Our Spring Break Week

Robert's spring break is a few weeks before the kids' spring break. Unfortunately, this means that the kids and I often venture off on our own during their week off.

So, last week we went to AR and MO to visit some of my family and go to the LDS Kansas City Temple open house. The temple is only a few miles from my parents and we were so excited to see that the open house would be during our spring break!
It was a long drive, but the children did great and I made it driving straight through.
We took a break in Little Rock to see some good friends of ours. We didn't have much time, so we met them at a park off the highway. The kids loved running around for a while.
My sister's youngest son was getting baptized that first weekend of spring break, in AR. My parents and brother were going to be there as well. We were so excited to go to their place first and be there to play with cousins and go to his baptism!
They have a great place with pathways through the woods and a zipline! We had a cousins' Easter egg hunt (inside due to some rainy weather). Here they are ready to go. Even Alyssa wasn't too old to look. They compared treats and made some trades. We had short, but fun time with them.
Some of the cousins, from MO, weren't able to come down to AR because they were sick, so my sister-in-law planned another egg hunt for us and her kids Easter Sunday. We gave the younger children a head start. Watching them all search for eggs I realized how much fun children have looking for Easter eggs.My parent's house is undergoing some remodeling as they get ready to sell it, and with my brother and his family there as well, the kids and I stayed in a hotel.
But, we spent every minute we could at my parent's house. The kids and cousins played games, built with Legos, and had a hard time saying good-night each night - waving and calling to us out their windows. It was probably good that we were at a hotel - the cousins had school and leaving at bed time probably helped them actually get to sleep at a decent time. They checked out early each day, after testing, to have more time to play.
Logan and his cousin Zeke have the same middle name. They became fast friends and loved spending time together.
The hotel had the coolest pool with a slide that went outside the hotel and back it and water play area.
You had to be 48" to go on the big slide, but they had a smaller one everyone could enjoy.

The kids couldn't wait to check it out.Some of the cousins even came one afternoon to swim and go down the slide.(there are 5 in the hot tub and the other three at the slide)
One day we went and walked around the historic square - trying on hats in storesand checking out a local history museum.We were there to go to the LDS Kansas City Temple open house and went on a tour Monday afternoon. (Natalie took this perfect picture)
My brother, Charles, and his family came down and my uncle and cousin were also there with us, my brother Thomas, and my parents. It was beautiful and wonderful to be there with family.
When we came out of the celestial room,(picture from the internet)
Logan turned to Thomas and said, "I like that room. It smells good. It smells like pie."
What a great description of the wonderful feeling you get when you're in the celestial room.
Later when we asked what their favorite part of the temple was, both boys said the "marrying" room.(picture from the internet)
We talked about parents and children being sealed to each other so we can be a family forever. The "marrying" room IS a great room!What a wonderful afternoon.
We love going to museums and historical places. So, one of our days there, we went to a living history museum with my mom. The houses and buildings were not yet open for the season, but we walked around and looked in windows.Below is looking in through the church window.
Logan found a small "house" and said it was probably like the one Abraham Lincoln was born in. I thought that was great that he would connect something like that. He wouldn't take a picture by it, but Natalie did.We loved the mill with the wheel. We'll have to go back if we visit when the buildings are open.
For our last night there, my parents took everyone who could make it out to dinner. Here are all the cousins at one table. It was a LONG drive, but well worth visiting and catching up with my parents and half my siblings and their families. I'm glad the open house gave us a great reason to take a road trip this spring break.