The Winter Break that Never Ends

I really enjoy having Mason home from work and the kids home from school, but it's been a long time since we did that kind of break in winter.  In Guam during "winter vacation" it meant hiking, going to the beach, scuba diving dates, playing outside, and relaxing.  Which to be honest came it it's own set of hardness and strangeness.  Growing up in the Midwest, warm Thanksgiving and Christmas is still weird to me.  It's hard to stay all snuggly in pjs and lay on the couch being lazy when it's 80 degrees and palm trees are outside.

Anyways, the kids got out of school for winter break on January 21st.  The first week was pretty fast.  The boys had a sleepover that Friday night with my parents, they got to play all day the following day and we picked them up Saturday evening and had dinner with my parents and sister.  The next day we headed North to see Mason's grandparents for Christmas.  We  had a cousin playdate at the park afterwards.  Christmas Eve we had visits at our house from Mason's sister's family, Mason's mom, and a full day with family and presents.  Christmas Day we opened presents and played most of the day before heading to my parents for dinner.  The rest of that week we enjoyed playing with toys, going to the Brookfield Zoo, taking it easy since Max and I got the head colds back for the 3rd time, and then hosting my family for dinner and a game night last Saturday.  Then it got cold, and drizzly, and we didn't want to go out in the crowds and spend gobs of money to do so.

I've had the extreme mixed feelings between staying at home nibbling meals throughout the day, building lego sets here and there, reading books, and enjoying family time.  But yesterday felt like the 1,000th day in the middle of an ocean with no land in sight.  Cabin fever set in, Max has given up naps but gets crazy, Theo and Woodrow were bouncing off of the walls.  Time for school!!!

Thankfully today we were able to bundle up and head outdoors.  It was sunny and 35-40 degrees most of the day, so we headed to the River Trail Nature Center/forest near our house.  The kids like to see the different animals there, play in the play area, and we walked along one trail.  After playing there for quite some time (they even had a special activity day going on, which was odd for a Thursday), we went to a different trailhead area and Mason brought along the kids scooters, bikes, and a football.  And lest I forget...snacks!  The boys had a blast snacking and tossing the ball around with each other.  After an hour Max and I retired to the car and watched an episode of Mister Rogers Neighborhood on my phone.  Max fell asleep a minute before the boys came bouncing into the car. 

Luckily, Max fell back asleep which allowed us to stop at the mailbox and Library on the way home.  Theo, Woodrow, and I were on a book mission and Mason hung back with sleepy Max.  Overall a  nice day and glad to be back outdoors!