Spring break

We had the whole family come and stay for spring break and it was lots of fun.  We had a nice mix of activities and downtime and I think the kiddos will have some great memories.
Things started out a bit rocky for the Rinehardt's.  I got a text the morning they were coming that Spencer had a fever and felt like he was going to throw up and he ended up doing that in the car on the way to the airport...YIKES!  His virus thankfully just turned into a nasty cold.
First thing Sat. morning, we went to cheer on Reggie at his last derby car race.  We should've taken a picture of his car, but it was a Seahawk football field with astro turf.  Nice idea, but not the fastest.  Although, on the very last race they accidentally put the car on the track backward and it would've had a much better shot because it was so much faster!  I guess it does matter where you put the weights.

We went to the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz and it was really interesting.  I think a lot of it was optical illusion, but there was definitely something strange going on.  Our guide used mom's phone to demonstrate the strange compass movement and it was way off.  It made me feel kinda sick too.

 Here's the kids all lined up, not even realizing they are leaning.

 This was a height demonstration and it was really strange how it worked.

After that we drove to Santa Cruz and played in the ocean.  Who knew the kids would love the surf so much.  The water was really cold, 57 degrees!

 Khalif had mentioned the week before that he wanted to fly kites and that seemed like a fun activity for the group, so we took a trip to Walmart and everyone picked a kite.  The boys flew much better and Reggie and Spencer REALLY enjoyed flying them.  The girls lost interest and played at the park and Khalif, well, his got stuck in a tree.  He had a bit of a hard time listening when we told him to stop running and to stay away from the trees and unfortunately, that was the natural consequence.  Reggie was bound and determined to get it down and was really bothered that it happened, but even with all his and grandpa's trying, it stayed in the tree.

We made a trip to Pump it Up, but because it was spring break, they turned us away.  The kids were pretty disappointed and I found an old punch card from Parti Palooza (from their visit 2 years ago!) and so we went there.  It worked out so much better because no one was there and the kids got have free reign of the place.
Everybody climbed.

 Mom and I had some fun playing foosball.  It sure takes a lot of coordination.

We also celebrated Spencer's birthday and went to Sweet Tomatoes.  We gave him some roller skates and Reggie was helping him learn.  The kids were really busy outside, riding scooters and jumping on the trampoline a whole lot.  The weather was really nice.  We also went to the gym pool and swam for a few hours.  We spent some time in the indoor and outdoor pools :o).  The last day, we made it to the movie Home and everyone really enjoyed that.

 The cousin picture

Mom and dad (well not so much dad, but he kept busy doing projects in the yard!) were a great help (Liha and Wade went away for 4 nights) feeding these kids and keeping track of them.  It was pretty smooth overall, except Spencer shared his germs with everyone and the kids are still coughing.
We celebrated my 39th birthday while mom and dad were here and they planted our garden and we are patiently waiting for lettuce, green beans, snap peas, peppers, strawberries, corn and raspberries to grow!  So exciting :o).

It was good timing because Reggie had his school play on my birthday and Ainsley had the egg drop (her egg did not break-the egg was surrounded by marshmallows and put in a cardboard box and dropped 2 stories) and grandma and grandpa got to go and watch.
Video of Reggie as one of the Wright Brothers: