spring break ten

t.j. and i have an unspoken tradition during the week of spring break.  basically, it consists of yelling out "spring break" plus whatever year it is..."spring break oh four", "spring break oh seven", you get the drift.  it is our little way of making sure we are really living it up...this week off that we know so many people do not get to have.  spring break used to mean trips to florida or north carolina.  remember that fateful year when we went to italy?  oh my...

now, spring break is a little bit more low-key.  and, as you will see, even then, it can be a little much. we have been very excited for spring break this year.  two things we really needed--spring and a break.  our plans were to visit some great friends (the billings) in longmont and to spend a couple nights in the lovely and happening town of fort collins.  the rest of the time would be spent at home.

let's play high/low...

highs:

*waking up on saturday knowing that t.j. would not have to work at all!  we love his flexible schedule, but that means his work is flexible as well...meaning it follows him wherever he goes.  but, t.j. has been able to set aside a bunch of time to not work.  woohoo.
*time with steve and kristin and their sweet boys jonah and eli.  jonah and luella seem to have a special connection...they are four years apart...that's how many years are between t.j. and me...hmm...
*the margaritas steve made
*after our spend-the-night in longmont, we drove into boulder and walked around pearl street.  the kids enjoyed the rock parks and we enjoyed the sunny morning.
*many days of gorgeous weather that allowed us to play outside at the park in fort collins, at the park in greeley, and in our own backyard (which is so big that sometimes i call it a park).  i love the sun.
*chick-fil-a for lunch.  it is so so so so good.
*we made an impulse buy at target: a big red ball for the kiddos.  possibly the best three dollars we spent this week.
*watching some march madness basketball.  go wilcats! go deacs! go jayhawks! go big twelve! go basketball! 
*our really cute hotel room in fort collins had the most comfortable king-sized bed.

lows:

*luella is teething, still has an ear infection (actually double ear infection) and is just super clingy.  we can tell that she just hasn't been herself lately.
*one of carlyle's favorite activities is to take whatever toy luella has.  so, taking into factor the first low, you can imagine how this has escalated luella's mood.
*leaving our cute hotel a day early because the kiddos were just so disagreeable.  i don't often join t.j. in calling our children "the knuckleheads," but this is definitely one of those times.  come on, kids, hotels rule.  so so sad.  (but! my parents have already offered to send us back to said cute hotel when they visit and they will stay with the kiddos.  parents rule.)

the kiddos got much happier once we returned home.  i guess they just love greeley.  and, besides, we all agree that more important than some exotic location is just being together.  i mean, seriously, look at our kids...they are cute, they are hilarious, they are ours.