spring break: 2016, part 2

for the second day of my spring break, and the last of the boys',
we decided to go bowling! christopher couldn't even resist and joined us.
we had a great time and were super competitive.

our youngest family member was a bit too competitive.
he needed to take a break away from us until he pulled himself together.
he wants to be the best at everything and no matter how much we reminded
him we had decades more experience bowling then him, he struggled.
{he's still learning how to be a good loser....}

we packed alot into those 2 days and it though it was wonderful,
it made me wish i had even more time home with them.
{i envy c and his flexible schedule}

the weekend before they started back to school,
we hosted my girlfriend's 8 year old son logan overnight.
she was in florida on both a business/pleasure trip, so i helped
out while her husband juggled their 4 year daughter.

the weather turned out to be beautiful...summer like.
with the combination of the solar water heater and keeping the cover on the pool,
the water temperature was up to 80 degrees so the boys swam for a good portion
of the day. when they weren't swimming, they played in the treehouse.

they had a great time but were ready to go back.
2 weeks was long enough for the gerblets.

spring break: 2016, part 1

this year, i was only with the boys 2 days of their 2 week break,

so for the other 8 days, c kept them busy. he shuttled them to playdates,
hosted playdates, built water and air cannons with them in the garage and
took them to a robotics competition. finn dreams of competing with HTH's
robotics team someday{he's been attending the competitions since he was in
kindergarten {we remind him it's not too far off in the future}

i also learned c created a 'training program' to get the boys conditioned for junior
lifeguards this summer. their 'training' consisted of running around the block as fast as
they can {they timed themselves and tried to beat it every day}, swimming laps in the pool,
doing jumping jacks, push-ups and sit-ups. while i sat on my butt at work, two boys
were working up a sweat. 

so during the last 2 days of their break, i took off work to spend with 'em and play a bit.
i wanted us to do something active, but bootcamp wasn't what i had in mind. 

the first morning we went hiking calvares canyon, a place a friend had recommend.
it wasn't as rugged as the boys wanted, but it was pretty.

the second day i planned on taking the boys to a surf museum,

but scout insisted we go to the san diego railroad museum since he couldn't
remember it despite that we practically lived there the first 4 years of his life.

he rediscovered it as an 8 year old and finn enjoyed playing tour guide to him

as he knows the museum like the back of his hand.  

on our way out of the museum, we passed the photographic museum,

which i have been wanting to visit for years. when i inquired about pricing and learned 

kids 12 and under were free and it was only $5 for adults, i said "let's do it"...

the artist being featured was flora garduno, from mexico city. 

a young man who worked at the desk whispered that flora was actually in the gallery

so we SAW her {which made it that much more exciting for the boys}. 

after the museum, we had lunch at the cafe gratitude,
a hip cafe right in the middle of little italy in downtown san diego.
i loved the concept of the place - every menu item is titled an affirmation
(example: lettuce wraps = happiness, spinach salad = confidence}.
when one order you, you say, 'I AM....
the boys liked that but the vegan food didn't excited them.

spring break 2015: grand canyon, part 2

from phoenix, we headed north towards the grand canyon.
because i dragged my feet booking a hotel, i wasn't able to
find a hotel in the park or just outside of it.

we stayed in flagstaff instead, a small college town just an
hour south of the park.  after we checked into our hotel, we walked
around for a bit, grabbed dinner, then snuggled up in our king sized bed
and watched alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
we laughed at the ridiculous situations they all got themselves into.

later, i asked the boys to set out their clothes so we'd be prepared.
my plan was to grab breakfast in the lobby and get on the road early
so we could get to the trailhead by 8:30am.

it was then i learned my firstborn didn't pack tennis shoes. 
as he dug through his suitcase, he said "ithought I packed them".
he didn't.  all he had were flip flops. 

somehow he had forgotten them...even though he knew we were HIKING.
i got a teensy bit annoyed, but told myself this was a minor problem. 
at 7:30am the following morning, we were at a 24 hour walmart,
buying generic converse, and were out of the store in 15 minutes. *yay*

we got to the park at 9am, a little later than we had planned and
were lucky and found easy parking by the trail. oh how beautiful it was! 
it had probably been 15 years since i'd been to the grand canyon and it was
every bit as wondrous as i remember it.

the boys could hardly believe it was real.
I heard them say "wow and cool" a dozen times,
then finn reminded us all that it was carved by the
colorado river.





grand canyon: finn {11} + scout {7}

they were frozen for a few minutes,
then asked if we could start hiking. 
we found the start of the bright angel trail,
i snapped a quick photo with my phone and we were off.

