Spring Break Staycation

At the end of March, we had 10 days off from school for spring break. We pretty much stayed home for most of it. Originally my plans for the week included a family trip to visit my Grandpa Perkins in Spokane, but that never worked out (we will go see him this summer instead). We pretty much spent all 10 days at home. Boring? Perhaps, but we got a lot done! And although I'm a girl who likes to travel, I actually really enjoyed staying home for spring break and getting caught up on work that I'd been ignoring. 

Two of the days were devoted to spring cleaning the boys' bedrooms. Jonah and Micah's room took a lot of time: we cleaned out everything in their closet, dresser drawers, TV cabinet, and shelves. We boxed up all the clothes that no longer fit them, got out the next size of clothes that did, got rid of broken toys, made a pile of toys to be donated, and sold some toys, too. In the end, I think they threw away 5 bags of garbage, donated 2 large bags of clothes to the local thrift store, and had a much more clean and organized room. We rearranged their furniture, too, and they like having more space to play.

Jonah & Micah's newly cleaned room

Jonah & Micah's recently cleaned-out closet

Cleaning Kanyon's room was a smaller scale project than the twins' room. We went through all the clothes in his closet and drawers, again getting rid of clothes that no longer fit and putting in clothes from the hand-me-down boxes that were his size. We also went through all of his toys and got rid of a LOT: we donated some to a few preschools in town, and sold a lot as well. We cleaned out 2 bags of trash from his room, and 3 bags of clothes to donate. After selling all the toys that they no longer wanted or played with, the boys ended up with about $100 total, which I split between the three of them. It was a successful project: their rooms were cleaner, and they were richer too!!

We worked hard, but we played a lot, too! The boys spent many days playing with friends that also were here for Spring Break. On Friday the 20th, I picked up the LaMont kids in Stanley, and Jonah and Micah played all afternoon and into the evening with their friend Mason. They don't get to see him very much anymore, and really liked spending time with him.

On Monday the 23rd, the boys went swimming at a local hotel's indoor pool with the Oliverson kids, then afterwards Stacie took them to her house to play some more. The pool was kind of small, but the boys hadn't been swimming in a long time, and had fun splashing around and playing with diving tools.

That same night, we invited the Williams family over for dinner and Family Home Evening. After dinner, the kids played in the yard together, and then when it got dark, they still stayed outside and played night games. We finally made them come inside after 9 and had a lesson and dessert. That was such an enjoyable night for all of us!

The next day, we invited the Oliverson boys over to our house. They were here all day, and they played so well together. They played legos, wii, and dart guns inside. After lunch, some of the Williams' kids came over again, and they all played outside together for hours in the shop and yard. I'm so grateful to have room for kids to play, both in and out! I always dreamed of having a home where kids would want to be, and during spring break, I felt like my vision was coming true.

The 5 boys playing "lego wars" in the family room. It was a mess,
but so fun to watch them creatively interact with each other!

On Wednesday the 25th, we went to scouts that evening. Kanyon had pack meeting, and Jonah & Micah had 11-year-old scouts. The only other ones at the scout meetings were the Oliversons! Kanyon's scout leader Sister Rice had made a giant log cabin built out of cardboard boxes to have for their activity, which was so cool! After scouts were over, the boys played together in that house for a while. Then we dismantled it, and the Oliversons took it home with them.

On Thursday, I signed the 3 boys up for kids' craft night at a local boutique. They painted and made cute easter bunnies from large tin cans, and learned to make homemade chocolate candy and flavored popcorn, too. They had a good time and liked being crafty and making yummy edibles.

Throughout the week, when the boys were busy playing, I was working on my college education class "Diversity and Inclusion". Because I spent so much time on it every day, I finished it within two weeks of starting it! I would never have been able to complete it so quickly if it weren't for the boys being busy during spring break, so I was grateful they had friends to play with and that they were having a good time. Otherwise, they would've just gotten bored quickly and they would've driven me crazy!

Being off 10 days in a row without a vacation somewhere else surprisingly worked out to benefit all of us--even Josh, who had Ammon to work for him every day at the golf course since he wasn't going to school, and Ammon who got to leisurely golf almost every afternoon, too.