Spring Break 2015 Recap

I can't believe I just wrote Spring Break 2015 Recap!  It's still surreal to me that Moo is in school.  She's six and I'm trying hard to not see her as still being a baby or toddler, but y'all it's hard.  Time is going by faster and faster with each passing year and I'm struggling to not be so overly sentimental and emotional.  She headed back to school Monday and after being home for ten days straight, we were all kind of out wack.

To say that JJ and I missed having her here with us during the daytime is an understatement.  And she missed us just as much.  In fact, Sunday night she begged to stay home from school and came running through the door passing out hugs Monday afternoon when she got home.  All good signs that we had a great Spring Break.  While we didn't do anything exciting because it rained most of the days she was out, we still had a blast.

We started Spring Break with a nature hike at one of our favorite parks.  They have short trail that was perfect for us since the kids wanted to walk instead of riding in the stroller.  Moo asked if we would get to see any wild animals.  "I hope not," was my wide-eyed response.  I love nature and it was my second morning walking that particular trail, but I definitely didn't want to bump into any snakes, coyotes or unleashed dogs.

JJ was not happy that I would not allow him to venture into the trees.  On the other hand, Moo was chipper as ever!

We did run into some bees and wasps having a mini battle, but escaped unstung.  After we finished our walk the kiddies hit up the playground for a bit.  Needless to say we all slept good that night and Moo actually ended up sleeping in for the first time ever!

Grandma, my baby sister (Auntie Cat) and my niece (Princess O) came up Easter Saturday to visit and shower the kids with gifts.  My mom and Auntie Cat really did an amazing job on making the kids' baskets.  I was slightly jealous.  You're never too old get an Easter basket, right?

A boy and his trains

My mom gave JJ his first wooden train track set and he loved it!  We barely got him to step away from it to take a trip to Lowe's.  My mom is a bit of a master gardener and picked up some new flowers.  I checked out a few plants because sadly JJ ripped up our balcony garden seedlings.  That's a story for another day.  So, we're back to starting over since I wasn't able to save any.  Lesson of the week:  Never take your off eye off a three year old, especially if there is dirt/plants in the same room or space.

Auntie Cat pile up going down in Lowe's! 

It's no secret that we love to eat.  So, we used Spring Break to try out a few new gluten, dairy and egg free products.  Moo's favorite were the duck shaped corn pasta from Sam Mills.  Shout out to my mommy for finding these because I haven't been able to find them in any stores here.  You do have to be careful about not cooking them beyond the time outlined on the bag because they overcook very quickly and will break down.  JJ has a mild allergy to corn and didn't get to try these out.

The best treat during Spring Break was probably when we make cookies.  We hadn't made any in a while because it's hard to find gluten-free cookie dough mix.  You can get the frozen dough, but I prefer to make my own since we usually add things like mixing in a bit of soy milk or using egg substitute instead of real eggs.  Sadly, I didn't get any pics of us mixing the cookies but there's always next time.

My favorite part of Spring Break was the movie nights.  We watched the following movies:

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Moo and I loved Cinderella, but JJ could have cared less.  I think Disney did a great job of taking this from animation to live-action.  I hear they're working on Beauty & the Beast now, but we're waiting for them to start work on Princess Tiana's The Princess and the Frog.  I have top 4 picks who I'd like see play Tiana and will share that with y'all in a future post.

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I can count on my hands the number of cartoons that have come out in theaters that feature main characters that are a person of color and not use all of my fingers on one hand.  So, I knew right away that we would be seeing Home.  Shout out to DreamWorks.  I definitely hope that there is a Home 2 in the future because this movie was both funny and touching.  We laughed and almost cried.  Almost being the key word.  Moo hasn't stopped talking about it and has requested that we see it again.

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So, I saw this movie by myself because I wasn't sure how kid-friendly it would be for a six year old.  After seeing it, I'd say it's definitely a movie for older teenagers (15 and up), but is super funny.  They did a great job of tackling an issue that a lot of teenage girls face- body image/bullying.  And Bella Thorne has definitely grown up since her Disney Channel days.

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I finally got around to seeing Fifty Shades of Grey.  Let me tell you the best part of watching this movie was watching it with my sister.  We read the books together (because we're nerdy like that) and had agreed to watch the movie together.  Honestly, I can say that we were a bit let down by a lot of things.  We were expecting a more dramatic/darkish feel, but instead they took a more light-hearted almost comical approach. 

Needless to say rumor has it that all the cast will be returning for part 2, but E. L. James and the movie studio have chosen to part ways with the director.  I can't say that I blame them.  While she did a great job of crafting tasteful sex scenes, she pretty much jumped over the meat story which was Christian's inability to be in a regular relationship due to his childhood and Ana's struggle with not being good enough, her mom having put men before their mother-daughter relationship and more.  I hope they part ways with the stylists and hairdressers too!  There was one too many bad wigs in this movie. 

How was your family's Spring Break?  Do anything interesting?