Spring Break 2018 – Pellegrini Page

Oh my goodness it has been way too long since I contributed to the blog! I can think of a 1000 reasons why I haven’t taken the time to sit down and write a post but I won’t waste our time on that, there are too many much more interesting things to share. We are currently enjoying our morning routine of a pre-breakfast bite, milk and a show, on our last day of Spring Break. We didn’t go anywhere this year but that didn’t stop us from staying busy all week, but first we celebrated one of the kids favorite holidays Easter Egg Day before officially kicking off Spring Break on Monday.

Easter Egg Day was a huge success this year. On every holiday I like to surprise to kids with some kind of special set up on the kitchen table, since its a central location and we always head downstairs first thing in the morning. I had a few eggs filled with candy sprinkled along the hallways heading downstairs and then everyone had an Easter basket filled with goodies and a few community toys for them to share. After a light breakfast and some heavy snacking on sweets we all got dressed and headed out to the farm. This is the second year in a row that we are heading north for the day to spend the day at the Palmers. This year they have a new family member that joined us, their new 8 week old puppy Noah. He was adorable and the center of attention for the first half hour we were there. Ava was drawn to him right away and was very gentle and calm with him. He was a very mellow little guy and Im sure that all the craziness was a bit much for him because it didn’t take long before he was passed out in his create deep in sleep. The kids on the other hand went full speed all day. We arrived around 11 and headed inside for just a little bit of catching up and then some bundling up before we went out in the backyard for an epic egg hunt. I know that we contributed at least 200 eggs and Leon and Jody put together more than that. There were a ton of eggs, most all scattered in easy to find places, but even still it took the kids a good 20 minutes to find them all. The kids ran in circles around each other trying to get them all faster than the other and no one complained that it was windy and raining the whole time. After they each filled and dumped their baskets out twice we bagged up as many eggs as we could and went inside to warm up for a bit and let the kids marvel over their loot. The kids over indulged in sweets for far too long then we got out some Easter coloring actives and waited for lunch to finish up. It was a great adult meal while the kids hung upstairs and happily ate together in Miles’ playroom. He has so many cool toys and they love hanging out in his room discovering all his cool, new things together. Miles is always happy to let them come crash his pad and they all act like they do this every week. Time always slips away from us when were hanging out at the Palmer Farm, before we knew it is was 5:30 and time to start heading home. We made plans to meet up later in the week with Miles and Leon so it made our departure and good byes that much easier.

We started off the week with a trip to the zoo on Monday. We met up with some of our favorite people, Solana and the boys, and Laurel and baby Sadie. We met at our usual spot near the penguins and let everyone get situated for the adventure ahead. We were prepared for a cold but sunny day and we were lucky enough to actually get hot, yes hot. It was a beautiful day (for PNW standards) and we spent several hours wandering form animal to play areas with a nice picnic lunch in the middle of it all. It is always great when I get to combine my mom efforts with my best friends. They always make things more enjoyable and the kids love each other so much. Its so fun to watch them grow up together. Our day didn’t end after our 3 plus hour tour of the zoo though. Ava has been taking swim lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays, and this week is no exception. After the zoo, we came home for just under an hour of down time before getting ready to head out to the gym for swimming.

Ava is currently in a level one class. She has what I am going to say is a slightly debilitating fear of the water. Specifically of going under the water. She is only just now starting to put her face completely in and blow bubbles for 5 seconds. She will not put her head under (like a head bob) or jump into the water. She has been making progress in the past few weeks but she has a long way to go. She did better than any class before on this particular day because, thanks to spring break, she had a private lesson. She seemed much more comfortable doing new things and had tons of fun getting so much attention from the teacher. After class we were all exhausted so we headed home for dinner and a movie.

The next morning was April 3rd, Michael and I’s 8th anniversary. We don’t generally do much for each other as far as gifts go but it was nice to wake up to a sweet message from him and plans to celebrate with the whole family this weekend. I’m going to take this opportunity to say a quick word about my wonderful husband, my partner, the one who laughs at all my bad jokes, the one who see eye to eye with me, my clam when I’m irrational, the one who still kisses me when I have morning breath, the one who can still make me blush, the hardest working man I know. I love you more with every challenging day, I love your drive and passion, I love your music and your voice. I love you, I love us, I love our life. Thank you for choosing me. ok, now back to our Spring Break.

We had a little adventure planned for the morning and then I was dropping everyone off at the kids club so I could head to the dentist. Our morning adventure was a meet up with a new friend of ours and hike through the woods with some rock hunting for the kids. We’ve recently met a few new, painted rock loving, families that have kids within the same ages and we’ve been on some really great little hikes that we never knew of before. During our hike the kids came up with a cute idea, they decided they wanted to put together a rock hunt for their new friend Elias. I thought this was an adorable idea so I contacted Eli’s mom and set something up for the next morning. Immediately after their fun at Kids Club and dentist appointment we went to work on putting their plan in motion.

