Spring Break 2015

As evident by the title of this week's blog, this week was our spring break.  This means that both Merrick and I were home from preschool and my working mommy guilt made me feel like I needed to make this an extra special week for all of us.  This was even more clear to me on Monday.  I had to take my car into the shop in the morning and then we came home for lunch and Carrigan's nap.  By the afternoon I needed to run an errand and Merrick was upset, demanding that we do something, anything, fun.  In a stroke of mommy brilliance, I told Merrick that if he would agree to go to store happily, I would buy candy while we were there and we would come home and have an Easter egg hunt.  The hunt was a success and saved the day.

After a slow start to the week, however, I decided it was time for some fun.  On Tuesday we went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).  The highlights included the ball and vacuum room, the sand area, the water area, flubber, and just spending time with cousins.  Really the only low light was that it was very crowded and combine that with the fact that the rotating exhibit was an elaborate maze and that we were 6 children and 2 adults and you have a situation that is crazy making to say the least.

Over the last several months Merrick has been begging and begging us for roller skates, so when I found out that Wednesday was "preschool skate" at Oaks Amusement Park, I figured it was the perfect opportunity for him to decided if he was really interested in skates after all.  It turned out to be a great intro to skating.  They limited the arena to only preschool age and younger children, they had balls and fun music, a little lesson, a visit from the mascot "Chipper", and, most importantly, they tighten the wheels on the skates to set the kids up for success.  I was able to bring CC onto the rink in her stroller and it turns out that despite lots of falls, Merrick does enjoy skating.

Thursday the weather was beautiful!  We met several friends at a park and played for hours.  These pictures actually came from a different park trip this week,  but help to give a bit of an idea how beautiful things are looking in our neck of the woods these days.

We finished the week with every kid's (or at least my kid's) dream.  We went to Chuck E Cheese and spent the majority of the day playing games, dancing with Chuck E and eating pizza.  Carrigan did not care for Chuck E and so she and I kept a safe distance at all times, but otherwise all had a blast.  The best part of it all was that Chuck E Cheese is about a mile away from Jeremy's work so he was able to join us for pizza and a few games during lunch.

I really don't know it this week could possibly have gone any better.  It was the perfect rest and recharge to hit the rest of the school year strong.  Bring it on.