Since Claire and Sophie are in school now, we have the privilege of experiencing Fall Break! This year, our break fell on October 18th and 19th. What's really cool is that the Downs' Fall Break was at the same time! They had a week-long break, and spent the first part of the week in Jackson Hole, visiting Megan at BYU-I. Then they drove to Oregon to see Natalee, Jeff's sister. Then, even though they had already done an insane amount of driving, they came all the way to Utah to spend a couple of days with us!
They arrived on Wednesday the 17th, and we happened to bump into them at Grandma Candy's. Danny and I were picking up the kids after going to visit Jessie and Devin and their new little girl, Emma Jane. There's another new Vigil cousin! Emma is beautiful, and Jessie was a trooper. We're so happy to have a new sweet spirit in our midst. Anyway, the Downs happened to get there just minutes before Danny and I did, so we stayed at Grandma's and visited for a bit. The real fun was set to begin the next morning...
On Thursday, Jami and I planned to just hang out at our house for the afternoon while Danny and Grandma Candy were working. Jami and the kids showed up around lunch time and we enjoyed just hanging out. But after a while, Jami, Rose, and Tali headed out to do some shopping. The girls were hoping to have an easier time finding modest clothes here. I'm happy to say they had some success! While they were shopping, the kids played and played and played. Lily was amazing with Claire and Sophie, and the three of them spent quite a bit of time with Sophie's new cake decorating Play-doh set.
Luke mostly just chilled and took it all in. He's cool like that. :)
Johnny just LOVED having another boy to play with! Johnny introduced Bowen and Ace to a little show he and I love called "Transformers: Prime". That sucked up a decent portion of the afternoon... ;)
These two are just too cute. It's not often you can actually catch Bowen sitting still!
Once everyone got home, we had dinner before heading to the trampoline park. Danny and I have decided that we need to manage our expectations a little better. I had volunteered to do dinner at our house for everyone, and Danny and I really tried to think of something amazing to make. We settled on a 6-foot hoagie from Smith's! And it was amazingly easy to serve, eat, and clean up after! Perfection.
We met up with Grandma Candy and Isabelle, Eli, and Ava at the trampoline park after dinner. We were sure to wait a half hour after eating, though. :) Needless to say, we had an absolute blast!! Danny and Ace had an especially good time trying to do some serious flips. Good times!
After the trampoline park, Lily came home with us for a sleepover with Claire and Sophie. The girls were so excited! They love Lily to death, and they also know that it's a rare occasion that they get to do sleepovers. Really, only when family is in town. It was late, and they were tired, so they headed straight to bed. After Lily read them a bedtime story, that is. :)
Friday morning began with some of Danny's most excellent yeast waffles and cinnamon roll syrup. It's seriously to die for, and should really not be allowed for breakfast. :) Jami and the rest of the kids came to our house for breakfast, and then the girls left for an afternoon at Gardner Village while the boys stayed home and did boy stuff. Boy stuff like "Transformers: Prime", BYU Football highlights, and Danny's favorite, throwing the football in the back yard. :) Danny actually taught Ace a couple of plays, and commented quite a few times afterward that it kind of surprised him how good Ace was. I know that Ace loved his time with Uncle Danny, and I've heard that he actually rated Friday afternoon as one of his favorite parts of their whole trip!
As for the girls, we had an awesome time at Gardner Village! What I hadn't realized before planning our trip was that it was "Witches Day Out" and there would be literally throngs of people there! But, I must say, I believe it added to the whole crazy experience. :) Grandma Candy met us there when she got off of work, and we enjoyed looking through the shops and seeing all the witches. I had so much fun with my girls! I have never done something girly with just them, and it gave me the chance to be friends with my girls for a few minutes. They loved all the sparkly, cute, and frilly things. And I learned that they both have an eye for style! Rose and Tali loved the chic boutiques, and Lily was even able to complete her Halloween costume. Grandma Candy got what she wanted...fudge and caramel apples! She got enough for all of us, cause she's cool like that, and even picked the jalapeno walnut fudge for her and I to try. Must say, it was quite tasty! We had so much fun, and Jami and I think we just might have to do it again.
On the way home from Gardner Village, Jami and Grandma Candy picked Jeff up at the airport. He had been working up in Deer Valley while we had been having all the fun. We met up at Grandma's house for French Dip Sandwiches, and enjoyed an hour or two of visiting. At this point, everyone was completely exhausted, especially the Downs clan. Jeff wanted to be on the road before dawn, and the kids were wiped out, so we said goodbye earlier than we really wanted to. It was so much fun to have them here. Danny and I are committed to getting to Denver this spring or summer and making more memories. I'd have to say that our first Fall Break was completely awesome! :)