Ava suggested that we all paint some new rocks that we knew Elias would love, things that we already knew he liked. SO I got out paper and pen and asked them to start listing off things that we knew about Elias. We came up with these things that we were positive he liked: Pirates, the Beatles, Coco, farts, owls, orange, blue, purple, yelling and jokes. Some of these were a little difficult to go with but we managed to come up with eleven really great rocks just for him, three of which we already had and eight that we made. After the rocks were finished we decided on a place to hide them. Elise came up with a brilliant idea of coloring the tress and sidewalk along the way with chalk, so that they would know which way to go. We also decided I would take pictures of each spot and the kids could help me with little clues along the way. Everything was all mapped out and we were ready for the next morning.

On Wednesday it was raining when we woke up but the kids were still really excited about the treasure hunt we were about to set up. So after a good breakfast we bundled up and headed to Lowell Riverfront in Snohomish. It’s a great river trail with several little shoot offs and tons of trees. We started by writing a “Hi Elias” note at the beginning of the trial and then peppered the walkway with arrows as we went. When we found a good hiding spot we drew pictures on that area of the trail with our chalk and sometimes even left a few markings on trees. We also took a picture of each rock in its hiding spot before we camouflaged it with leaves or branches. After walking a little over a mile and hiding all of the rocks we sat down at a bench an went through each picture and came up with a little note to go along with each before sending them off to Elias and his mom. By this point we were a soggy mess but the kids were still too excited to leave so we wandered around a bit more and played hide and seek for a while before going home to freshen up for the next part of our day.

After drying off and changing into new outfits we hoped back into the van and drove to see Daddy for lunch at Microsoft. The kids are always excited to see dad at work but this time we were going to a new building so they were even more pumped up about it. Michael came down and met us at visitor parking and then after checking in with the receptionist we made our way to the cafeteria. Even after the lunch rush the place was buzzing. Michael gave us a tour of all of our varied options before we spotted a table and each made our individual decisions on what we’d be eating. It took several trips to various stations and then more to get drinks, napkins and utensils but Michael has happy to accommodate us all and the kids were enjoying just sitting at the table and watching all the action around us. Even for me it was a little overwhelming, mostly because we are 4 of about 10 people within the whole building that clearly do not belong. Its not that anyone said or did anything to make us feel uncomfortable, it’s just obvious, even to the kids, that we do fit in here. We did all have a delicious and entertaining lunch and it’s always special to visit Daddy at “his Square” or rather is office. I don’t think the kids will ever tire of seeing Daddy at work.

By this point in the day we were all feeling sluggish and we still had swimming in the early evening so we headed home for some R and R; or at least that was the plan. We ended up stopping at a park near the house on the way home and played for over an hour. After that we went home for just a short while before heading off to the gym. After another great lesson for Ava, we decided to stop at McDonald’s on the way home for some happy meals. The kids don’t get this kind of thing often so they very much look at it as a treat and are overjoyed every time I ask “should we stop at McDonalds?” It usually feels like a huge parenting win and this case was no different. The kids were all at the table enjoying their food when Michael got home from work. He actually had plans to play music with a friend later that night so he wasted no time diving right in with the kids and making the most of their time together. This helped make it an easy night for me once he left. We read a few books and I put on one show for them and 2 of the 3 were asleep before it even ended. Ava of course, was still awake but after a little chat she too drifted off.

On Thursday we had a little communication problem with our friend Leon about wether or not we were going to meet up. When we didn’t hear from him about solid plans we figured something else had come up and we decided to make it a day at home and began to create a blanket fort. We were all still in our pjs and deep into fort construction when Leon finally got back to us, he and Miles were in fact already at the agreed meeting place, a local trampoline spot. Although I was rather enjoying our morning at home we didn’t want to pass up the chance to see our friends because they are also on Spring Break and our normal weekly schedules don’t allow us any play time together. So I begrudging agreed to quickly change and told him we would be out the door in 20 minutes and we were pulling out of the driveway exactly 19 minutes later. It’s amazing how quickly we can actually get our things in order if we really, really want to. I’ve never seen the kids dress and find their shoes so fast. I may have to trick them with this same tactic at some point. I was expecting the trampoline place to be busy when we arrived because it is Spring Break after all; I wasn’t however prepared for what we walked into. Not only was the trampoline area at least three times as busy as we have ever seen it but the ticket line was more than half the length of the building, and it’s a BIG building. I will not sugar coat it, I was not happy. As a solo parent with three younger children, I had literally just walked in to my worst nightmare. Seriously WTF! Thankfully Leon is about as chill and calm as anyone I know, after some encouraging words and multiple apologies, we came up with a plan. The line was actually long because they had reached capacity and were not able to sell tickets until the next jump slot of 1:05, it was 12:20 at this point. We really didn’t want to leave because our options of indoor play areas were limited and it was too icky outside to even consider that an option. So Leon agreed to sit down with the kids and feed everyone whatever snacks I had thrown together, I waited in what was now a quickly dwindling line. All in all it actually worked out. We were able to get in just a little over an hour of jumping and running, which even for Ava is enough. She had beat red, tomato cheeks when were getting ready to go. It was a very quite ride home and Elise and Enzo fell asleep. After their short car naps we all played a few board games and built a lego castle. the rest of the night was pretty uneventful.

