Spring Break!!

Sadness!! This is our last "Spring Break"! Next year, Trav will be a member of the working community, never to celebrate another Spring Break again. Good thing we took full advantage of having him around this year! Just blogging about this week has me pining to go back in time and do it all again.

Well, to really start the week, we have to start with the weekend before. We finally participated in a ward temple day and the babysitting swap. There was a little mix up at the temple so we were in Palmyra basically the entire day, but it was worth it! It was fun visiting with the Leighs as we watched the kiddos and then when we told them about Mark's pizza they decided to try it out too. This could quite possibly be our last time eating there. Such luck, we never found pizza we loved in Buffalo, it had to be all the way in Palmyra!

Side note about the temple... we did initiatories this time (my first time since doing my own! Sad!) and while Lynae and I were waiting in the foyer for the boys to be done, the temple president, Pres. Strassburg, came over to chat with us, then invited us for a little VIP tour of the basement where the baptismal font is. We followed him down the hallway and into the tiny laundry room where he opened a hidden, trap door in the floor. Then we climbed down a ladder (yes, in our skirts) into a boiler type room and then into the basement of the font where the oxen are. Pretty cool, right? According to the doctrine of Elder Tanner, who I guess came to visit, the oxen start with Rueben, facing east and go clockwise through the tribes, ending with Benjamin. Who knew?

This is a little unrelated, but Sunday night I decided to try out a Pinterest idea to make homemade donuts by cutting a hole out of a Pillsbury biscuit and frying in oil. It totally worked! And was super easy to boot. I will definitely be doing this again! (Just make sure you buy the biscuits that DO NOT have layers.) Then you can toss in cinnamon and sugar or dip in chocolate icing.

This is the recipe I used for the icing and it was legit. Your welcome! :)

Chocolate Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tablespoons milk or water

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and cocoa powder.  Slowly stir in milk and vanilla extract.  Whisk until silky and smooth.  If you need a touch more milk to make this a dippable glaze, add a bit more.

Dip doughnuts in chocolate glaze and let rest to harden slightly.

OK, now for the REAL Spring Break! 

On Monday and Tuesday, Travis still had to go to the school because he was taking the WREB, his licensing exam. This was the practical portion of the exam where examiners were flown in to actually grade him on procedures while he worked on patients. He has always felt the most comfortable with the practical part of dentistry, but I was more worried about his patients showing up! Apparently some people even pay their patients so they have more incentive for coming. Thankfully, his patients came and all seemed to go well. What a relief! Now he just waits for his results and it will be smooth sailing to graduation!!

Tuesday was Collin's birthday and party, so Wednesday was the first real day to spend together as a family. We decided to go with the Shaws to the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester. This is a really fun, hands on museum that could keep kids busy for weeks. 

Collin's favorite part by far was the tilted room that made you feel like you were being pulled down into the wall. It's kind of crazy how strong the pull feels. 

On the steps of Sesame Street. Too bad my kids won't watch it, so they had no idea why this was cool!

Weston had fun, but was just a bit too little to really enjoy things. Trying to fit into the crayon tub is fun though.

Remember this place?! I ate here during Time Out For Women last fall and it just happens to be half a mile from the museum to we walked there for lunch. So yummy!

They messed up on our order so we got an extra sandwich and two extra sides and we had already ordered lots! And it still ALL got eaten. Git her done!

Dr. Evans Jr.

We told him to say "Ah" like he was getting his teeth checked. :)

There is a fun room with rockin' music, just for dancing. MY personal favorite.

Did I mention the weather was AMAZING all week? Freakishly nice. It didn't even feel like spring, it felt like summer. So Thursday morning we walked to the park with the boys. What a nice luxury to have back! Walks!

Then I spent the whole afternoon with my friend, Marianne! It was heaven. She introduced me to my new favorite dish at Cheesecake Factory... the corn cakes, and we went and saw This Means War. Do you know how long it's been since I've seen a movie? Me either. Too long! It was a cheesy chick flick, but I liked it! Then we strolled the mall and did lots of talking. I need more girl dates like this! So fun.

