Michael and Mallory: Spring Break

I admit, I was really worried going into this spring break. Madie has a poor track record for getting along with her family after being at school. After school was dreadful for the first five months. Thanksgiving break wasn't good. Christmas break was bad for the first few days, but did get better. Then the end of January and aaaaall through February we dealt with snow days. I lamented to my friend Trish about how horrible it was. "Oh I know," she said. "In fact, this is the first year it hasn't been that way at my house."

For the record, her kids are 11, 10, 8, and 6. So I basically have 5 1/2 years to go. Great.

This week though was wonderful. I truly enjoyed every day. It helped that it didn't rain every day like my phone said it would. It also helped that Madie is noticeably maturing--since the middle of March she has been trying really hard to verbally express her displeasure instead of dope-smacking Finn across the face, or scratching him down the back. Or snatching things away from him. Just in time too, because Finn is gearing up for turning three, and I don't think I can handle THAT all together.

What are you looking at? What's under there?

An improvement in Madie I've witnessed just this last week has been her reactionary crying. I explained to her once that the reason I didn't come running every time she shed a tear is because the reaction she gives for bumping her bum too hard in a chair is the same reaction she would give if someone were to run her legs over with a semi truck. She doesn't do things half-way, that's for sure. That was a few months ago, and I don't recall it coming up much since then, but the behavior didn't improve until this week. At least, not that I noticed. This week though she showed some real self-control. Twice she hurt herself, calmly explained what had happened, then (I think from thinking about it) cried for a minute or so before calming back down. It was like witnessing a miracle. I'm not being facetious or hyperbolic. After 5 1/5 years of living with the Drama Queen, that is really how I felt watching her deal with a pain or a disappointment this week.

Okay, enough about my apprehension. On with the happenings!

Peek-a-boo!

Like I said, my phone forecasted rain Monday afternoon through Saturday, so Monday morning we met up with my friend Anne on a carriage road for a walk. We were also unexpectedly blessed with Connor! He tends to be more of a summer playmate, so we were excited to have him along for some fun. And he and Anne are great friends, so it was good they got to see each other. The kids spent almost all day outside. They ran Elvis ragged.

These two love baby sis, and she loves them!

Tuesday was pretty rainy, so we hung out at home most of the day. We watched a show together and did some work on our project for the science fair next week. Wednesday turned out to be really nice, so we hit up the playground in town. After an hour and a half there, we walked to the other side of town where Madie had a playdate. We hung out for a bit before Finn, Petya and I walked all the way back to the car. We ran a couple errands, went back to the play ground, played some more, then finally picked Madie up and went home. We were gone from 9:45 until 4.

Thursday we hiked Flying Mountain with some friends. This is my favorite hike so far to do with the kids. I don't remember ever hiking this mountain as a kid--it's on the other side of the island from where I grew up--but I did take Madie and Finn up it two years ago. I've gotta say, carrying a 6-month old Petya up was a lot easier than carrying a 14-month old Finn. Madie and her friend Bo were the front-runners the whole time. They're like little mountain goats. It was all Anne could do to keep up with them. The oldest kids filled out the middle, and Julia, Sunshine, and I hung back with Finn, Logan, and Lola, who all did really well. Logan and Finn lead us on some small detours before we wizened up and started listening to Lola's directions. ("I see a blue mark!")

The view from atop Flying Mountain is spectacular, especially considering it's small size.

Friday we took it pretty easy. I didn't make Finn take any quiet times this whole week, but I see now I probably should have. He only naps about 50% of the time now, but day after day of so much going on really wore him out. Friday he was pretty sensitive, so we took advantage of the drab day and stayed in our pajamas until noon. We watched a couple shows. We ran into town once to run a quick errand. Then Friday evening Mike took Finn on the scout campout. Madie, Petya, and I went out to eat, then came home and made a cookie monster to share and chatted a little with Nana and Papa. (Don't worry Karen, we didn't end up eating it all!) Then we got all ready for bed and watched A Little Princess in my bed. We just finished reading the book a few weeks ago. Madie loved sharing a bed with me. I love that she loved it. I didn't love waking up three times with her head/feet/knee pushing into my back, but whatever. Her only complaint was that we didn't go camping. I promised to take her camping this summer, but told her I'm not a big fan of camping in the cold--it snowed a little on the boys Friday night. Madie probably thinks I'm a bum, and that's fine. It still won't make me pack up and hike into the woods for an all-nighter in April in Maine.