Our Last Spring Break!

Spring Breaks around our house over the years have generally been pretty low-key affairs.   The dates  tended to sneak up on us (probably because they're different every year) and we often would start Spring Break week with zero plans. Over the course of the week, we'd usually manage a few little daytrips here and there, but historically most of our Spring Breaks have been spent pretty close to home.   I'd like to blame this lapse in planning meaningful Spring Break treks to the fact that we homeschooled and weren't as focused on school schedules as most people, but honestly it was no different before we started homeschooling as well!  

This year {the last Spring Break I'll ever have with any kids still in school}, I actually thought of it a few months beforehand and  made plans!   {Yes, I'm proud of myself for remembering this year.}  I coordinated with my sister, Kristina, and together  planned a trip to Sedona, Arizona with her.    At the time, I assumed it would just be Ellie and I joining in with the adventures, but Glen's work situation made it possible for him to join us as well. 

Here's a little glimpse at how our week went.   You should definitely be impressed about how we kept it low-stress and fun, but still had meaningful activities planned.       

  First off, I brought a big basket of kids' books and games from home, so I could read to the littles.   I read to them as often as they would let me and while we didn't play many games, we did get in a very rousing round of Cards Against Humanity (family version) that got everyone laughing!   

 Their favorite books included, "Officer Buckle and Gloria,"  "Slip the Otter," "Edward the Emu," and "The Adventures of Salt and Soap."    

Glen also bought some mini "lego" kits to do with the boys, but that ended up a bit of a fiasco.   They had teeny tiny pieces, which made the kits very tedious to put together and way too hard for the boys to help with.   And then after he had spent hours putting them together while they watched, they immediately started pulling them apart to play with them.  It was still kind of a bonding experience, but not quite as interactive as Glen had hoped.  

The boys were obsessed with Ellie and she often had three little shadows following her around.  

We also went on a couple really cool hikes....   

One was to one of the world famous "vortexes" of Sedona.   There's A LOT of hoo-woo stuff around Sedona and vortexes are one of them.   Apparently some "spiritualist" had a vision one time that there were special places where the earth's energy vortexes upward  and Sedona is full of them.   They're {mostly} unmarked, so you have to know where you're going.  We hiked to Cathedral Rock and found one up and around the corner from the marked "end of the trail".

  It was actually really cool, because it was a gorgeous vista AND people were quiet and treating it with reverence.   I didn't feel any surges of energy, but honestly it was a nice quiet place to reflect and to feel the spirit.    

I say most vortexes are unmarked, but we did find this one with a sign hanging over a random bench.  I'm pretty sure it is a joke, but it did make us laugh!   😂

Glen and I went on a 5-miler by ourselves and saw some pretty spectacular scenery along the way...

One day we took a back-country hummer ride with a tour guide who was as hoo-woo as hoo-woo gets.  We are pretty certain that of the "facts" he told us during the tour, approximately two of them had any basis in reality.  

What were some of the facts he told us?   That Washington DC wasn't part of the US and that you needed a passport to get there.   That Johnny Legend tried to live in Sedona, but was spiritually incompatible and his house burned down by the forces that be (yet somehow it's not in any news' sources).   That the earth floods every 27,000 years as a cleansing ritual.   That DC, Sedona, and Jerusalem are all on the 33rd parallel, which gives them a spiritual connection (none of the 3 cities are actually on the 33rd parallel).  Etc.   

I guess you could say that the hummer ride was fun, but the tour was a bit weird, albeit authentically Sedonan.    Any local we talked to would mention when they were "called" to come there and there are shops for aura readings, fortune telling, and crystals on every corner.     

On a more normal note, we  got ice cream a couple times...

I sent a few postcards (surprise surprise!)...

We enjoyed lots of beautiful scenery...

We visited Montezuma Castle National Monument, which was an old Indian dwelling built right into the cliffside...

And right as we were getting loaded into the cars to go home, I snapped this quick selfie which Kristina dubbed "The Miracle Photo".   Apparently it is an exceedingly rare occurrence to have a picture with every member of her family smiling and somehow I managed it in this quick selfie on the way out the door.    Just call me a miracle worker.  Haha!   

We got back home on Saturday evening, then went full-speed ahead getting ready for Easter dinner, which included shopping at very overcrowded stores and trying to figure out what we were going to make {for our dinner and for Emma's  } along the way.   Don't ask about why we were cooking Emma's dinner too....it's a long story!    In the end, we ended up smoking 5 chickens...

And a whole bunch of other food too.   Here is  a picture of our dinner....

Emma came home for approximately 30 minutes...

and her dinner looked pretty much the same as ours, except  it was at her apartment  with a bunch of her friends.  

Cami and Garrett both had to work on Easter Sunday, but it looks like Lucie and Annie had a pretty good Easter!  :)

After our dinner we stopped by my Dad's grave and found it completely obliterated.  The temporary plaque was in pieces and all the decor was crushed.   It was clear to see that they'd plowed through it to access a new gravesite, but it was very shocking to see and we {especially my mom} were pretty upset by it.   We've already contacted the cemetery and they are going to replace the plaque.   And the mayor of Alpine hand delivered some flowers to my Mom to apologize, so that was nice. 

  

This picture has nothing to do with Easter or Spring Break, but here's a cute shot of Lucie toting around the little backpack we got her in Portugal.  😍

So that's it.      It took be 25ish years or so to figure it out how to plan a Spring Break-- just in time for my last kid to graduate and for Spring Break to be a complete nonissue in my life evermore.   Oh well. It was fun while it lasted!   :)