spring breaking records

i will finish this blog post i started in APRIL!

we had spring break and while thomas's schedule rarely allows for any type of extended getaway, my personal view on school holidays is an activity a day. 

the first day of spring break was march 29th and we did some serious yard work. our backyard is still a wasteland of trees and dirt but we are slowly but surely making headway on my 3 year yard transformation plan. we spent a good chunk of the day in the yard getting our 2nd half of winter leaves raked up, plus all the spring storm limbs gathered and bagged. i'm pretty proud of the efforts these guys put forth. it was a LOT of dirty, tedious work and the two big kids especially pulled their weight. i think that's a hard concept to teach kids; pulling their weight. often i think we confuse things being difficult and uncomfortable with completing actual work. work is all that plus an actual change in a situation. reagan was really getting the hang of actual leaf raking after many years of practicing and scarlett is always my right hand man. herschel picked up about a million acorns and athena blythe was present. 

we had mcdonalds for lunch as a prize and i hope the novelty of mcdonalds never wears off. 

i was proudly filthy. being dirty always feels like a sense of accomplishment to me. 

on saturday, we took a day trip to greenville, south carolina and told none of our greenville friends. we just wanted a day to explore that fun little town again with no schedule or expectations.

probably one of my favorite pictures of all time ever:

sometimes i forget to give thomas the "let's not buy our just kids anything" pep talk. maybe i secretly enjoy seeing him indulge his children in their fancies. i once got a souvenir "life's a beach" mug from an overpriced shop in the mountains of colorado and i loved and cherished that mug for years until it met it's untimely demise on the kitchen floor. that hideously cheap looking chase dog is proudly displayed on herschel's bed every day. 

we recreated a photo from 2010 in this exact same spot, except i cannot find that original photo. when i do, i'll add it here.

every party needs a pooper:

finding the downtown mice was new for hersch 

this is a newer revitalized area that thomas helped do some of the legal work for:

spring break sunday with that dang chase dog at church. 

on monday we met up with friends at a local park and had a GIANT nerf dart gun war. it was so fun that i want to do it again and again. author's note: we have not done it since but perhaps when it cools down again running around at the park will hold more appeal.

the whole crew. everyone claimed they won and for that i am grateful. "i just hope they all win" sandy beck

something happened on tuesday and i cannot for the life of me remember what is was. probably because i waited 6 months to record our venture. i feel like it involved scooters? or did we see a movie at the cheap theater? i bet that was it. i seem to recall sitting in terrible traffic because atlanta happens to always have terrible traffic, especially during spring break and then taking a nap at the theater and the kids dancing to the end credits to whatever animated gibberish i had been subjected too. smallfoot rings a bell. 

wednesday we did bogan park aquatic center. an over stimulation of sounds, smells and body parts. i do not understand why parents allow their children(under 18 is children) to wear thong swimsuits. i was having an anxiety attack each time a particular youth jumped off the diving board. it was a combination of fear and pain. this youth's mother was present. my occupation as judgy mcjudgerson is safe for the time being.

this is what happens when we don't properly secure scarlett's hair for swimming. it must be braided and then tightly bunned. a swim cap is always nice too.

thursday night we went to the stone mountain laser light show for the first time and it certainly won't be our last. we all loved it. it was cheesy and corny but also delightful and stirring. there is much to know and contemplate about Georgia history.

also, pollen season was especially bad this year. this is the result of me walking from the front door to my car. 

friday night we drove over to athens for a little overnighter. athena blythe has been begging to stay at a hotel and we haven't spent really any time in athens even though we are in rather close proximity to athens. we figured a trip to her namesake city would be appropriate for athena blythe's hotel stay.

we at dinner at the hotel restaurant and then explored the downtown area. there was a late night cookie shop that fit the bill for our family's needs. 

athena blythe loved the hotel water bottles and wrote letters on the hotel stationary. i wish i could say her hotel appetite was sated but the stay only proved to fan the flame of her hospitality desire. now herschel asks to take "bacations" every weekend too.

she packed this suitcase full of junk and wrote on it in sharpie, "blythe and scarlett"

looking out the window at the athena stature.

thomas enjoyed taking the kids on a tour of all his university of Georgia memories.

this is worth a zoom in:

herschel recognized his name on the walls of the stadium.

there was a dad with his daughter in the student center. he was wearing head to toe alabama stuff and his daughter was wearing Georgia stuff. i feel like we were the same family. i shouted to him ROLL TIDE ROLL! and he shouted it right back. thomas was in the bathroom for this exchange. 

the family allegiance breakdown outside of BYU fandom goes like this:

thomas-georgia

heidi-alabama

reagan-sometimes alabama if he's in the mood but he really likes texas, iowa, oklahoma and mizzou for no good reason at all. sometimes he likes to say he doesn't like BYU just to be a defiant teenager.

scarlett- georgia

athena blythe- alabama because she has no opinion and thomas has two kids to indoctrinate and otherwise i only get a lukewarm one child who really doesn't want to go along with anything his parents like(darn you reagan if you're reading this!)

herschel- georgia, because it would be blasphemy if it was anything else. i will even buy him little 34 herschel walker jerseys because it's so cute.

the end