(Post) Spring Break Post

Contrary to Mother Nature's MIA status during Spring Break last week, we managed to have some fun days of being creative and finding joy in some expected and unexpected places.  From a morning at the Youth Pavilion and lunch at Newton's, to a homemade pirate mast taped to a clothes basket, and an unexpected adventure at the new Menards, we did our very best to make the most of our little week at home.  And now that we're back to work and the temperatures are finally climbing their way out of the thirties, I have a feeling we're on the upswing and finally making our way out of winter.  March was a dreary one, but I'm hopeful that April will bring us spring.  

Happy things...

Trader Joe's cinnamon rolls.  Seriously, these come in a can but taste like Martha Stewart made them from scratch.  Holy yum.  Beau took Friday off, which means we had a big breakfast.  Bacon and rolls and fried eggs and smoked ham from the Big Green Egg.  

   

The Youth Pavilion.  $3 for the entire family for three hours of ample entertainment for our little explorer.  He was scared to death of the cow, but could have spent hours playing in the fruit stand or building things by the light-up table.  

After lunch at Newton's, we found fun in our living room with a clothes basket and a cardboard pirate flag assembled during nap time.  Dad had it done before Cruz woke up and Cruz's face looked like Christmas morning when he walked in the living room.  

Cruz has developed an infatuation with all things pirate.  He gets so excited when Jake and the Neverland Pirates comes on TV, and is working on picking up a second language in pirate.  His 'yargh' is pretty deep and he's often caught stealing some gold doubloons out of our change jar!

Cruz's cape was a Christmas present I ordered for him from Etsy shop, PipandBean.  I can't say enough about the quality of these capes.  You can personalize them in so many colors and designs, and they come long enough to grow with the little super people for many years.  Cruz was a little leery of his at first, but when we presented it as a very important element of his pirate costume, he couldn't resist.

We sailed the seven seas, caught fish, and competed in sword duels.  It amazes me to watch his little imagination at work, especially when we take the time to create new worlds to explore with him.  He's full of ideas and very good at pretend, something I hope he doesn't lose as he gets older and is introduced to a world of video games and computer programs!
  

Did I mention that my husband has a slight infatuation with pirates, too?!  If you know him even a little, there's a good chance you've heard his pirate steering wheel joke ;).
 

We finally caved for dinner and decided to grill some burgers outside.  We toasted our hamburger buns and toasted a couple of summer shandys to a long-awaited, much-anticipated spring.  

  
After dinner, we again grew bored at home and wanted something fun to do to kill an hour or two before bedtime.  So, we did what any young family of toddler-aged children would do when looking for free entertainment on a Friday night.  We went to Menards.  

I should point out that this was not just any Menards, but a brand new one built less than a mile from our house.  And if we thought Cruz had a good time that morning at the Youth Pavilion, we could have saved our money and spent the day in this place!  We played kitchen in the kitchen displays, pretended to mow the lawn on the riding mowers, and took turns trying out about every piece of patio furniture in the store.  Cruz giggled uncontrollably when I initiated a game of hide-and-seek in the model door collection, and I believe Cruz opened up every fridge in the store and replied with a funny, 'No snacks here' remark every single time.  It just goes to show, you give a kid a toy, they'll spend way more time playing with the box.  

Another Spring Break in the books and there are fifties in the forecast for the end of the week!  Here's to hoping the littles aren't hunting their eggs in the snow after all!