Spring Break!!

 I wish Spring Break would last forever, but I realize a break is even better after we've been working so hard on making it a successful school year. It's crazy to realize that a year ago, Eli didn't go back to school after spring break because of the pandemic. 

This week we explored Kansas City and learned so much about our city. 

Monday: Art Museum

I got a horrible headache as we explored the museum, so we didn't stay too long. The kids watched movies all afternoon while I napped. 

Eleanor is very creative and it keeps us entertained. Here she is dressed up as an FBI agent. She put this entire outfit together, including the notebook. 

Tuesday:

I was grateful to wake up and feel better! We went to the library and then the kids drew all over the windows with window crayons. I got them for free from a lady in the ward and I instantly remembered how much I despise them as we cleaned the windows so I tossed the markers.  

Sleeping baby!

Wednesday: St. Patrick's Day - the one day a year I buy Lucky Charms. The kids love reading in this piano room. 

Green photo shoot!

Adelaide needs a John Deere shirt!

While Eli does his math tutor session on Wednesdays, the other kids get to do zoom story time with Angela's kids in Utah. So fun!

Thursday: I've been craving empanadas. I found this place that sells some so we drove down to buy some for lunch and then deliver lunch to Aaron. The flavored meat was delicious, but they didn't taste like the ones from Argentina. I guess we'll just have to plan a trip to Argentina soon. :)

We rode the street car for the first time. It's free! The kids loved it as much as they loved the caves we explored last weekend in Springfield that cost a lot of money. Go figure. 

We grabbed ice cream at the crown center before heading home. 

Friday:

The sun finally appeared! It had been cooler and rainy all week so we happily welcomed the sunshine. We walked around the Living History Museum - also free! We spent the rest of the afternoon at the park. I even got a little sunburn on my face.  

Adelaide is the best napper wherever we go - I'm grateful she's so flexible. 

Friday night Aaron and I went on a date to see The Lamb of God movie. I cried and felt the spirit so much. It was the perfect way to welcome the Easter season. I'm grateful for my mother that taught us to appreciate music. We even bought the soundtrack from the movie, which I'm positive we haven't done before. Aaron and I both can't stop talking about it. I'm going again this week before it leaves the theaters and I can't wait. 

Saturday:

I forgot to note that Eleanor woke up several times Friday night and threw up. It was messy and exhausting. Aaron is so helpful in situations like that. We tag teamed it and survived the evening. We prayed several times that she would be okay and we're grateful she woke up feeling better and hungry. 

A new family has moved into the ward and their son had a little birthday celebration. Since we haven't been to a ton of birthday parties this year, the kids loved it. 

And here is Ms. Adelaide waking up from her carseat nap. She slept all during church today. She always looks so cute and then sleeps during church, but I'm not complaining! 

When I tucked the boys into bed, I told them that I can't believe Spring Break is officially over. Several times this week, I felt so much gratitude that my kids have siblings close in age. Yes, I feel overwhelmed sometimes and lose my temper often. Yes, I have my hands full. Yes, we're exhausted. Yes, our house is loud. Yes, I wonder if we'll survive some days. Yes, it's all worth it. Yes, I love being a mother. Yes, I realize these days pass by quickly. 

Springfield

 This was an interesting week - last month, I organized a family reunion for the Pavlovskys with plans of meeting up in Estes Park at the YMCA at Rocky Mountain National Park. I took care of all the paperwork to reserve the rooms and put together an itinerary for everyone. When I signed the contract, I noticed that the only way we could get out of the contract was if it was an "act of God." Tuesday morning this week, Alex informed us of a historic winter storm headed to Colorado. We couldn't believe it! We all prayed so much about what we should do and with the high winds mixed with extreme winter weather, we knew it was best to cancel. The miracle of it all was that the YMCA agreed to refund all of our money - all of it!! I cried because I was looking forward to seeing my family, but I'm so grateful we were able to cancel the trip early and no one was put in danger because of the storm. Tuesday morning when I went to make breakfast for my family, I noticed this scripture printed on the egg carton. This scripture came to mind when I felt devastated about our trip being canceled. 

Wednesday night, the YW decorated cakes with the theme of "He is Risen." When I was first called into YW, there was only ONE YW! A new family recently moved in and now we have 9 active YW! Another miracle! 

The boys brought home some proofs of their Spring school pictures. I cut out the proofs and took these pictures as a memory because I didn't intended to pay for the pictures. 

With our original plans canceled, we decided to take a trip to Springfield, MO - 3 hours south of us. Aaron was there last month for work so he was familiar with the area. We had the best time being together. Three hours in the perfect distance for a road trip. We didn't have to stop and Adelaide slept the entire way. 

Our first stop:

Fantastic Caverns. 

We also drove by the world's largest fork haha.

We were all excited to stay at a hotel and swim! When Aaron and the kids walked down to the pool, they quickly returned back to our room and told me the pool is OUTSIDE. We talk often about being "flexible thinkers" and we decided since we couldn't swim, we'd watch a movie and eat ice cream instead. Braums was right across the street from our hotel. 

Everyone slept so well at the hotel. We had a delicious breakfast before heading to Bass Pro. We went to the aquarium and nature center. 

The kids drew a picture and then scanned it to join the other creatures on the screen. They jumped for joy when they found their creatures swimming around!

We spent 4 hours at Bass Pro and then grabbed a late lunch at Braums. Of course we had ice cream again. :) 

Here are some pictures from Aaron's phone as well:

We returned home Saturday evening and slept happily in our beds. 

We weren't planning on being at church today so we felt extra grateful to be able to attend.

Colorado did get hit with lots of snow today - Alex told us that their church was canceled and even part of the interstate was closed. Although I was sad about our Colorado trip being canceled, we ended up having a great weekend together. Alex and Bryan also signed a contract for a new house on Friday evening that they wouldn't have seen if we had been up in Estes Park. Heavenly Father really is in the details of our lives and this week reminded me that even if something doesn't work out as I want it to, Heavenly Father has something better in store for us.