Spring Break 2023

We started off spring break with Erica's treat night Friday night. Most of us choose a movie, games are a close second but she was clever and chose origami. We found a couple of tutorials on youtube (there are like a million of them) that weren't too long or complicated. 

Some of us were more patient than others but I think we all liked the challenge.All boats need names, even paper ones.The rabbit on the side was named Bunster to match. Then we took them up to the bathroom to see how they sailed. The kids had fun blowing them around for 2 minutes until they absorbed water and sank.

And here's a random picture of Sarah that someone took.

Saturday morning was general conference and waffles with friends. We had both Silvey families over plus the Olsens, total of like 21 people and 100 waffles. Seriously so many waffles made by Justin and Henry. I didn't take any pictures which is too bad because the kids are so funny together. Seems like everyone has a buddy.

It was also April Fool's day. I was too preoccupied with planning breakfast, conference things, and our trip that I didn't play any pranks and James was very disappointed.

Until he saw this.

We didn't know who did it until Erica couldn't handle the suspense anymore and delightedly fessed up.

It cracks me up and I haven't removed any of the eyes and it's a little sad to throw containers away or wash them and say goodbye to the eyes.

The rest of the day was full of conference, bike riding and a little packing for our trip the next day.

Sunday between sessions we left for Kanab. We had only been to Kanab while driving home from the Grand Canyon 3 years ago and Justin went down for a short work trip last fall but we have never stayed there and explored. We booked an airbnb back in January hoping that the weather would be nice and spring like or at least warmer than home. It was warmer than home but not by much. We did miss out on the 8 inches of snow Mapleton got.

The highlight of the trip for the boys at least was the pump track. We stayed for like an hour the first time and they would not stop asking to go back the rest of the trip.

We had done a dirt pump track in Idaho last summer that they loved and the asphalt track was pretty fun too.

Justin tried it out as well. Then he tried to impress us all and totally turfed it. It was pretty funny and slow and he laughed too so I don't feel bad laughing. But I do feel bad after seeing the bruises on his leg.

Erica and Sarah tried it too but I don't have any pictures of them. I've come to learn that there are a few dirt pump tracks in the north end of the county so we may have to try those out.

The weather was clear and beautiful on Monday so we tried a bike trail. It would have been perfect for us since it wasn't difficult and was pretty flat. Unfortunately the trail looked like a herd of cows came through when it was muddy. So bumpy and slow going. Henry whined for the first half and walked his bike then once he was in a better mood James decided he had enough and started walking his bike too.

The wind started picking up and we knew it wasn't going to let up for the rest of the day so we called it.

We went for a drive since that seemed like a good thing to do on a windy day. We went up Johnson Canyon. I had found some info for a self guided tour online that explained what to look for at certain points on the road. This is Lion Rock or lion something or other. We discussed where the lion was but did not come to a consensus.

The kids were getting a little obnoxious so we stuck them in the bed of the truck. I've always wanted a limo window in the car and this was the closest thing.

This is what's left of the set of the tv show "Gunsmoke." Never seen the show. I learned that Kanab is quite the location for western cinema and tv shows.

These mountains are pretty. In a sea of red rock, it's nice to see some white rocks one in awhile.

We got out at a couple of places to explore a bit. 

I didn't last too long in the wind and cold and I can't handle watching my kids hop and jump around dangerous terrain but it was still a cool place to explore.

And then we went for some Chinese food in town. The kids scarfed it down and we had to order another dish.  We drove to a reservoir that we decided we wanted to see on a calmer day, picked up some ice cream at the store and went back to the house for games and made dinner later.

Tuesday was cold but not stormy. We went to a visitor's center in the morning while we waited for it to warm up a bit. 

Could you imagine digging around and finding pieces of a bowl like this? And then putting it all together? Ultimate puzzle.

We went to trailhead near the pump track that promised to not be difficult and have some amazing views. It also said it was a bike trail but the sign was wrong. Justin started out on his bike but when we came to boulders, he then had to turn around and we waited for him to return his bike to the truck and catch up to us. Good thing we bundled up and the sun was out.

I'll admit I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to mountain biking but how could this be a bike trail?

This was actually my favorite part of the hike. I love scrambling over boulders. 

This was maybe like a fourth of the way up and about where we turned back. It was so cold!

We hiked back down and then let the boys ride their bikes at the pump track again. Then we went back to the house for lunch and tv and games. 

That evening we went out to dinner at Houston's. I picked it because it had good reviews and I like a cowboy themed restaurant. There was a bit of a wait so we went next door to a giftshop where I told the kids not to ask me to buy them anything (Justin ended up buying them stickers for their waterbottles). I did find this carved bison like the one I have from my Aunt Ilona. It wasn't as big or as finely carved but I liked it.

How many photos do we have of Henry and a burger?

The food was pretty good, not awesome but good. The kids all loved theirs. James went on and on how good the fries were while he was eating them. "These fries are so good!" I didn't know he liked fries that much. In true James style, he barely touched his mac 'n cheese but devoured dessert.

Wednesday we visited the sand caves. These are manmade caves made for mining salt back in the day.

The pattern of the rock is pretty impressive. Most of the walls are all marked up with classy people scratching their initials.

Next to that is the road to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. This wasn't as cool as Erica and I hoped it would be. We saw a couple of guinea pigs and some horses. If you want to see more you have to sign up for a guided tour to some of their many buildings housing 1600 animals. More than half are cats. Once I heard that I knew it wasn't going to be that fun. I thought it would be more like a wildlife safari or at least a petstore. 

Sarah and Henry did spot an Alaska plate. I think they found 20 states on this trip.

