Spring Break: Part Deux

(involving a ridiculous number of photos)

Thursday we went to see Les Mis at my niece Megan's school. It was a girls night out and I loved it. Not just the great music, but the company as well. Connie and Megan, Tatiana, Maddie and Hillary, and me and my girls. I'm so grateful we live here, close to our family and not in some far off corner of the world.

p.s. Nicely done Bonneville.

On Friday afternoon, we went to the aquarium along with the rest of Northern Utah. What a crowd!! The parking lot was very full and we were lucky to get a spot close to the aquarium. We were happy! The woman who tried to pull into the same spot... not so happy. I was 3/4 of the way in just as she began to pull in. Nose to nose.

Sort of like this:

(bulls courtesy of The Pioneer Woman)

It was a teensy bit tense in the parking lot. I was in the spot and felt I had every right to be there. The 'lady' in the other car did not appreciate my presence and requested that I leave. This was done with raised voices and arms flailing out the window. Having never encountered anything similar, I didn't budge and just laughed. Loudly. The other driver left and from the backseat I heard Sarah say, "Tawanda!". Oh my.

(May I recommend the addition of an athletic supporter to your ensemble if you're planning to visit the aquarium on a busy day. You'll feel safer and perhaps more confident in the parking lot this way. Gird up thy loins)



Petting the stingrays is a highlight.

Little Henry, Em and Sarah peering into a coral reef display.

Love these anenomes.

Intrepid explorers paddling the Amazon.

Cousins. Yay!

Even with all of Northern Utah vying for a spot in front of the exhibits... it really was worth a visit.

(I'm happy to report, the gold bullet sustained no damage while left unattended in the parking lot. We were a bit wary of the 'lady' with a temper)

On Saturday afternoon, we drove to Provo for the BYU Ballroom Dance Team's big year end performance.

A fun tribute to Hairspray.

A great jive number.


Mmmm. Dreamy. It's hard not to like a waltz.

The team was celebrating 50 years and included a big number with nearly 200 alumni from as far back as the sixties. The team is internationally ranked and puts on quite a show. Gorgeous costumes.

(Along those lines... contrary to the costume designers on Dancing With The Stars, it is possible to perform a Latin dance while clothed)

It was a wonderful opportunity to see them perform. Definitely worth the drive down, although Rich and I have decided we're not fond of University Parkway. Oh the humanity. Even with lights and a siren you'd be hard pressed to get through that stretch in a reasonable amount of time.

That wraps up the highlights of our spring break activities this year. I think the girls were able to relax and have some fun. I sure enjoy having them home. By the end of the week we got some sunshine and the snow melted. Happy spring break!

Spring Break '10 and Word Power

The girls are out of school this week. Hooray! Its so fun to have them home with me. We won't be going on vacation till later this month. Instead, we're having a staycation. Nothing too exciting... out to lunch a few times, the aquarium on Friday and we're hoping for a cousin sleepover too. Utah weather can be temperamental in the spring, we all know this, so we didn't make any outdoor plans. We weren't thinking it would be this fickle!

This is what our neighborhood looked like Tuesday morning.

Our trees and shrubs were heavy laden with wet snow.

Even our patio furniture is tired of getting snowed on.

A pair of finches were glad we still had seed in the feeder.

On Monday, we finished the fifth and last book in the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. This has been a great read aloud series. Sarah's comment was, "This is so much better than those Twilight books" (she's read the first two) "Fablehaven beats them into the ground with a stick!" I concur. Sarah took this pic of me from across the room and in low light, hence the grain. We were getting close to the end and things were getting tense!

One of the things we like about Brandon Mull is he doesn't dumb down anything, even though these are books for young adults. In this picture, I'm trying to figure out the pronunciation of a word. Stumped? Possibly. If a word comes along that I think the girls might not be familiar with, I stop and ask them if they know what it means. Halberd? Anyone?

Here's a quote from near the end of the book:

"...they carried slender spears and swords, and gave haughty looks to the astrids"

I asked Em if she knew what 'haughty' meant.

"Umm. Does it mean that they think the astrids are hotties?"

Oh Emily. What would we do without you?

Happy spring break all!