Spring Break Trip to Grandma's House

Sometime in February, (I can't remember exactly when), Lilly & Jayne came down the stairs carrying bulging backpacks, two stuffed animals, and their "softies"(blankets).  They informed me that they wanted to go to Grandma Laurie's house for a sleep-over that night.  The looks on their faces were so happy and hopeful that it broke my heart to be the one to tell them that we simply could not make the 5 hour drive to Grandma's house that day.  But I vowed I would call and set up a future sleep-over.  I called my mom and we set a date for a weekend in March.  We would be up Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We planned to get a hotel and then let Jonah, Lilly & Jayne have one night as a sleep-over night at Grandma's house.  As usually happens, plans changed. 
Nate couldn't get the time off work, so it was just the kids and me.  We drove up on Thursday.  It was a long, long, long drive, but we all survived.  On Friday we went to the Hogle Zoo.  Our membership was due to expire in April so we decided to go one more time.  My sister Sarah went with us and my sister Rachel joined us for the last hour or so. 
The kids always love the zoo.  We got to see the polar bear swimming and pushing itself off the glass wall lined with spectators.  We saw the mother and baby elephants washing themselves with dust.  We got to see them feed a rabbit to the tigers (gross, I know).  Almost all of the animals were active, which was fun.  The girls rode the carousel and Jonah took pictures of his favorite animals, the snakes and lizards. 

My handsome Jonah.  I just love his freckles! 

Goofing around for a picture. 

Lilly with the big black ball fountain.  The kids always love playing in the water, but it wasn't turned on yet. 

Fun Memories!

Then the older kids got to do their sleepover at Grandma's house. Sarah babysat while my mom and I went out to dinner at The Olive Garden. It was really nice to have some one-on-one time with her. 
Lilly had been asking me if they could spend two nights at Grandma's.  I told her she would have to ask Grandma.  So the kids ended up sleeping at my mom's on Friday night and Saturday night.  So I had two nights with just Abram and me in the hotel.  He slept pretty good and I relaxed, did some reading, took a bubble bath.  Things I don't get to do very often. 
On Saturday the kids got to visit a farm in Morgan and see some baby cows.  Abram and I joined everyone for dinner on Saturday night. 
It was a nice way to finish up our spring break week.  It would have been nicer if Nate could have come.  Much less work for me. =)