her friends online.

On Friday, I slept in longer than I have in a very long time. The late morning was then a bit of a rush to work on kids' projects that are coming due. Merritt was supposed to make a project using 9 different shapes, some of which were 3D, so we made a model of his teacher:

Jesse was supposed to make a model of a business in town, and so I took him to find a building he thought he could do. We came home and did about half of it, and then finished it up on Saturday (although he still hasn't finished coloring the roof):

Carver needed to do a science project, so he came up with the idea to test out 4 different water bottles to see which one kept the temperature most consistent. We poured cold water into a big bowl, added ice to cool it all down, and then got it to 45 degrees.

We then poured 1.5 cups of that cool water (without ice cubes) into each water bottle and measured the temperature of the water in each bottle every 30 minutes for a couple of hours.

Those projects took up much of the rest of the day, but it's nice to have them mostly done!

Carver had been invited to a sleepover that afternoon, so he and Kira packed up some food for him and then he got picked up. In the afternoon, Kira took Jesse and Avey to clean the church (which they split with Hannah), and then they made a run to Walmart. I dealt with Merritt, and then they were home a little after bedtime, so we fed Jesse, unloaded the car, and then got Merritt back in bed and Jesse finally in bed.

Hannah joined us for part of a movie with what was left of the evening.

This morning was mostly finishing up Jesse's bank model, and Kira picked up Carver from the sleepover. She's going to take Avey back to the skating rink so that she can hang with her friends there. It's been stupid cold otherwise - we woke up to snow flurries and wind, although it's going to get even colder tomorrow. After that it should warm up enough that we might want to go outside again.

Spring Break is quickly coming to an end for the kids, so now we'll hear nothing but talk of the coming summer break from here on out...