This past week was Spring Break. Spring Break usually gives me insight into how my summer is going to go. I have to say, I'm quite looking forward to summer! There were moments where everyone was sick of each other, but there will always be moments like that. Everyone needs time to themselves sometimes, but for the most part, it was a week full of imagination.
Monday was going to be our "boring" day. I had chores to do and wanted to get them out of the way. My "plan" was to get everything done by 11:00. Sometimes, you just need to throw your plan out the window when you see positive life experiences taking place. That's what happened. From the moment the kids woke up, they were happy and full of creative juices. They spent the first 3.5 hours of the day playing together with just their imaginations. No toys, other than a few they used as props in their imaginary games. I have never seen two children who can literally play pretend together for that long and that happily. There was so much love and laughter that I hated to break it up, which is why I kept putting off the chores. I really did need to get stuff done, so I had to stop them. Stopping them actually didn't stop them though. They continued their imaginary play all through our errands, and let me tell you, they really weren't fun chores. I have said this many, many times before, but I don't think I can stress it enough...I am so thankful my children are best friends.
After an awesome first day, we had an even better second day. We went to visit Nana and Papa. Both aren't feeling too great, but everyone managed to have a fantastic time! Normally, Papa doesn't join us for lunch, but he did this time, so it was an extra special treat. Not to mention we got to eat the counter at a local restaurant, so the kids were in heaven! After lunch, the kids and Nana literally played imaginary games for 2 .5 hours while I got to sit down and just chat with Papa. Since Nana and Papa live semi-close to where Daddy works, we picked him up for dinner. The kids got to meet Daddy's co-workers and they even got to see what some of the stuff Daddy works with does. The weather was absolutely perfect, as well. When we got home, we played outside until bedtime. Even though the yard was too muddy to play in, the kids had a fantastic time running around the driveway and up and down the sidewalk with sticks pretending to be superheros. (Sidenote: Now that Sunshine has found out Wonder Woman is a princess as well, she's all about the superheros)
Wednesday proved to be just as great. We headed to lunch with friends and then bowling. After two games, the two littlest kids got a bit bored, but overall, everyone had a fun time. Then, I thought the day would turn and become a hassle. I had to go get taxes done. Man, my kids weren't just troopers, they were fantastic! There were other kids there, whining and complaining, but mine didn't make a peep. So, it was ice cream for them as a super special treat! The kids love the parking garage, so we parked at the very top and looked out over the side. For them, this is great fun, but I'm not sure why. We then walked to get ice cream and ate it in the Square. After they were done, they asked if they could play. There is nothing there to play with, but my fabulous kids once again called upon their imaginations. They pretended that they were a prince and princess in a castle trying to escape from an evil king. I sat and watched them, completely fascinated by them, for the next hour.
Thursday was a slower day where the only big thing we did was have lunch with Aunt C. The kids adore her, so it's always nice to go out. Friday, Daddy took off work. We had nothing special really planned, but everything just sort of fell into place nicely. We went swimming in the morning, saw The Muppets Most Wanted in the afternoon, had dinner and friends over in the evening. Saturday was business as usual and then Sunday was more swimming and some hiking.
I was actually sad to see Spring Break end. I love watching my kids play. I love the intricate detail of their imaginations. I love seeing how they play off of each others imaginations. I'm looking forward to summer and actually a little sad that we have things planned. i wish I could give them all summer to just dream.