spring break 2022

Spring Break started out with a birthday party at Main Event. It was absolutely nuts, but Brooke sure loved celebrating with Zalaya and her cute friends. 

I may be overprotective, but I was not about to leave Brooke there without me.  I had no idea how Zalaya's mom was going to keep up with all the girls plus her own little ones. I dislike Main Event for this very reason, but the kids all seem to love it :)  Since I had Colby with me, I bought him an all-you-can-play arcade pass.  He was loving life until he found out that you don't get any game points when you have that pass, which meant that he didn't earn any prizes.  I feel like they should have mentioned that tiny detail when we bought the pass, but he still had fun, so I tried to sell him on that point. 

The next day, we headed to Dinosaur World!  I had heard great things about this place, but since we'd never been, the kids were super excited. It's located in Glen Rose, Texas which is just over an hour away from our house, so it made for the perfect day trip.

We purchased our tickets and headed out to explore.  As you start out on the path, this giant dinosaur head greets you...

We passed a playground and came upon a dinosaur dig area.  Brooke wasn't super interested, which surprised me, but Colby went right to work. 

As you walk the path through the park, they have different groupings of dinosaurs.  The place was pretty empty (maybe because the tickets were pricey!), so we had lots of time to read each sign and take pictures. 

My favorites were the giant long necks...

They also looked super cool from the other side of the pond. 

So many dinosaurs meant SO many pictures!  And for once it wasn't me instigating them.

The weather was amazing and the kids loved this unique playground. What's not to love about climbing on giant replicas of dinosaur fossils?

Apparently I've passed on my love for rocks to Brooke and Colby because they were SUPER eager to do the gem excavation. 

We all loved this adventure, and it fueled our excitement to head over to the Dinosaur Valley State Park to find actual dinosaur tracks!

I am so glad that we made a reservation at the state park because the line to get in was long and they were turning people away that didn't have a reservation.  

The Paluxy River was beautiful and we loved exploring.  I have learned that my kids are happiest when they are outside playing. 

The water was still pretty freezing, but that didn't keep my kids out of it. 

I can't even remember why Colby was shirtless, but apparently he needed to sunbathe on that rock :)

I was underwhelmed with the tracks when I thought they were within that roundish hole with the sign stuck in it.  The sign had an arrow pointing down, so I figured that was it.  And since the water was low, they had the whole area roped off.  We explored a different part of the river, but as we came back a few hours later, we saw a guide and stopped to listen with his group.  He explained that all those roundish holes were sauropod prints.  Once he pointed out other prints as well (the three-toed ones from an Acrocanthosaurus), they became super obvious and I felt like a dummy.  

Colby's hand for comparison...

My foot for comparison...

With some tips from the guide, we eventually found the Blue Hole and the Ballroom Track Site.  I definitely want to go back when it's warmer so we cam swim in the Blue Hole, but the Ballroom site had a TON of prints and I was geeking out about the abundance of prints and the fact that I could touch and see actual prints that were millions of years old!  

Wednesday was lake day and it was a fabulous 5 hours with friends!

I worked on a castle with the kids before our friends arrived, but Brooke didn't want to be in the picture. 

As I look back at this picture, I just wish Colby would've kept his shirt on!  He had submerged himself in the water and when he was freezing cold, he ditched the rash guard.  The burn happened within an hour because I eventually put sunscreen on him, but it was too late at that point and the damage was done.  I despise spring sunburns when our winter skin can't handle the extra rays.

I snuggled baby Landry (Kiley's daughter) for a few hours and was in baby heaven :)

Our friends coordinated a fun kickball game that evening, but while the boys played, Brooke and I took turns holding sweet baby Asael and chatting with Miss Rachel. 

We had our first ever sleepover with Auntie Mel Mel and her girls at our house.  We started with pizza and a show, the kids played, then we settled in the loft for a slumber party.  Colby only lasted two minutes because his sunburn was hurting and he wanted to lay in his own bed, but everyone else (including Mel and I on the couch) slept decently well. 

Waffles and berries the next day for breakfast...

We ventured to La Jolla park, did some guided drawings (Emery felt like SUCH a big kid at the desk with Colby), played with hair (multiple style changes, one of which I commented looked like an 80's style), crafted with air dry clay and played for hours.  These kids loved having the whole day together!!

The Peacocks were loaded up and ready to go, but the kids just weren't ready to say goodbye!  We agreed on 15 more minutes, which probably turned into more like 30, but we had a blast! Just love these cousins so much!!