Spring Break

When we were planning Spring Break originally, Nick wasn’t taking time off. I’d thought about going to see my parents or staying here…and then at the weekend we had a Teen Regional Weekend for church. Plans changed.

Nick looked at the schedule and realized this was a great time to a) do our family vacation (a mini one this year due to other travel going on later in the year) and b) to go see the Magna Carta (on display in Houston). So we added that to the schedule.

Meanwhile I realized that my much postponed visit to see my bff needed to happen during that week, too.

So our break became one long car ride with interruptions here and there.

We started off our break with a Holcomb Family Dinner at Nick’s parents house.

Adults all talking about "boring stuff" (according to the kids) — Adults all talking about “boring stuff” (according to the kids)

Saturday, this happened:

There's free time! We should Bedazzle something! What do we Bedazzle? Our Phineas & Ferb shirt! — There’s free time! We should Bedazzle something! What do we Bedazzle? Our Phineas & Ferb shirt!

Then on Sunday we started the first leg of our journey… to College Station, where I spent a lot of time sitting around while the kids went exciting places, like the ice skating rink.

Ben & Greg start off pretty close to the wall.

Now Ben's got it going on. — Now Ben’s got it going on.

I did break free and run off with Steph for a while to do some catching up and shopping. My favorite thing we saw:

While I was gone:

Then on Tuesday we drove down to Houston to tour the Houston Museum of Natural Science and to see the 1217 copy of the Magna Carta.

At the Magna Carta exhibit, there were many good things for the kids to do hands on.

The chained books made the kids excited: "It's just like your Library screensaver!" — The chained books made the kids excited: “It’s just like your Library screensaver!”

The Writ of the Magna Carta (the instructions that travel with it)

The parts of this chair that look like wood are actually carved and polished stone.

Mineral that formed in the shape of a dragon

We had lunch nearby at a place that only did sliders and sides.

These chili fries taste weird. Yeah, that's cause they taste like curry! — These chili fries taste weird. Yeah, that’s cause they taste like curry!

On Wednesday, we drove back to Tyler, dropped Nick off, then the kids and I drove to Quitman to visit the cousins at the park near their new house.

Sitting on the cute front porch of the historical building.

That's a really tall slide! — That’s a really tall slide!

On Thursday, we did a bunch of laundry, repacked, and headed up to Colleyville to see Kay. Unfortunately, she was unexpectedly still in Houston. We spent several hours trying to amuse ourselves on our own before she made it back.

On Kay's trampoline — On Kay’s trampoline

Then the girls had to go to gymnastics class (and yes, at this point we were wondering why we were even invited up, and by the end of the visit there was unpleasantness), so we took the kids to the park.

The sleeping arrangements were weird because the bed was broken. — The sleeping arrangements were weird because the bed we were supposed to sleep in was broken.

The next morning we had a muffin cook-off.

Our plan for the rest of the day involved the ginormous amount of books to go through and then take to sell at Half Price Books.

These are the books I'm taking home. There were about 20 other bags & boxes that I didn't take home, but did dig through. — These are the books I took home. There were about 20 other bags & boxes that I didn’t take home, but did dig through.

After Half Price, we went to Cost-co to celebrate Pi day the cheap way.

Then we went back to the house for movies and a frantic search for my debit card.

Sometimes it's easier to take photos of kids when they are facing the other way. — Sometimes it’s easier to take photos of kids when they are facing the other way.

In the evening before bed we had one final bit of happy Pi-ness:

Saturday we got up and drove over to McKinney for the Dallas UCG Regional Teen Weekend.

We had church and a Bible study earlier in the day, then in the evening there were separate dinners for the pre-teens/families and for the teens. After dinner, the teens had a dance and the pre-teens/families were left on their own for entertainment.