Petersons Never Give Up: Spring Break

We decided to go visit Papa and Mimi in New Mexico for Spring Break. We tell ourselves often that flying is the way to go, but then we look at prices between Salt Lake and Albuquerque and decide the drive is the way to go. 4 plane tickets in no joke you guys! We woke up early and were out the door by 5:30. Lizzie went back to sleep, but Brett and Alana were too excited! Alana napped on and off throughout the day but poor Brettster never fell back to sleep. We stopped at a nice gas station about 11 and picked up some lunch foods. Brett and Alana picked out some lunchables and Sean had to document their very first time consuming a childhood favorite!

At the same gas station they picked out a little treat and game combo thing. Alana's was a cute little crank airplane with a push pop inside, she was thrilled, but I guess the methodical licking put her right to sleep =) Brett picked a little game where you use a lever to try and toss a piece of candy into a little guys mouth like the game Cut the Rope. Best $1.50 we spent on our trip!

Lizzie was a trooper in the car. Poor girl was so confused what we were doing! She is by far the best sleeper ever! She always gives us big grins when she sees her bed and bear and snuggles right in. Unfortunately this doesn't translate to the car. She only slept for about 45 minutes from 7 AM to 6 PM, poor dear was a wreck! She did love playing with Alana's Violet, lots of toys, snacks, and some IPad movies. Her favorites were when she got to play with my phone and when she got to play with Sean's Fitbit watch.

We were so excited to get to Papa and Mimi's. Brett immediately recruited Mimi for a checkers game.

Alana found Bucky the wonder horse to ride around.

And Lizzie enjoyed crawling around at high speeds to ease her cooped up muscles.

On Friday morning, we relaxed a lot. I slept in and Sean made the kids breakfast. I woke up about 8:30 and I had to wake up Lizzie at 9:30 since she was catching up on sleep. We played outside, played with toys, played Nintendo, and visited.

Papa and Mimi have a really nice new swing in front of their house. I really want to have something like this when we get a house someday, a place to sit and visit and just be outside.

Brett's front bottom tooth has been loose for a long time but was getting loser and loser. I even brought our tooth fairy pillow in case he lost it on the trip. He would try to eat his apple on the side of his mouth so he wouldn't hurt his tooth. He has been so funny lately, he came down to breakfast the other morning and said "My tooth is getting old, its growing a beard!"

Alana and Papa were best best best friends on this trip. They made up a game called squeeze the fruit where papa would pretend to drive to the store and pick up a fruit (Alana) then he would bring her home and squeeze all her juice out so he could eat her =) Brett joined in the fun too.

Here's Papa squeezing the fruit. I loved seeing Alana form this special fun relationship with her Papa! He gave her so much individual attending and she felt so special and loved by him, it was so wonderful!

Later Friday afternoon we went to the new Nature Center in Los Alamos. This was an awesome place. Tons of toys and different exhibits, if we lived there we would go every week! Plus its all free!

Bretts favorite thing was this microscope that showed the objects really big on a tv screen.

Lizzie thought the ant farm was cool.

Alana loved the telescope and the fish tanks.

We went on a hike and definitely let Brett direct us at first (we didn't stay on the path) Luckily, Mimi had downloaded the map and we were able to find our way back.

Love this picture of the slow pokes as Alana called her and Papa

Lizzie loved the hiking backpack

After the hike we went to a store called CB Fox. Its an old department store in Los Alamos and it is awesome, I'm kinda mad I've been part of this family for 8 years and no one has ever taken me there! Brett has been very interested in cardinal directions lately and so we found him a nice compass. Alana picked out a fun lion stuffed animal. Lizzie got a cool new rattle and I got a Los Alamos shirt. It was fun to shop and not worry as much about finances (thank you salary!) When we got home from our adventures, Brett and Sean played Bubble Bobble on the NES and Alana brushed her new lion Rock's hair.

Somehow Alana ended up in bed with Papa watching Zootopia

We had some delicious spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. Mimi made the meatballs with a meatloaf seasoning packet and it was really really yummy! Alana especially approved!

