Spring break!

Jack was on Spring Break this week, and I think it's a sign that I am so not ready for him to go to kindergarten that I'm actually dreading going back to our normal school schedule tomorrow. We had so much fun not being tied to anything other than social obligations. It was nice that all our friends were off as well.

We kicked the week off with a T-ball game on Saturday and then a birthday party for Jack's favorite preschool buddy. The next Sunday was Palm Sunday, and the kids participated in the Procession of Palms at church, which has become an annual tradition for our family.

On Monday morning, we went to the Carlsbad Flower Fields with our friends. This has also become an annual tradition, although I don't know how much longer I'll keep it up. The flowers are beautiful, but aside from taking pictures, there's not a whole lot to do up there that makes it worth the $15 (and that's with a coupon!) entrance fee. Later that afternoon, my parents and my sister drove down for a visit.

On Tuesday, my mom and sister went with us to the once and future Wild Animal Park (I still can't get used to calling it Safari Park). In keeping with the theme of fulfilling annual traditions this week, we visited the Butterfly Jungle, as we do every year. We are old hands at butterfly gardens by now, and I know enough to always dress my kids in yellow to maximize potential butterfly encounters. Sure enough, Jack had three butterflies land on him. My mom had two land on her. That evening, we had a fun dinner playdate and Easter egg hunt at a friend's house.

The next day was Violet's birthday, about which I've already written. On Thursday, we met up with some friends of mine from high school for lunch and a park playdate. And then on Friday, we went to Jack's piano lesson, followed by an all-day long playdate with even more friends.

Saturday morning was our church's annual Easter festival. Jack (with a little bit of maternal help) found the golden egg. As usual, Violet was not happy when I had her sit on the Easter bunny's lap for a picture. This morning we went to our church's Easter service. I love that we are establishing and maintaining family traditions every holiday, and it's even more fun now that Violet is old enough to really participate.

Tomorrow, we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming. But it was great having both my babies home with me all week.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate it!