We’re calling Friday our last day of spring break because then comes the weekend and as Elise says “the weekend already is a break”. We spent all morning at home for the first time this week just vegging in front of the TV, it’s definitely apparent that the week is catching up to the kids. We did not spend the day at home however, just the morning. At noon we met up with Solana and the boys and went hiking in the woods in Bothell. None of us had ever been to this new area, Shelton View Forest and it was a really cool place to explore. Along with several different wildlife, we saw three old, abandoned cars, a tire swing on the side of a cliff and ran into a pack of the cutest little dogs. Everyone had a good time (some more than others) and we were all really hungry afterwards. We weren’t far from Country Village, a quirky little outdoor eating and shopping center, so I suggested we find lunch there where that kids could continue to play. We found the perfect spot to eat outdoors and had some delicious BBQ. After we took the kids to the playground, because yes, they still had more energy. It ended up being much nicer out than we had expected and it was a lovely last day of spring break.

Now were heading into the weekend and getting ready to get back into our school routines. Elise is gearing up for kindergarten and is really starting to show interest in school. She has terrible jealousy issues with all of the stories Ava is constantly telling us all of her BFF and all her “school stuff”. She is very much ready to embark on her own school adventure. She is still very tender and sensitive but she is showing more self confidence and assertiveness. She is really enjoying dancing and already looking forward to dancing on stage for us all at her recital in June. She is very good at coming up with cleaver ideas and loves to build things. She made up her own joke the other day and unlike most of the jokes the kids make up this one was cute and funny.

Q. What do you call a Tiger Mermaid?
A. a Catfish

I know you’re laughing out loud right now. Most of the kids jokes include poop or farting so I really appreciate this one. She still has a deep love for cats, sparkly things, being held, rainbows, board games, holding hands, pouting and anything baby. You will likely find her in a costume if you leave her at the Kids Club longer than 10 minutes, and do not tell her what to wear; ever. Don’t tell her she cant change her clothes anytime she wants, because sometimes she needs to feel better in different clothes, or she’s just tired of her morning outfit wold like her day or night outfit on.

Ava is really starting to thrive in school, we recently had her school conference and her teacher said she is making huge improvements over the beginning of the year. I’d like to think that this is in part because of all of the extra time we have been spending on home work at night, or the fact that we have letters, numbers, and sight words posted all over house, or it could be that yes, she is maturing, slowly, but still she is maturing. She has recently expressed an interest in theatre and would love to be in a play. She said to me the other day “Mom, I think I would be really good at being in a play, but I’d like to go see a play first”. So I guess a play of some kind is in our future because she’s right, she has never been to a play. I’m hoping we can find a high school play or something like that to start with. Ava is still fiercely independent and sassy as a teenager but she is also extremely nurturing around babies and pets and younger kids, full of determination, protective of her siblings and loving and loyal like no other.

Enzo is a little handful these days, as I sit here I am constantly having to run out to see what that loud crash might have been, or why did I hear the garage door open? Who’s been in the bathroom for more than 5 minutes? Who scattered all the clean laundry all over my bed? Who ripped the sheets off the girls bed? Who dumped out all the toys on the stairs? who… Enzo, every single time. There is no need to even ask, it’s always Enzo who did it. He is literally into everything. The other day as I’m trying to console Elise I hear a clatter in the kitchen. I went down as soon as I could to find him attempting to climb in the panty to get something off the second to top shelf. The week before last we were all outside in the cul de sac riding bikes (I finally got a bike) and I couldn’t find him. I panicked a bit and ran around the neighboring yards yelling for him. Then Ava says ‘Mom, I hear him laughing!” The sneaky, little guy had gone inside and gotten one of the kids chairs and climbed into the van through the open window. He was happy as could be, sitting in the drivers seat pushing buttons and ejecting CDs. Typical Enzo these days, he prefers to play by himself for the most part but you can never be sure what he’s up to. He is also so hot and cold these days within a five minute span it is not uncommon for him to say ” Mommy you’re the best mommy in the whole wide world” and “Give me a cookie or I’ll throw you in the garbage” he also enjoys telling me “I don’t love you anymore”, “you’re rude” and “I’m going to lock you in a room”. I have no idea where he came up with most of these sayings but he has repeated them all several times the past month or so. He can also be very genuinely loving but the harsh ones cut deep at the wrong moment. I know its just his was of expressing frustration and sadness, it’s a phase like everything else. He has an adorable, cheesy new smile and is growing and maturing everyday.

It’s a crazy life we’re living but I couldn’t be any happier. That’s enough till next year…. or at least for now.

First thing Easter morning