On Saturday, we went to Santa Fe to visit Old Town. I sing a song to the kids often called Spiders Web that I learned at Oakcrest girls camp. The words say: "Its a web like a spiders web made of silver light and shadow, spun by the moon in my room at night. Its a web made to catch a dream, hold it fast till I awaken as if to tell me my dream is of you." I told them about dream catchers because of the song so we wanted to find some in Old Town. We found them, Sean found a shirt, and we also found a sleeping bear. Then we went to a restaurant to get some lunch but the wait was 45 min so we went to Weck's and downed 3 cinnamon rolls right away instead =)

The afternoon, Lizzie, Alana, and I took naps while Sean and Brett watched Narnia. Then we went on a walk to Chamisa Elementary to play on the playground. Brett did a killer job on the Monkey bars, Alana was so brave at climbing and going down the big slide, and Lizzie had a great time playing in the wood chips.

We watched Fantastic Beast and Where to Find them that night after the kids went to bed and oh my giddy goodness, it was awesome!! Like I really loved it! On Sunday we had 9 AM church so Lizzie was pretty conked out by the time we got home. She missed lunch so I heated her up some peas after her nap. She usually likes peas and actually ate a bunch tonight, but these ones were apparently disgusting =) We mostly played and lounged about on Sunday afternoon. We spent a lot of time chatting with Mom and Dad too!

We left at 5:15 on Monday morning, Mimi came with us so she could spend a week up here looking around for what kinds of houses would be good for them when they move here hopefully in a few months. All 3 kids fell asleep in the morning before it got light. They all did a great job on the drive again, perhaps Lizzie struggled a bit more, but was still so cute no one could blame her!

Mimi was planning to stay at Neil and Rebecca's house so we were planning to go straight to Vineyard. Rebecca had also invited us for dinner which was so nice to not have to figure out. Of course Brett and Alana were giddy to play with their cousins! It ended up being a perfect plan because there was a 5 car crash on i 15 and they closed the interstate for like 5 hours or something crazy like that. We stayed till around 7 then headed home. Right as we were about to leave Alana asked if she could try on this princess dress, I of course said YES! She looked very pretty, even when she stuck her tongue out =)

On Tuesday we did lots of laundry and cleaning and putting things away. My mom came out to visit us which was so fun! We decorated for Easter and had a family home evening on Choosing the Right. I came down the stairs to see Lizzie climbing on the ladder, she sure keeps me on my toes.

On Wednesday morning I took so photos for Sean's cousin, then we went to see 2 houses with Mimi. I felt bad I wasn't more involved and helpful in all the house hunting, but I was so grateful Rebecca was able to help and is so knowledgable about it because lugging my 3 darlings around is sometimes a crazy experience! It seems like Mom P got a really good feel for the types of areas she likes and the price range she should be looking in to get what she'd like. =)

I went to a Lularoe party on Wednesday night and ended up coming home with this dress. I actually really like it. I have been skeptical about this clothing line because its a little pricey and I like to try things on before I buy, but I really liked their selection. I inherited a Lularoe skirt from my grandma and love it, so I was a little less skeptical going into this party =) It was also really nice to be changing clothes with other moms and having us all say the same things about being self conscious about our stomachs, its nice to realize most normal women feel the same way about their bodies.

On Thursday morning the kids needed baths. Alana requested a haircut, blowdry, and curl. I mostly move the scissors around her head because I like her hair the length it is =)

We met Rebecca, Lexi and Mimi at the museum of curiosity and had a great time. It was really crowded though and Brett especially got anxious. He gets so grumpy and throws fits, then we got some lunch at the cafe there before we left and all three kids were melting down in line. Then Alana threw the hugest fit because she didn't want to share her macaroni with Lizzie. It was intense and left me feeling drained and frustrated! Oh well! We left after lunch and took Mimi with us. We drove up to the Church history library to pick up a few boxes that they scanned of Mer and Daddy Guys mission stuff.

We spent the afternoon playing with neighbor friends and making rolls and soup for dinner. By the time Sean got home, Brett tooth was practically hanging out of his mouth. Sean pulled up a chair and pulled it out! Brett was really excited and we all had fun looking at his little tooth. We put it in the pillow and he left it on his shelf when he went to sleep. When he woke up this morning there was a gold dollar and 4 quarters in the pillow and no tooth =)

Today was General Conference. We played our game with the words to listen for and different treats. Kaden and Lexi joined in this afternoon and the "Church" jelly beans were a hit with the statistical reports being read =)

Lexi and Alana had a great time playing with the playdough and Kaden and Brett played with stuffed animals and race cars. The adults all enjoyed conference and lots of queso dip =)