Easter "Egg"stravaganza

Pretty clever, eh? Anywho, this was a different Easter for us. Jason is on his last 4 week rotation away from home and of course he was on-call the weekend of Easter so this translates to Angela and Navie going to stay with him in his hotel. But before he left we dyed Easter eggs. This was the first year I suppose that we used the term, "dye" and Navie was a bit confused about what we were doing. It was a great time. These 2 don't always work together for ideal pictures. Before Navie and I headed to spend the weekend with Dad we had a quaint little egg hunt with our good friends here. The kids were excellent finders and the candy was enjoyed by all. We also decorated some delicious Easter egg sugar cookies. Then we loaded up the car and began the 2-hour trek. And it was an Easter miracle, there was no traffic in Tampa on the way there. It was the most wonderful drive out to Spring Hill EVER!! Saturday we went to see the real mermaids at Weeki Wachee Spring. It was awesome!! Unfortunately I didn't capture the best moments but you get the gist. After the breaktaking underwater show, we also enjoyed a walk down the path of tranquility (something like that) and went on a cruise down the beautiful water. And we saw a handful of peacocks.

Then we needed a litttle Texas Roadhouse to get us through the rest of the day. It was delish and festively decorated.

Next we hit Target and found a lovely spring dress for Navie. It was so great just to walk around Target (polk county life is tough). Sunday I apparently forgot we had a camera because I took no pictures whatsoever. But Navie had a great time finding eggs in the hotel room (over and over again). It was a relaxing day and we watched videos about the Savior's atonement. But it ended all too quickly and it was time to part ways. But it was a lovely Easter in it's own way.

Spring Break

Jason has been working round the clock since last February. Navie had a week off of school so Jason took a week off and we packed up the Altima and headed to Texas. We saw so many cousins and I finally did some sight-seeing in Jason's hometown. We stayed with Jacqui and Rob and saw their new house. Woot! Navie was thrilled to be reunited with Ella-Bella. On Monday we went to the Japanese Gardens. The kids ran from one thing to the next. Luckily we had the place pretty much to ourselves. The kids had a blast feeding the coy fish.

We also had a great time walking on the stones in the water. (But I didn't take any pictures). Then we had lunch at the park.

Leaving Florida for Spring Break means a drop in temperature and trees without leaves. That was quite the reality check for me. So we bundled up in long pants and hoodies.

And our last stop Monday was at the Water Gardens. It was a jam-packed day and it was so fun!

Check out that action shot!

On Tuesday, Kari joined us and we went to see the Longhorns in Fort Worth. While there we fed some ponies, tried on hats, and saw the rodeo center.

We had a delightful lunch at Torchy's Tacos. There was a foul smell outside though because they were cleaning the oil trap or something. Then we set off to see how they print money.

We spent the evening with Jason's sister's family eating pizza, catching up, and watching the beloved Frozen. Navie had a blast playing with Lennon. Wednesday was our date day. Navie stayed with the cousins and Jason and I went out to explore Dallas. We started off the day just right, a trip to the American Girl Store. It was a little weird to be there without Navie but we all know I love it more than her. Then we did a little shopping. We had lunch at Pei Wei and stopped over to the Dallas temple to walk around. It was like 50 degrees so it was a quick walk. Then we went to the art museum and JFK Museum. I learned a lot about his death and it was pretty trippy to be in the same place where it happened. Then we went up to the top of Reunion Tower. Jason has driven by it so many times, he really wanted to go to the top. We saw a lot of the city (duh) and learned about many of the buildings.

Our last day was spend with more family. We headed out to Nemo to see Jason's abuela for lunch. Luckily the sun came out while we were there and we walked the property a little.

After lunch we drove back to Arlington to see Jeremiah and his family. We met Sophia and Navie had a blast camping and dressing up with the girls. I had my first taste of Chicken Express too. Then it was back to say goodbye to kids before bed. We had a wonderful time. And we look forward to many more happy memories with our Texas family.