Our spring break staycation

This year for spring break Travis took some time off and we played around here. We went and saw how to train your dragon with Aprille, Joe, and Marcus. The boys had so much fun and they all looked so cute sitting together with their 3-D glasses on. I guess I didn't get that pic because I couldn't find it on my camera. We took the kids swimming at the legacy center. Austin and Alex love swimming there. They have a playground right in the middle of the pool and every few minutes a huge bucket above the playground falls over and dumps water on everyone. This was Keira's first time swimming in a pool and she had a blast. She loves bath times so we weren't too worried. We took her to the baby pool and she sat and splashed forever. We even let her go down the slide a few times. We had a BBQ and grandma and grandpa Gray's in their firepit. The boys got to roast marshmallows and hotdogs. The boys were really looking forward to going to the zoo. I was just glad it wasn't freezing. You never know what kind of weather you're going to get in Utah in April ( or May for that matter). Alex loved the elephants, Austin loved the penguins and the reptile house. He actually took the picture in the reptile house while I waited outside. I wasn't squeamish or anything, Keira had fallen asleep in the stroller and there were no strollers allowed in the reptile house. Oh well, I'll have to catch that one next time. Keira loved watching the monkeys. Oh, and I can't forget the train ride. We waited for like 40 min. just to ride the dang thing. Keira missed out again because she was sleeping but the boys had lots of fun. Austin thought he was so cool sitting at the very front all by himself. After the train ride we took the kids to the playground there at the zoo and let them run around. It was a fun day and they all fell asleep on the way home. Mission accomplished! Well, that in a nutshell was our spring break adventures.

Spring Break at the Zoo

Some pictures from our zoo trip. This is Keira while we were lunching. She looks a little mad at us, to be fair I did feed her first then ate. I guess our food looked a little more appealing.
The boys loved watching the giraffes. There were a few that were right at the fence line and so they got to watch them eat. Alex thought it was funny that they had long black tongues.
My little trouble makers hamming it up for the camera.
THE BABY ELEPHANT!!! I didn't think we were ever going to leave the elephant encounter, the boys were mesmerized. They loved watching the baby run around it's mom and play "hide and seek" at least that's what they thought she was doing.

Spring Break photos

As you can see we had a lot of fun at the park. Keira enjoyed going down the slide and watching the boys run around and play.


Austin decided to master the monkey bars
Alex did too, with a little help. At the very bottom of the picture you can see my head. I was holding him while he went across. Daddy decided to show everyone up and do a cherry drop. I'm impressed he could still do it.

Easter Weekend

We had a great Easter Weekend. Before Saturday morning conference we went to the Eagle Mountain Easter Egg Hunt and then between conferences we went to Grandma Gray's house for a BBQ and another Easter Egg hunt. We dyed eggs Saturday and the boys (and I) had so much fun. I love dying eggs. We showed the boys how to make designs on their eggs and then when we dyed them their design showed up. The Easter Bunny came to our house Saturday night and wanted to hide our eggs. I told him he should wait and come back the next day but he didn't listen to me. So, when our kids woke up their eggs were under over an inch of snow. It finally melted and we took them outside. I think Keira liked this egg hunting thing. She didn't let go of her basket and wanted to hold every egg she could get her hands on. We then watched the last session of Conference and then headed over to my mom's for Easter Dinner. It was delicious!! Ham, salads, rolls, potatoes, all the good stuff. After dinner we had one last hunt at Grandma Carpenters. I think my kids got a little spoiled!!! It was a great weekend and we got to spend a lot of it with family which made it even better.

Austin's First Grade Program

Austin had his program at the end of March. I can not believe how many people were there to watch the first graders. It was crazy!! Their theme was dances around the world and Austin's class did the Virgina Reel. He did such a good job, I was so proud of him. At one point he lost his hat and instead of turning around and going to get it, he just kept dancing and got it when he went around again. Here are a few pictures of our cute little cowboy!

Bowling Rewards

First grade has been a learning experience for us. Reading, writing, and math homework every week and then the spelling words. Austin goes back and forth on his spelling words. He'll do great one week and then the next not so good. Well the last week in Feb. he came home with a note from his teacher saying that he was greatly improving in his reading in front of the class and he'd gotten 100% on his spelling and DOL from the week before. Austin couldn't wait for Travis to get home so he could tell his dad his good news. Travis was so proud of Austin! He told him we would go bowling the next day as a reward for his good work in school. So, we met Travis in Lehi and went to the new jack and jill's in Lehi. The boys had so much fun bowling. Austin and Alex both got a strike (with the bumpers) and they had fun watching the ball come back from the ball return. They thought it was cool that the bumpers popped up when it was their turn.


After bowling we went and got pizza for dinner. That whole week I would here Austin start singing to himself whenever he was washing his hands, making his bed, or playing in the toy room. He would sing over and over again, "my daddy is so proud of me". It was so cute!!

Valentines Day and almost Cali trips

We started the day off at Kangaroo Zoo. This is a Gray family tradition, one that the boys love. We got there about 10:30 and they played until 12. The boys had so much fun running around and going down the slides with their cousins. Keira just sat on my lap happy and content. Travis is the Men's Stake Athletic director and had games all morning so he didn't get to come with us this year. After all the bouncing at Kangaroo Zoo we headed home. We grabbed some lunch and I started getting ready for my date with Travis. We got my cousing Lexi to watch the kids for us while we went to dinner and a movie. When Travis got home from picking up Lex he had a HUGE bouquet of flowers for me. They are beautiful!!!! I found out later that my mom put the bouquet together. She does an awesome job! So we left the kids and went to dinner at Spaghetti Mama's. It's one of our favorite places to eat. Breadsticks, salad, pasta, and ice cream. We don't go there very often but when we do holy cow can we say CARBS! I made an early reservation so it was nice to sit and enjoy dinner and not have to worry about rushing through to get to the movie on time. We went and saw Valentines Day :D. I picked the movie, this is not something Travis would pick . . . ever. He said he liked it though. It was a cute movie. While we were at dinner Travis mentioned he might have to go to California early the next week and I said it was too bad he couldn't leave Sunday night because Austin didn't have school Monday and we might be able to work out me going too. That's all that was said pretty much until Travis called me Monday mid morning and asked how fast I could get packed and find someone to take the kids. I was to his mom's house by 2 (I was pretty impressed with myself). We didn't leave until almost 4 though. We just went to St. George that night and then we were waiting for Trav's brother Tuesday. While we were waiting I convinced Travis that we should look around the outlets. I have to say, he did pretty well. We waited until about 3 again and then decided to get back on the road. We made it to primm when our trip came to a halt. Trav's trailer was too long and he couldn't get the permits he needed to go into Cali. So he talked with some people and then dropped the equipment in Primm and we headed back. We made it to Cedar City before we pulled over and then came the rest of the way home Wednesday. It was a long trip but it was fun to spend time together. I'm glad we have such a great family that helps us out short notice like that.