it was so easy going down.  we made friends along the way,
the most memorable being a father and son from hamburg, germany.
the teenage son was studying here in the states for a semester and spoke
excellent english.  he was older {i.e. cool}, loved soccer and surfing so
the boys had lots to talk about with him.

as we hiked, I reminded the boys that coming up was much harder
and that a good rule of thumb is allow twice as long to hike back up.
after and hour a a half, scout reminded us that we should turn around. 
he was right.

we said goodbye to our german friends and hiked back up.
it really was twice as hard and twice as long, but it was a great workout too.
i love physical challenges so i wasn't complaining.

because of all the soccer scout is playing these days, he did just fine,

and though finn and i aren't quite as fit, we survived and were just

a bit sore the following day. {scout wasn't sore at all}. *grin*




 

we got on the road about 2:30pm,tired and very hungry.

we had a 3 hour drive back to phoenix...without traffic.
i was hoping we could meet up with family for dinner, but halfway there,
it was clear it wasn't going to happen.  we'd be getting in too late.

we got take-out, found a comfort inn on the side of the freeway,
and were asleep by 9/9:30pm.  we slept so well...and slept in a bit the next day.

before we headed home to san diego, we quickly met up with my sis heidi,
her husband greg and their new baby girl Anoka.  we were introduced to lux coffee,
a hip little coffee house in downtown phoenix.  it was perfect...great coffee and
great bacon.  {uncle greg was kind enough to treat us}.  i loved on Anoka a bit
and finn and greg talked about space and video games and then got on the road.

we drove back on a sunday, 4/10, which was my birthday!
i received several sweet phone calls....some went to vm but some i heard come in
and was able to chat.  those added even more fun to my day and our roadtrip.

since baking a cake wasn't in my plans for the day, finn suggested we have a treat
to celebrate.  i asked what he had in mind and he said ICE CREAM.  i loved the idea.
we stopped for a late lunch in yuma, and found a southern ca staple, in-and-out burger. 
we filled up on burgers, fries and shakes.  it was exactly was i was craving and the
boys said it was THE best shake they've ever had in their lives.

we arrived home aound 7pm, exhausted but happy.
the boys got out of the car first and then came back to the car
bouncing a bit and asking me to hurry.  for what reason, i had no idea.
then as i walked up the sidewalk to the front door, i saw this sign.

c had left us a note welcoming us home.
it was very sweet and made us all smile.

~ we saved celebrating for the following evening.
my dear friend melissa watched the boys and c
treated me to dinner at bo-beaus, a small french "restaurant tucked
away in ocean beach that i'd been wanting to visit forever.
it was delicious and i left very grateful....for the life i have
and all the people who add so much to it. 

spring break 2015: phoenix, part 1

the first week of the boys' spring break was spent at tennis camp.
the majority of the second week was spent in arizona with me. yippee!
{that's how I felt at least}.  i got them ALL to myself which is a rare treat.

a mom/son only trip wasn't what we originally planned.
mr. g was going to join us, but work is super crazy for him and will be for
another 2 weeks. when he mentioned having to take and make tons of calls
while we were driving and having to work some, i said no siree.

this trip was all about downtime.  the rule was NO working...at all.
if c needed to work, he needed to stay home to do it, and that he did.
he was bummed but I  assured he would go back. {hiking to the bottom
of the canyon and back up with the entire family is on my bucket list}

at dark o'thirty on tuesday morning, we pulled out of san diego, with the
audiobook of wonder {and others} on my phone.  scout prefers reading
over audiobooks, so while finn and i listened through earphones through a
splitter, scout had his head in the paper book he received for easter.

we stopped only once to use the restroom, get gas and eat breakfast.
we were all GLUED to the story.  it.is.phenomenal!!  we laughed and
cried together a lot together....well the boys didn't cry out loud, that was
just me.

we arrived in northern phoenix around 2pm that afternoon.
scout had finished the entire book {as i've shared before, the kid devours books}.
he announced that he loved it and that the julian chapter would be my favorite. 
finn and i still had 1/4 of the book left to listen to. i had scout promise not give
anything away. 

we stayed somewhere new this time.  i booked us at the wigwam resort.
because it was quintessential arizona, all rooms were low-slung casitas,
and the hotel had pool slides, a must for parents with boys.
scout luckily {and just barely} met the 48" height requirement to go on
the hotel waterslides. whew!

some highlights:
- sharing a huge california king bed...our 'thing' when we vacation together
- shaved ice from hannas
- sushi at a little boutique restaurant that we walked to from our hotel
- going down the waterslides {all of us}
- watching godzilla and eating popcorn in the hotel bed

i put my phone away for most of the trip....determined to soak up every minute i could
with the two little men that call me mom. it was a bit of heaven.

after some time in the desert, we headed north to the grand canyon's south rim.
{stay tuned}