Job-Free

Andrew unexpectedly had a week off between his old job and his new job. We toyed with the idea of going to my parent's condo in California one last time (since they just sold it) but we decided to stick around town. We had lots going on with piano lessons and preschool. I also substitute taught a couple of afternoons. We were able to spend lots of quality time together the week of April 24th.

Yardwork--Free sod and not-so-free tree stump removal!

Proof that our week wasn't just all fun and games. We worked in our yard for several days. It must be true because not 1 but 2 neighbors mentioned it to us. "You guys are always out in the yard." I suppose our outdoor space is coming along, but we still have a ways to go. Someone in our neighborhood was giving away free sod, so we snatched that up. We now need sprinklers for the area, but one step at a time. We also had 2 stubborn tree stumps removed. Andrew dug and dug and dug and we finally decided to call it quits. He tried to get the stump out for hours. We finally just hired someone. Those stumps weren't coming out. 

The movie--"The Bad Guys"

We went on $5 Tuesday to see this movie. We finished off our first bucket of popcorn less than 5 minutes into the movie. It was the perfect dinner. I like going to movies to watch my kid's reactions and excitement throughout. We definitely had to give them a few reminders to keep their squeals and shouts to a minimum. It was a cute movie. I'm looking forward to going to more movies as a family this summer.

The Living Room Hike, Salt Lake City

I have a lengthy list of hikes I want to get to and "The Living Room Hike" aka "The Furniture Hike" has been on said list for a while. I kept going back and forth about whether or not we should attempt the hike. The hike is 2.4 miles roundtrip and several reviews mentioned it was hard. Take that, All Trails--it wasn't too hard for us. My kids are rockstar hikers. Izzy insisted on walking for a large chunk of our journey up but eventually was carried in a backpack. The kids collected rocks and sticks along the trail and we spotted colorful flowers. The temperature was perfect. There is furniture made out of rocks at the top which was James' favorite. He liked pretending he was making furniture. The view of Salt Lake was phenomenal. I didn't drift down to all the rocks on the overlook like my carefree children and husband. Go figure. There were some tears of exhaustion on the way down, but I've learned that tears and children go hand in hand. We did it and I'd call the hike a win!

I look so much bigger than Andrew in this photo. (I'm sitting on a higher rock.) I considered having a picture re-take since clearly, this bugged me, but I was genuinely worried that the kind stranger taking our pic would step off the mountain by accident and didn't want to risk it.

Notice my legs at the top of the pic. I didn't go exploring through the rocks.

The Gateway Children's Museum-- Salt Lake City

We had a coupon for this museum, so we decided to give it a try. Boy am I glad we did. This was heaven for my kids. My kids are the perfect ages for what the museum had to offer. There was so much to do-- a beehive playground you could slide and climb on, a construction area, a play kitchen, a room to do arts and crafts, water toys, a pretend grocery store, a helicopter, and so much more. I tried to capture everything, but I just couldn't and Andrew reminded me to just watch and enjoy the kids in their element. It was pretty crowded with a large field trip group.

Won't be repeating that sock/shoe/pant combo again

Josh and Paige Ditto's Wedding

We were able to go to Josh and Paige's wedding luncheon and reception. The Ditto program was out of this world. There was talk of hiring a stage manager. They put on an entire production explaining Josh and Paige's love story. Singing, fireworks, children, phantom of the opera masks, a motorized segway, and more were involved. They sang acapella and I asked if it's a prerequisite to be a good singer in order to become a Ditto. Man, they can sing. It was special to be there. Dan and Laura have a neat family. I loved catching up with everyone. It was especially fun to chat with Matt and Mandy who were in town from Atlanta. We saw so much family (Dave and Peggy, Laurie, Grandma Ditto, Andrea and her kids, Rebecca and Ben, just to name a few.) My heart was full.

It was bittersweet when our week of fun had to come to a close, but I'd definitely say we made the most of our time with Andrew not working. Here's to retirement!