Almost fall break

Last week was the last week of school before the kid's started fall break.  In some ways the last 10 weeks went by very quickly and in other ways, thank goodness we finally made it to vacation.

Elliott and I made muffins on Monday.  That sound like the title of a children't book I should definitely write.

Ginger was disturbed by our baking. 

Spencer wanted nothing to do with us and played outside in the actually decent weather. 

The finished product. 

Tuesday was the Cardinal's training camp at Spencer's school. 

I was at work, but Michael was home with Elliott so they went over there to take some pictures. 

In the mean time I was photographing my shirt in my office to put on Instagram.  I had an unexpected break in my day because both kids in that group were absent. 

Wednesday was Nerd Day for Spencer.  He doesn't get as enthusiastic about dressing up for spirit week as he once did. 

Elliott and I took a major trip to Target after school that day and since I was already spending $5 million dollars on other stuff I agreed to let him get this spooky phone that he has wanted since last year.  

Spencer took these pictures. 

On Thursday we went to Cookie with a Cop and got to try on some gear. 

And Ginger was once again disturbed by us making noise during a nap. 

On Friday I did some major organization for upcoming events.

A birthday present for one of Elliott's friends. 

A baby shower present for Monica. 

Two pairs of jammies!

And a wedding gift for Daniel and Katie.  The wedding will be a bunch of upcoming posts since we're going to Arkansas for it 

I cut the end off this watermelon while making dinner on Friday and when I cut into it the whole thing split open and released a bunch of pressurized watermelon mist.  It was insane. It actually made a cracking noise and happened freakishly slowly. 

Elliott had the perfect fine motor activity to keep him occupied. 

Up next: a double party day.

A quick trip to California

My BFF Megan moved from Colorado to California in August.  Now, instead of a 14 hour drive to go see her, it's a 4 hour drive. 

Spencer is taking religious education classes on Sunday mornings from now until April and obviously has to be at home to attend them, so last Friday (the 23rd) just Elliott and I loaded up for a road trip. 

I wanted to be on the road at 10:00 am, so of course we left at 11:00 am.

We stopped in Quartzsite for lunch.

Once we got to Megan's she added a car seat to her mini van so we could all drive together all weekend. 

Our first stop was at Target because I forgot to bring Elliott's thoughtfully packed bag at home.  I had to buy him clothes, a swim suit, toothbrush and toothpaste.  Megan generously bought him some jammies. 

Then we went to dinner.

We had to wait for a bit and this fountain made a nice resting spot. 

A harp at a Mexican restaurant? (Megan's mom is a professional harp player so we had to take a picture).

Silly kids being silly.

On Saturday morning we went to breakfast at a French cafe.  Hadley wore her beret. 

Then we spent the rest of the day at a Children's museum.

Another harp!

Hadley and Elliott were best buddies all weekend. 

They had so much fun playing grocery store.

And even more fun making pizzas.

The Clifford room was a very big hit.

After the museum Megan had a surprise treat for me.  She's apparently been planning this since right after they moved. A place that serves Dole Whips! And what's funny is that nobody got a Dole Whip.  I did have a little dish of pineapple soft serve though. 

We left the kids at home with Scott after our treat time and then went to Trader Joe's.  I also got to go in an Aldi for the first time ever. We don't have them in Arizona. 

That night Megan's uncle and his girlfriend came over for dinner. The kids went back and forth between being anti-social and social. 

And we had a lovely shared dessert compliments of the French Cafe from breakfast. 

The night ended in the hot tub, as all good nights should. 

On Sunday we went out to breakfast at a place that was in an outdoor mall.  We walked around after and did some window shopping. 

And ended up in the hot tub once again after we got home. 

Megan is Elliott's godmother so we had to get an official shot before we left. 

And then in the blink of an eye we had sad faces because we had to drive back home. 

But we put on some smiles because it had been a great weekend. 

Elliott took some lovely desert scenery pictures on the way home.  Pretty impressive from a moving car. 

As we left Arizona to drive to California on Friday I told Elliott we would drive on the 303 on our way back into the valley.  He's been on the 101 and the 202 a million times in his life but never the 303 because it's too far away and we have no reason to drive on it.  Because we never drive on it he's obsessed with driving on it, so I took a five minute detour to make him happy. 

I promise I had my eyes on the road and I took this picture.  I took it without even turning around. 

And then we were home and sad about not being on vacation anymore.