OK.....we do not go away for Spring Break. Ever. Because with 8 kids, come on....that would be insanely expensive. We have gone to Duluth in the past, when the boys were young. But now? Good heavens, there are so many of us......trap us in a tiny little house in Duluth for a few days in the winter, for crying out loud, and you really do not want to see what becomes of a situation like that. Trust me.
Played in the sand.....and a bit of leftover snow,
Took a few pictures,
Saw some geese,
And took in an awesome bird show.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at our house playing on the trampoline, plasma cars, and with the plethora of toys found at every turn. It was a fantastic way to spend some quality time with the cousins and see their personalities unfold. 
We wished they could have stayed for a few more days......the girls were all over the possible sleepover idea. The little boys however, were certainly not.
Jonny was able to maintain control each time, and had superb balance on his skis.
This year, we were beyond thrilled when my brother and his family decided to come visit us from Miami over Spring Break. Why a bunch of Floridians would want to come to this God-forsaken winter drained, moldy, land of visible death and neglect, is beyond me. Those are their own personal issues they will have to work out. But for us, our seasonal boredom was shattered into a million little pieces. And that was a good thing!
Day 1
We spent our first evening together celebrating St Patrick's Day, and enjoying our annual holiday meal. I prepared all the usual fare--corned beef and cabbage, Irish cream cake, green lemon jello, and Irish soda bread. We then transported it over to my parents' house to celebrate with the rest of the Irish fam.....who unlike us, have perfectly good Irish surnames to boot!
Food was great, the company was better. I am so grateful that they are able to make it out to Minnesota to visit nearly once every year. It is also so wonderful to hang out together, and seems like perhaps they do NOT live so very far away.
The girls got right to chatting, and picked up where their last long distance phone call had left off a few weeks earlier.
The girls got right to chatting, and picked up where their last long distance phone call had left off a few weeks earlier.
The boys found their energy matches in their younger cousins. Between wrestling, running, and marching endlessly around the house in their own St Patrick's Day parade, it was a wonder any of those boys were still standing after the evening was over.
Day 2
The next day brought a trip to the Minnesota Zoo. With such unseasonably warm weather for the middle of March (highs in the 50's and 60's), there really was no better place to spend the day!
We walked and walked,
Played in the sand.....and a bit of leftover snow,Played in the park,
Took a few pictures,Saw some geese,And took in an awesome bird show. We finished the day off with dinner back at Grandma and Grandpa's, Dilly bar treats outside, 
and silly racing games with Uncle Cally involving, a giant frisbee, ring toss rings, shirt sleeves tied together, and a few other random, odd things. 
Before we headed home, the kids treated us to a special "play" called "Haunted"......a creative experience taking place in the dark, with floating glow-in-the-dark dinosaur bones roaming throughout the living room amongst never ending high-pitched little kid voices chanting "haunt-ted!, haunt-ted!" over and over without ceasing. So cute......so funny....and unfortunately, completely unphotographable! Hoping that my memory will keep that one fresh for a very long time!
and silly racing games with Uncle Cally involving, a giant frisbee, ring toss rings, shirt sleeves tied together, and a few other random, odd things. Before we headed home, the kids treated us to a special "play" called "Haunted"......a creative experience taking place in the dark, with floating glow-in-the-dark dinosaur bones roaming throughout the living room amongst never ending high-pitched little kid voices chanting "haunt-ted!, haunt-ted!" over and over without ceasing. So cute......so funny....and unfortunately, completely unphotographable! Hoping that my memory will keep that one fresh for a very long time!Day 3
Our third adventure day took place in our little town. Being from Florida, the cousins look forward to doing wintry,cold things that are impossible to do in their sunny state. What better thing to do than to take them ice skating?
Open skate at our arena was slow at best during this Spring Break, so we had plenty of room to strut our stuff and give those new blades a try. I had brought my kids to Open Skate earlier in the week to give Melissa's new skates a try, and to see if it was possible at all to skate with my ankle in a special athletic brace I had found. Melissa did ok, and was excited about her new skates.
I was able to make my skates work.....certainly NOT pain free.....but as long as I only turned left, I managed decently.
Melissa was so proud of herself as she went from clinging onto the boards to taking the tiniest baby steps ever across the ice without supports. The large smile lit across the span of her face said it all.
Laura gave some effort at trying to skate.....for about 20 seconds. She spent the rest of the hour playing in the warming area with Grandma and Grandpa and cousin Matthew. After all the work to get her ready and paying her entrance fee, it was a bit annoying.
Tubby had done some great skating on Monday....his first time ever on skates. This time however, he was only interested in being pushed around the ice while sitting on a folding chair. The bigger boys were plenty happy to comply to such a request. What a way to ride!
We spent the rest of the afternoon at our house playing on the trampoline, plasma cars, and with the plethora of toys found at every turn. It was a fantastic way to spend some quality time with the cousins and see their personalities unfold. We wished they could have stayed for a few more days......the girls were all over the possible sleepover idea. The little boys however, were certainly not.Day 4
Ski day!!! Since the snow has melted only days before the arrival of our southern cousins, we were forced to travel elsewhere to find the white stuff for the kids to play in. I took Jonny and Crispy skiing at Afton Alps for a beautiful day of sun, snow, and fun with our long distance relatives. Melissa and Bethany came along to keep the Grandparents and I company as we spent the day in the chalet (Skiing was NOT going to work with my bum ankle).
After an hour long lesson by a very patient instructor named Dustin, my boys were itching to hit the slopes on their own. Up the ski lift. Back down the hill. Up the ski lift. Flying down the hill. Up the ski lift on the other side. Down the other hill at break neck speed. 
Up and Down. Up and Down. They went on like this for a full 7 hours!! It was amazing! Neither of them wanted to take breaks. And Crispy couldn't even stand to wit for Jonny for 30 seconds when they did come in for potty or water breaks. These boys were having an absolute blast!
Up and Down. Up and Down. They went on like this for a full 7 hours!! It was amazing! Neither of them wanted to take breaks. And Crispy couldn't even stand to wit for Jonny for 30 seconds when they did come in for potty or water breaks. These boys were having an absolute blast!Crispy refused to practice his turns coming down the hill, so he looked like a little yellow rocket blazing a trail down the Minnesota "mountain".
Jonny was able to maintain control each time, and had superb balance on his skis.I was quite impressed with both of them. If it were not so darned expensive, perhaps this is a sport we could partake in more than once every 15 years!
I enjoyed the time with Melissa inside, and she was a real sport as we sat in that hot little sun drenched building for hours on end. Bethany had a little surprise for us as well.....she crawled! Two little crawling "steps" on the hard table between Melissa and I.
For a bunch of people who are not so athletically gifted, we did pretty well that day!
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