Spencer Clan!: Easter 2012!

Better late then never, here is my Easter post! Richard and I decided to take off with the kids Friday morning for Kalispell. Just to get away as a family and have some fun. I got a hotel on Priceline, and we went to Red Lion. It is a perfect place to stay with kids. The pool is nice and the breakfast is delicious and there is something there that all my kids like (that's a feat in of itself!)!

We got down there early Friday afternoon. The kids were all restless and ready to get out of the vehicle. So we stopped at McDonald's Playplace. They have a blast running around and playing. We noticed that DJ was not acting his happy normal self. He was sad and kept saying, "Go Home Mom. Me go home. Peeaaassse." It was so sad. He was laying around on the floor in the playplace. We finally got him to come up on our laps. But he wanted to lay down. I've taken him to the doctors (since this trip) and we can't figure out what's going on. I'm taking him again today. It's been 2 weeks and he just doesn't have the energy that he normally has and is complaining about having an ouie. But I can't figure out where it is. I've had his ears, throat and nose checked and they are all fine. He's on his third day of having a fever. Poor kid. So hopefully we can figure out what's going on. It hasn't been a very fun couple of weeks. He's not his happy self and wants to be carried everywhere (he's a big boy). I've been taking my stroller places so he can sit in that. Normally there's no way he'd sit in the stroller. He will walk for a little bit then stand there and cry. Anyways, I've been a little worried about him and hope we can find out what's bothering him.

Well back to our weekend away. We finally got DJ to agree to go to the hotel. He loved it there. He called it his house. We went swimming and the kids had a blast playing in the pool. We came back and got dressed and I took the kids for a walk to the mall, which is joined to the hotel. Richard went and got us some supper to eat in our room. We decided not to go out to eat since DJ was so sad. He was a lot happier in the hotel. We ate some yummy pizza and watched a movie. Then I went back to the mall to do some shopping at JC Penny's by myself.

In the morning we all went swimming again after eating breakfast. We decided not to be in a rush. So we took our time. Check out wasn't till noon, so that was nice. We checked out and went and did some shopping at Walmart. I got the kids all new swimsuits and some shorts too. I got a few grocery items that we always stock up on when we go down.Then we went to Lowes and Richard had to get a few things. I stayed in the car with the kids until Richard called my phone and we had to come in to give him something. The kids helped me pick out some seeds to plant in our garden. They are all very excited about having a garden! I got them all a little garden shovel. They were very excited! We then went and ate at McDonalds and had everyone use the bathroom so we could be on our way home. I wanted to stop at Target before we left. But DJ was done by that point. So we got a movie going and Richard dropped me off. I ran in and quickly got the things I wanted. I'm a fast shopper when I'm by myself. I came out and gave the kids there own little snack cup full of cookies and crackers and gave them a drink and we were on our way. DJ had a good nap on the way home, actually so did Cadence and Brianna and Richard too!

We got home around 6pm, and I hurried and made us a quick supper. Then we unpacked and put things away. We bought the movie, Toy Story, so we had a movie night. We already had Toy Story 2 and 3, so I decided to finish the collection. We had popcorn and enjoyed watching the movie together. They didn't get to bed till later (9:30pm) since they all had a nap. It was 10pm by the time they were all asleep. Then the Easter bunny got to work!

DJ woke up early, around 6am. I kept him in his room, watching a movie so his sisters could sleep a little bit longer. I quickly hid the eggs while he was watching his movie. The girls woke up around 8am. They were super excited and couldn't wait to go find their baskets and eggs. It was fun to watch them run around looking. I helped DJ a little, but we made the girls look by themselves. They would come back to us and ask us where it is. We would give them little clues like, have you looked behind everything. They all found their own baskets. It was fun to watch them.

DJ was the first to find his Easter bucket, behind the curtains.

Brianna found hers in the reading room.

Cadence finally found hers hidden in the hallway closet. She must of walked by it so many times!

Abbi's was the trickiest. It was hidden in our china cabinet. She was so happy to find her bucket!

They ate chocolate all morning long. So by the time we went to church at 1pm they were all pretty hyped up with sugar. We got to church early and sat down on our bench. DJ proceeded to pull out his cars that he brought WITH a car mat. Yup a car mat, it was big, in church. Didn't realize he had packed that in his backpack. Crazy kid. Richard picked it up and took it out to the suburban. Well DJ proceeded to FREAK out. Screaming and crying over his "tar mat"! He was so over tired. So I took the keys and him and we went for a little drive. I think it took all of 5 minutes and he was gone. I came back to church and carried him in and he slept in my arms during Sacrament Meeting. He was a little grumpy about going to primary but went to class really good. Funny boy!

After church we went over to my parents for Easter dinner. Cam was there with his 3 girls, Megan, David and Tiffani was there too. It was a yummy dinner. Fun to sit and visit too. After we ate Megan and David played the Easter bunny and went and hid some plastic eggs around the backyard. They told all the kids that they could find 2 eggs each. Well they were off. I was with DJ and we were walking around. We found one egg and we're looking for his last one. I found one hidden underneath some cut grass. I pointed and he excitedly went to pick it up. Just then a huge spider came on top of the grass. Well he jumped back and was like, "Uh uh, mo (meaning no) egg." I smashed the spider and he went to pick the egg up and the crazy spider legs moved again. Sheesh, poor kid was getting traumatized. So I kicked the egg away from the spider and he happily picked it up. It was a bit funny to watch. After us adults played a game. It was fun to relax and enjoy ourselves. It was beautiful out, so the kids had a blast playing outside.

On Monday I cleaned quickly in the morning. Then we had to go take Richard into Lethbridge to pick up his van. He got a sign on it. Then we had to fly back home to pick up a few things. I threw in the kids bikes in the back and then we went to Cardston. We got there just in time to eat. I was planning on getting there earlier but it just didn't work. We were at the church. We ate and then Lisa, Mandy and I played Easter bunny and hid eggs in 3 big rooms of the church. The kids then took off looking. It was cute to watch. They all definitely got their fill of candy this Easter! Then Grandma put on the movie to watch, while everyone was eating their candy. The kids had fun going out in the parking lot and riding bikes and then coming back to the gym to run around. It was good times. My girls are getting so good on their bikes. It's funny to watch them zoom around. I think it's Abbi's goal in life to go as fast as she can and as close as she can to everything. She scares me! We cleaned up the church and moved the party across the street to Mom and Dad Spencer's house. It was nice out and the kids had a blast playing outside. We headed home at a decent time, since I knew my kids were going to be so tired. It was a fun, busy weekend!