Our recipe for a super Spring Break:

Invite family to come in town, see a Giants game, go horseback riding, celebrate Easter, visit the farm, ride the train, and enjoy local parks. Sprinkle with a little sickness and spread the germs around liberally for about 1 week. Enjoy! :)

That's pretty much our spring break in a nutshell. But if you'd like TONS more details and TONS of pictures, you are welcome to read my mammoth journal below:

My dad and his kids came up on Friday April 2nd to spend some time with my sister and me and our families. It worked out great that it was the beginning of Spring break and Easter weekend, so we had lots of excuses to party!

My dad got a shot of everyone right as we got to my sister's house. Can you believe these cute 9 kids? They played so well together all weekend, and we had a great time toting them around to some fun activities. 

First on the list: riding the train to the Giants game.

It was raining when we left the train station, but by the time we got to the game, the skies had cleared up and it was a lovely afternoon and evening. Did I mention that we got there an hour and a half early?!?! (My dad is the KING of punctuality.) It ended up being the greatest idea. Really. I hope to always get to ball games that early.

The kids rode the slides at the stadium a hundred times,

Cole had the mini-baseball field all to himself (sliding into home plate every time),

and we got to eat dinner before there were long lines. The kids even got their own Build-A-Bear pets, and are still in love with them!

My sweet sister stayed home with her 2 boys and my Annie (her oldest was sick, and the babies were napping when we left), but my brother-in-law who works in the city met us over at the game.

We left after the 3rd inning though because we had a long train ride home plus we needed to get the kids to bed so they could wake up early the next day.

I grabbed the kids out of bed at 6:20 Saturday morning (Tyler was on call and couldn't come with us, boo-hoo) to meet up with my sister and dad to caravan down to Half Moon Bay for some horseback riding. I enjoyed the beautiful drive down to the coast, and took note of the half moon (how appropriate!) in the sky as the sun rose. I didn't dare try and get a shot of the moon while I drove though...

The SeaHorse Ranch had an early-bird special at 8am that we wanted to be sure to make. You better believe we were the first ones there at 7:30am (thanks to our trusty punctual leader--dad!). Here are the kids waiting for the gate to open.

Whitney was just turning around to tell me I couldn't take a picture. Ha! Gotcha!

You had to be 5 or older to ride the horses, so I stayed back with Annie, Cole, brother-in-law Brad and nephew Andrew. Heidi and my dad took these 6 kids on an adventure!

Here is Whitney mounting her horse and just trying not to smile with delight:

I thought these few pictures above would be all I would get from the horseback riding excursion. The lady had explained (for obvious reasons) that no cameras were allowed on the ride, so after the horses left, Brad and I drove up the road to take the little kids on a pony ride.

Oh my word. What a fun experience for these little munchkins. Annie and Andrew took turns riding this pony on laps around a little track. Cole absolutely REFUSED to get touch or ride it. He kept saying, "I don't want to ride on something that poops, mom!!" I didn't push it. Cole just walked laps with us instead.

Annie had a nice fall flat on her face into the dirt.

Annie sported what my brother-in-law called the "Kentucky Waterfall" since I forgot hair items to make her hair look a little better. I thought I had her hat in the car as a back-up plan... but it disappeared. I guess the mullet was a nice touch to have while pony riding.

Towards the end of our time with the pony, my brother-in-law and I were telling the babies that it was their last turn etc. Out of nowhere, Cole says in an exasperated tone, "OooohKAY Mom, I'll let you take ONE picture of me by the horse... JUST one!" And this is what I got.

In my family, we call this the "Garth face"--back from the old movie "Wayne's World." The character Garth (Dana Carvey) would do this I-really-like-it-but-I'm-going-to-try-and-hide-my-smile-from-you-type of face. It's the best. Once Brad & I saw the Garth face, we knew that we could use a little reverse psychology on Cole to get him to just try riding the horse. Comments like "Okay Cole, I got the picture of you by the horse, now just please DON'T sit on the horse for me to take a picture of you." and "No... please don't get on; that would be TOO brave..." only lit his desire to hop right on.

Brad even thought to compliment Cole by saying, "Wow! You look just like Indiana Jones!!" I.J. is just one of Cole's many favorite people right now, so after that comment, Cole practically spurred the horse into action. The babies were pretty much done...

...so Brad took Cole for a few laps around the track before we put the pony back. Talk about HEAVEN for a little boy. I was so glad he tried it out... as of course was he.

After the pony rides, we took the kids over to the local grocery store for a treat and then met up with the big horseback riding group. Grins from ear to ear greeted us. Everyone couldn't say enough wonderful things about their ride.

They told us how they went through a forest, crossed a river, went down a steep slope, and then trotted on the beach. We learned that Whitney's horse was a spunky guy named Magic, and my dad's horse was appropriately named Mr. Ed. I was excited to hear about a man who followed around the group on his Segway taking pictures. My dad kindly bought the CD for everyone to share, and these images in the collage below were just a few taken by the Segway man. You can click on it to enlarge if you like:

After horseback riding, we decided to have a picnic at a local park and then head back home for some rest.

After my kids napped, we took them over to my sister's house to celebrate my nephew Caleb's 9th birthday. And I just have to stop and mention that this kid is a walking BRAIN. Caleb started "The Lightning Thief" book over spring break and finished it in about 4 hours. (That book took me 3 weeks to get half-way through before I had to return it to the library!!) I think his new nickname should be Johnny 5 because of his speed-reading abilities.

The Wii cake was made by his 10 year old Uncle Spencer. Didn't it turn out great?

Sunday morning, the kids discovered their Easter baskets...

... and we had a nice morning together before heading over to my sister's again for the Easter brunch and egg hunt. Look at these kids all lined up and ready to go. I promise I did Annie's hair before we left. She had a pretty pearl headband in... but I should have known that it wouldn't last more than half an hour. So... she sported the Easter mullet for us.

The kids were, of course, stoked about their loot:

After the hunt, we enjoyed a lovely spread of food including a perfect Honey Baked Ham, au gratin potatoes, spinach salad, fruit salad, rolls, and a veggie tray. Then we had the kids decorate Easter cookies for dessert. It was a lovely afternoon and evening together despite the rain that started after our egg hunt. We said our good-byes to the Harrisons because they would be leaving super early Monday morning to head back home.

The rest of Spring Break was spent enjoying some sunny weather and having no schedule!! The kids stayed up late, slept in, and just partied with their friends and cousins. Oh, and how could I forget? The kids took turns being sick for about 24 hours each during the week too. When they weren't sick we took them to the local farm to feed animals and ride the train:

Actually... Cole started feeling sick about this time, but he did not want to miss that train ride. You can see his sad little face in the top corner:

Another day, we took the kids for a picnic and "nature walk." I've probably mentioned here before that Whitney will whine and complain if we say we're going hiking, but nature walks must sound less daunting to her.

Anyway, my sister and I get such a kick out of watching these two play together. One minute, they're discussing the river flowing below... 

...and the next minute, they're fighting over a random stick. Terrific 2 year olds!

These girls went hunting for butterflies...

...and with the help of their big bro/cousin, they were able to give the butterfly a home. Whitney decided to let it free after a few hours though.

One other simple pleasure was finding a heart-shaped rock:

They are the sweetest little friends. 

Oh! Whitney's biggest spring break highlight was her first sleepover with her cousin! She got pampered with a manicure & pedicure, a drive-in movie, and a delicious breakfast in the morning.

We love our cousins so much, and are trying to wrap our brains around the fact that we only have about 14 more months left with these guys. Next summer when we move, half of our hearts will be ripped out and left in Nor Cal... that's for sure!