We did see the largest pet cemetery I have ever seen. Well, it was also the only pet cemetery I have ever seen. It was unnecessarily large. Actually it was just unnecessary. I came to the conclusion I don't care much for animals. Luckily we didn't spend any money and got a bathroom break out of it all. The road through the sanctuary loops around back to the main road and was pretty scenic aside from the pet graves.

We went back to Kanab to eat lunch at Escobar's Mexican restaurant and then went to the reservoir. There they have a bar park. What's a bar park, you ask. A park of bars, of course. For doing stuff like this.

And this.

And this.

And this.

It was about here we discovered Sarah's bike had lost it's rear axle and Justin's axle had nearly fallen off. We think too many bumpy roads. So much for a family bike ride around the reservoir. While they worked on their bikes I took the 3 other kids. The little and I turned back about a third of the way because they were tired. Henry continued on and then when I got back Sarah rode my bike on the trail in the opposite direction to meet Henry coming our way.

From there we were pretty close to the state line. And by close I mean just over a mile. If there's anything my kids like it's crossing into other states. We stopped at the Arizona sign...

Then got back in the truck, did a U-turn and stopped at the Utah sign.

And then did the two-places-at-once thing and the hop-back-and-forth thing. Utah, Arizona, Utah, Arizona. That's assuming we were looking at the correct markers.

And then it was time for The Belly of the Dragon. Dun dun dun!

This is a tunnel under the highway made to divert water but I don't know if it's still used for that. We didn't see any water.

It's just long enough that you can't see the light from the other end when you start walking through it so it's a little scary. But then you see the light after several feet in. I still had to turn my flashlight on so I could see where I was stepping.

This what it looks like going in the other side. The trail continued on for a bit but it was all sand and walking in sand isn't all that fun.

I think this was my favorite feature of the trip.

We stopped for ice cream at the Brown Box to round out a fun day.

And those are the last photos I took in Kanab. We were too full to eat dinner that night. We packed up and left the next morning. We stopped in Monroe to visit our friend Ben. He and his wife bought a miniature golf course and are fixing it up to reopen later this month. They kindly let our kids try out some of the holes not under repairs.

Justin and I hope to go back down this summer once their cabins are completed as well. We got home that evening with plenty of time to unpack and warm up the house before bed.

And out like a lion. Seriously?

We woke up to snow again. It's going to snow tomorrow. So much for going out like a lamb, March.

Last week I went to the tail end of the littles' gymnastics class to see just what they've been doing every Monday the last few weeks. 

Erica has perfected a headstand and James says he has new skills to try out on the trampoline. They are sad their class is over and both want to sign up somewhere else but we'll see.

There was this one day where there was no snow on the lawn or in the trees so I went out to prune the fruit trees. In the between the trees was what I first thought was trash then I saw it was an unopened package. It was an unopened package for us! It took a minute for my brain to catch up but I realized it was James's missing wool socks Justin ordered. He ordered wool socks for all of us on Black Friday but didn't notice that James's was missing until 11pm Christmas Eve. We looked all through our closet and bedroom and I even checked the flower beds but couldn't find them. I guess I needed to walk around the house to the back. Did they blow in the wind all the way back there? Anyway, the socks were soggy but fine. I dried them out on the heat vent and Justin gave them to James the next day. James was super excited because he loves wool socks.

I love when my Tetris skills have real world application.

This is the only photo I took on St Patrick's Day. I mostly forgot it was a holiday and my kids don't really care. James's class got some chocolate coins from a Jewish leprechaun, apparently. "Mom, what does this say?" Uh that's a dreidel and the other side is a menorah. (Are they leftover Hannukah coins?)

On the 18th we took Henry to the temple to do baptisms for the dead for the first time. In true Henry fashion he was a grump and a pill about going. He always acts like this when there's something new to do so I addressed what I thought were his fears of the unknown instead of getting after him for his bad attitude. I just kept saying things like, we stay together the whole time, everyone is really nice, you don't have to know what to do or say anything, etc. As we walked out he said he wanted to come back the next day.

 

It was nice to have Sarah there who is an old pro at it all.

Fun fact: It was freezing outside and there is a large wedding party to the right of us taking group pictures. They looked cold.

I made this appointment in January so we'll see when we get another chance.

There was that other day this month that it wasn't snowy so Sarah and James put up the trampoline. My kids were loving it. It is like 38 degrees here but they didn't care.

If they stopped jumping they'd get a little cold. 

Here's what it looks like today. I told Sarah she could set it up if she cleared off the snow asap each time so we know what she's doing after school today.

Due to our family NCAA bracket challenge, James has a sudden interest in basketball which is great since Henry and Justin love it. But Henry won't share any of his many basketballs so I took James to the store after school on Monday so he could pick out his own. He zeroed in on this black one (I think because Henry doesn't have a black one). Justin and I lowered the hoop out in the driveway so he is all about it.

Me: James stop bouncing the ball in the house.

James (while pointing to the print on his ball): It says indoor/outdoor.

He got me there.

I see the irony in our yearly tradition of painting easter eggs with the last name Dye. I just like painting wood eggs better because we get to keep them year after year.

It's only slightly less messy but no one fights over the green dye like my siblings and I did.

Here are this year's eggs.

Our eggs and baskets are all the Easter decorations we have.

I took this picture of us reading the Book of Mormon yesterday after dinner and the more I look at it the more awkward it is. The boys are sitting on the floor because they decided to eat one more slice of pizza and I wouldn't let them on the rug or couch. I don't know why Erica is on the floor though. But I just really liked how ordinary the moment was and how regular it is too. I hope when they are all big and leave home it will feel weird not to read the Book of Mormon everyday.

So that's a wrap for March. We have general conference this weekend and we are driving to Kanab for a few days of spring break. It's only going to be a few degrees warmer there than here which is a bummer but I think just going somewhere will feel nice. And then of course Easter is the following Sunday which is my favorite holiday.