Spring Break 2016

You know what is absolutely awful about spending Spring Break in a place that is warm and sandy and full of sunshine and baseball?  You lull yourself into thinking that it is actually summer and then suddenly the week is over and BOOM! you have three months of school left, totally depressing. But, we are back in full swing and dealing just fine. We are resilient like that.  We spent spring break down in Jacksonville with my dad and I packed as much into those 5 days as I possibly could.  First, on the itinerary was beachin'. We went twice and it never gets old.

This is Ponte Vedra beach, where seashells and hammerhead sharks abound!

Second stop on the Spring Break express, St. Augustine, America's first Spanish settlement.  St. Augustine was settled by Ponce de Leon, so, no trip to the city is complete without a big drink from the fountain of youth. I am happy to report that my children are officially never growing up. We also spent time at the old fort and admiring the lovely ancient live oak trees drenched in Spanish moss.

One of our favorite stops was a Popsicle treat at the famous HYPPO. These flavors are super unique. I enjoyed a pineapple basil Popsicle, while Atley had a honeydew basil treat and Harley and Nash had strawberry cilantro.  Not for everyone but certainly worth a taste.

We caught a Washington Nationals spring training game in Port St. Lucie.  We had front row seats and even got a couple balls. The boys were in heaven being so close their heroes.

Not able to bear the thought of our vacation ending we spent the night in Charleston, SC on the way home. Charleston has always been one of my favorite cities and the weather was beautiful and the food fantastic. We explored market square and  took the kids on a Ghost Tour, where we heard stories about Black Beard the pirate and much more. Both Harley and Nash ended up in our bed for a couple of nights.

Civil War Trail

Atley has been studying Civil War History in school.  He considers himself an expert on the subject and after hearing him spout off all he knew while we explored Bull Run Battlefield I think he is right.  On the way there he explained to us that many Civil War Battles had two names for example the battle of Bull Run is also called the Battle of Manassas or the battle of Sharpsburg is also called the battle of Antietam. He explained that the south usually named the battle after the nearest town while the north named the battle after the closest body of water.  

Bull Run was one of the first real battles of the Civil War, taking place July 21, 1861.  People from both sides assumed this would be the only real skirmish of the war and actually packed picnics to observe from the surrounding hillsides.  The Confederates won the first battle of Bull Run and it was there that Thomas Jackson earned the nickname Stonewall when he was observed staying perfectly still and stoic as volley landed all around him.  The second battle of Bull Run took place a year later. It was even more bloody than the first, almost 30,000 soldiers lost their lives.

As you can observe the cannons were especially exciting to the kids.  We have had the chance to visit many Civil War battle sites and each one is special.  It may sound a little corny but there is a sacred feeling you get when you visit and read about the places and the battles that shaped the future of our country.

After we finished the boys wanted to eat Civil War food, hardtack to be specific.  Apparently, Chick-Fil-A would not suffice. I took them to Cracker Barrel. They were in awe and totally convinced that we had gone back in time and were eating just like they did in the 1860's.

Spring Fever

Friday was 80 degrees. It might as well have been 100, because the boys raced home from the bus stop and immediately stripped off their school clothes and put on their swimming suits with their little sister in tow. It felt like the last day of school, they were so excited.  They hooked up the hose and soaked themselves in water that is still very cold from the winter.  When the water got too cold to bear they retreated to our sand box which has not been opened for months. It was full of the remains of melted snow and old sand.  Of course none of that stopped them from taking a "mud bath."  The mud bath required us to shower them in the cold water once again before allowing them in the house.  I must admit hosing them down was pretty enjoyable.

Spring Break

Before school let out for Spring Break a few weeks ago, Atley was given an assignment to write about what he was going to do over the holiday. Many of his classmates were going on elaborate vacations to Europe, Hawaii, Thailand, and of course Disney World.  I am assuming Atley must have felt that our plans were not quite up to par so this is what he wrote:

This Spring Break I am going to skydive out of  an airplane into the eye wall of a category 5 hurricane. If I survive, I am then heading to the sun on a super sonic jet.  From there I am going to make it rain a million dollars.  That brings us to Tuesday when I am going to drive a Corvette to Alaska non-stop, where I am planning on digging a tunnel to the center of the earth.  Finally, on Saturday I am planning a picnic on Saturn.

Ha! Take that you little second grade snobs!!!

While, his spring break wasn't nearly as exciting as he had hoped, I think we had a great STAYcation right here at home.

We went and saw Mirror, Mirror at the movie theatre, where all three consumed their weight in popcorn.

We went out for ice cream and played in the fountain at Fairfax Corner!

We visited Butler's Bunnyland and played on the farm!

We had a playdate with our friends and the mom's made hair bows/hats for the girls to wear on Easter.  I didn't get a great picture of her hat but HERE is a tutorial on how we made it!

We dressed up ALOT!!

We went to Olive Garden to celebrate reaching our latest Scripture Reading goal-Jacob!  Some of us were more happy to be there than others.

We captured the first critter of the season-a snail. He is currently lost somewhere in our house!

We dyed Easter eggs.

And of course the Easter Bunny made a special trip to our house.

So, it wasn't a picnic on Saturn or even a trip to Thailand, but we made lots of great memories!