Grover Spring Break: Part 1

The Grovers came late Friday night, and Olivia and Carter did their best to stay up for them, but the extent of their staying up lasted until about 8:30 :). The next morning they jumped right into getting up WAY early, hanging out with cousins, and just having a great time. Later in the morning, we took all the girls to the mall in Moscow for a little shopping. We learned that my girls aren't quite as patient as Maely and Elli when it comes to actual clothes shopping, but we had a blast. The pictures I have are a total mix of mine and Amber's pictures, so I will give photo credit now, even though I honestly couldn' even tell you which are hers.

This adorable picture was taken by one of Amber's girls...Makenzie was living it up being the cute little girl cousin :).

It was an adventure and a challenge to get these coins to actually race without being touched by someone on the way down :)

When we walked over to Bath and Body Works, I realized that this was the first time Makenzie has ever just explored in a store without being confined by a stroller. She is quite the shopper, enjoying everything and being very careful to put it all back as she found it (I'm sure that one won't last very long...). She absolutely LOVED these loofahs, they were her babies and she walked all over the store just cuddling them :)

We sampled lots of lotions and lipsticks and sprays until we all smelled like a weird concoction of floral desserts on the beach.

And I love hand-holding pics, so I grabbed a few on the way out.

We had to go to the grocery store for a few things, but I was so distracted by just having fun with my sister that I had to send Alex later in the weekend for the things I forgot...my brain can only enjoy this wonderful time, it isn't going to be distracted by responsibilities :).

Later that day we took everyone for some glow in the dark mini golf. It was the perfect place for us because it was all in one big room with short little holes and no one else there. The kids raced ahead, then did the holes over and over while the grownups had some sense of competition. I'm not sure whether the Grovers won or the men won, but either way I was the big loser...I just couldn't catch a break :)

Like any completely normal pair of sisters, we had a mini photo shoot with our matching vans and almost matching outfits before heading to DQ for some treats (my kids' 4th time there in a week ...oops!)

We had a fairly quiet afternoon full of makeup, crafts, and boys getting rowdy (or watching March Madness, depending on the pair of boys...). I couldn't believe how perfect the makeup was on Makenzie, she looked just like a little porcelain doll. 

I wish we took pictures of the grownup games that evening, because it started a problem that lasted throughout the whole visit. We played a game called Lost Cities that Alex and I had played before, but never with more than 2 people. It played out much differently, and Amber wasn't satisfied with the results :) At 12:30 we had to convince her not to start another game, to wait until the next day, but I think we played the game 3 days in a row after that :). My family teases me about not being able to lose a game, but I'm not entirely sure that I'm the only one with that trait.

I was super stressed about getting up and out to church the next morning. We decided to visit the ward that Matt is the bishop of in Moscow, which happens to start at 9. Because of the extra drive, that meant we needed to have all 12 of us clean, fed, dressed, and out the door at 8:30. That paired with the fact that the kids got up early and stayed up late the night before made me more than nervous, and I could barely sleep because I kept thinking of things that I needed to do to prepare (a bag of books and activities to keep the kids quiet, blankets/bottle/extra clothes for Hunter who normally sleeps during that time, remembering that I never washed Carter's black pants..so he would have to wear the bright red ones...etc)

All of my worries were for naught, we were almost the first ones in the building, and definitely the first ones with kids. We trooped in with SO MANY kids running ahead and behind, and then awkwardly explained our connection to the Church and this ward to the poor greeter at the door :)...it's a struggle. Luckily, Amber and I both snuck pictures from our opposite sides of the aisle. We split up the little ones and crammed all the kids in the middle, so at least no one would escape without notice!

Church went very well for most. Makenzie was NOT a fan of nursery in the least, and I think 6 grownups tried to help her go in 3 or 4 times to no avail. Finally she fell asleep on Amber's lap during the last attempt, so Amber kept her outside for the last hour. The rest of the young kids all joined into one class and had a great time, though I'm sure that teacher was shocked when I added 3 to her class of 2 5 year olds!

Mom and Dad left New Plymouth after one hour of church, and arrived mid-afternoon to join in the fun! I love these pictures of Hunter just checking Grandpa out...he wasn't sure at first but Dad won him over the next day with his usual barrier-breaker...sugar!

These pictures aren't quite in the right order, but after church we threw the kids out of their church clothes and had mac'n'cheese for lunch. Apparently we left them to their own devices a little early, because Amber peeked into the kitchen to find Makenzie getting herself seconds...by eating directly from the pot! She was totally embarrassed and ashamed, as you can tell by the second picture ;).

These two friends were cute cuddling together to watch a show :). They so often are split up, O with Elli and T with Carter, so it was fun to see them hanging out too.

We spent some time inspecting the ceiling for any problems...it didn't start as a competition, but I'm sure by the time Dan got involved there was some competitive nature to it...either way, I now know the true purpose of a lofted ceiling!