I always get a little nervous when I realize a week long break is coming up for my kids. Of course, I'm excited they have time off... but I worry about making it special and fun. Living where we do, it's usually quite simple to come up with a long list of fun activities, but it does require planning to get it all scheduled, and connect with friends so that everyone feels they have enjoyed their week off. And obviously, I know I put a lot of pressure on myself. I can't explain why.... maybe just that I am a perfectionist and hope to always make the best of the time I have with my kids? I'm certainly a planner if nothing else! And the thought of "wasted time" is nothing short of frightful for me.... ha! I like to sit down with each of my children the week before a break and ask them what is one or two things they'd enjoy doing over break. Evelyn said she'd like to go shopping and have a playdate. Dane wanted to play soccer with friends; Grant wanted to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house and Anna, well... actually I didn't ask Anna. She is so easy going and will go and do whatever the rest of us are doing, with bells on.
In the end, I think we did a nice job of spending down time at home with friends, and also going out on fun excursions. Three highlights in my opinion were:
Firstly: Our two-day vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's house. And it really is a vacation. I love to be there because my kids are entertained and it is so nice to be by the pool and enjoy adult conversation! The kids went with Grandma to see Kung-Fu Panda III. We celebrated Grandpa's birthday, ate Dane and Grant's favorite: Pick up Stix, I shopped around the Foothill Shopping Center (my favorite!), we swam, spent the day at San Juan Capistrano eating at Rubys and petting the animals at Zoomars. Dane and Grant spent the money they had earned from Grandma and Grandpa panning for gem rocks. Fun times!
A second highlight I'll call: the day we spent the entire day at the soccer park. Ha! I had planned to meet my friend there to allow our boys to kick around the soccer ball, and play a little football for a few hours. Evelyn had a birthday to attend where she would be gone for quite a while- ice skating and eating out. Never did I imagine that we would be at the park from 10am to 6pm! We took one quick break for lunch but then played the entire day. It was really fun.
And lastly, the third highlight: bowling, followed by Rubios with 17 children, followed by a huge playdate at our house. Love having lots of kids over here. There's plenty of room, and I genuinely love kids- so it's fun for me to have them all here. I never mind. Now, if you were to ask me to watch a 1 or 2 year old, that's different. I'm not a huge baby person. They're super cute, but I don't like to follow after little ones, frantically trying to keep them safe at the cost of everything else on my to-do list- haha! But 3 and up, I adore. So it was a fun day and a wonderful winter break.
Not mentioned above: Reha practically living over here, pizza and Full House marathon, racing cars with Braxton.