On Friday afternoon we drove about 20 min. south to do the Eternal Flame hike with the Shaws. We did it once before a couple of years ago, but forgot a lighter and never got to see the flame! It was a nice day, but the trail was pretty muddy and there was lots of water! I was pretty nervous watching Trav hop stones with both boys. Look at Weston's left hand!! He might have been a bit nervous too! :)

Here's Doug managing the same feat.

We made it! You can kind of see the flame behind the falls. Glad it was already lit and we didn't have use our lighter.

Needless to say we had squishy socks when we were done.

Collin and Gavin threw rocks galore and then found this super cool fort. Hopefully Homer the homeless man didn't mind our invasion.

Saturday brought St. Patricks Day!! Growing up, my mom never celebrated holidays like this or did anything out of the ordinary (I can recall one Valentines day with pink mashed potatoes though). So I don't really feel like it's in my genes to be one of those "super cute moms". Insert {Rachel} and {Pinterest}! My kids' lives will never be the same. I thought I was being soooo cute making these rainbow colored pancakes. And I even let Collin help me. (Another thing we were NEVER allowed to do in my Mom's kitchen. Don't worry Mom, I don't blame you. I totally understand why now. I rue the day I started letting Collin help me cook!)

Anyway, back to me being way proud of my cute Mom skills.

Then I saw a picture of Rachel's pancakes. 

  Um, nailed it! 

*shoulder slump*

 She also brought us some yummy rainbow jello for later that day. Someone put a harness on that lady! It was almost too cute to eat! Almost. :)

It's Maple Fest time in Western New York so we drove down to Orchard Park to the Smith Maple Farm!

I thought this sign out in front was hysterical! Should we have been worried?

They had some animals for the kids to pet.

And an odd display of saw hacked animals.

But the best part was the shot of pure maple syrup! When they first handed it to me, I inwardly grimaced. I didn't want to drink warm syrup!! But I didn't want to be weird or rude for refusing, so I took one for the team and gulped. Yum, heaven! I wondered if they had refills, but it didn't appear so. Darn. I don't I'll ever buy the imitation stuff again! I've been converted!

OK, notice my children's attire. After the embracing of the holiday with the themed flapjacks, I go to get them dressed and don't remember to put a lick of green on them. Dad to the rescue! But laundry was also needing to be done, so there was no green to be had. Thus we have a green tie on Collin and some green pj's for Weston. They're actually pretty cute and it says Mommy's Lucky Charm on the front! haha!

Pretty comical... the quote from "Elf" about the 4 main food groups, candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup!

Their parking area was really muddy from rain and we didn't help any with our broken car that revs when the tires aren't on solid ground. It was a blood bath... excuse me, mud bath. Trav felt bad for tearing up their grass and Ol' Dirtay looked none the nicer. How cute is our car washer though?!

Then, just to confuse the children, I decided to hang up the Easter eggs in the trees. 

Weston literally tried to climb up the tree while I was doing hanging the eggs. His left leg is lifted, trying to get a hold. He is a climber! And gutsy too. Not a good combo.

That afternoon another package came from Grandma Evans. That lady needs a harness too! I don't know how she stays so organized. It had St. Patrick's day clothes for the boys and some toys. I think it's so funny that whenever Collin sees a box on our back porch, he knows it's something fun from Grandma! Doesn't help though, when it's actually a dental tool Trav has ordered or the like.

Then the Shaws had us over for a St. Patty's Day dinner. I think she should be reported to the Pinterest police.

 Who invited the patriotic party crasher in the middle?! :)

On Sunday we inadvertently scheduled another meal together when we realized we were both grilling for dinner, so why not grill together? :) (We used a Maple BBQ sauce that we bought at the Maple Farm and it was seriously good stuff!) 

It was a gorgeous evening!! So relaxing to eat on the porch and watch the kids run around and have fun. 

We had to giggle when we realized Weston was having a great time just covering his head with a bucket, then lifting it, like he was playing peek a boo with himself.

Such a fun week with our Buffalo family!! Wouldn't have changed a thing!