Spring Break

 I took the boys up to Camas to play with the Holden's on our first day of spring break. There is a beautiful 3.5 mile out and back lake trail that I love to run on up there. It was a good run, but super muddy and this is how I looked at the finish. Ha!

We almost never do big trips over spring break, but like to get away for a couple of days. This year we decided to make the trip to Seattle that we had planned before the pandemic hit in 2020. Going to Washington for spring break is awesome because their schools aren't on break and nothing is crowded. 

Mason's favorite part of spring break in Spokane last year was a trampoline park so we found a fun one to stop at in Olympia on our way to Seattle. We paid for two hours of jumping and Spencer and Mason jumped their hearts out the entire time. They were totally exhausted by the end! It was pricey so Alan and I didn't jump with them, but we wanted to. It looked fun!

After that, we drove the rest of the way to Seattle and went to Pike's Place first. It was cold and drizzly so the boys were less than thrilled to walk around the outdoor marketplace, but I thought it was fun to see it. They were a little happier after eating some Russian piroshkies. I really wanted to ride The Great Wheel, but no one wanted to ride with me so we skipped it and went in search of some iconic Seattle food for dinner.

Our first couple of options failed and we wound up settling for Burger Master because we were starving. It was horrible, greasy food that Alan didn't even like. Boo.

Our hotel room wasn't ready when we got to our hotel after 7:00 (I think all hotels are short staffed right now. During Covid, you could make more on unemployment than you could by working minimum wage jobs so many people quit and haven't come back. Restaurants and hotels are really struggling with staffing.) They let us swim while we waited though so the boys changed in a bathroom and had a great time for an hour or so.

We started out the next morning with a visit to the troll under the Freemont Bridge. It was weird/cool. Mason thought it's huge nose was hilarious.

Next we drove to Kerry Park for a cool view of down town Seattle. There was a little playground at the bottom of the hill and it wasn't raining so we spent a few minutes there. Spencer is getting a little too tall for monkey bars. Haha!

Then we headed to downtown to check out the Space Needle up close. I've always wanted to ride to the top, but always change my mind when I see the price. There are several cool museums right around the Space Needle, but they were all still closed due to Covid. (I think they reopened just a couple of weeks after we visited.) We stumbled upon an awesome playground just outside of the Museum of Pop Culture though. 

Alan really wanted to take the boys on a ferry ride and that wound up being the highlight of the trip for me. The sun came out and it was just gorgeous. The ride from Seattle to Bremerton took about an hour. It was windy so I mostly sat in the covered outdoor area and enjoyed the views and the sun.

We got off the ferry close to Tacoma so we just drove home after that. It was a quick, fun, and low stress trip - perfect for spring break.

We spent the rest of the week relaxing and working around the house. The boys did lots of reading. Alan knew his schedule was going to be really busy in May so he spent some time helping Mason with his pinewood derby car. 

The last Saturday of the break was really nice so we did a family adventure challenge at the park. We each had to come up with an "Olympic game" for everyone to compete in and then we each chose a dollar store prize for our game. Spencer chose a timed running course through the forest. He won that easily of course. Spencer has been faster than me for awhile now, but I think it's a little sad for Alan that Spencer can beat him now too. ;) Alan had us all trying to throw frisbees into a hula hoop on the grass and Mason wanted to see who could throw a stick the farthest.

My game was pool noodle javelin. Funnier and harder than it looks!

The awesome prizes. It was a fun way to spend an hour or two on a nice day.

Alan had some work to do that afternoon so I took the boys to Bricks and Minifigs. It's about a 40 minute drive in traffic so we spend awhile there when we go.

It was a good break and will hopefully last us through track season and until the end of the school year!