Spring Breaking was Fabulous

“Hey Dad, when do you get out for spring break?”

The kids ask this EVERY YEAR and EVERY YEAR we both crack up. Thankfully, Scott was able to take a couple of days off and they were our two prettiest days of the week. Sweet!

We were so grateful that our annual trek to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo fell during this week. The kids have a cooking competition they compete in and it’s always a blast. The contest is so well run, so fun and it’s always old home week as we run into friends from around the state. Plus, in the downtime between heats, they get to register to win pickups and cowboy boots and pick up all sorts of swag throughout the NRG Center. I’d like to note that of the four yo-yo’s they managed to swipe, only one made it home before it got broken. Life with kids, right? I did chuckle when Scott said he was taking the kids to the birthing center. I was all, “Can’t you teach that class?” Ha! Gianna lost her mind with the chickens and the kids did great in the competition.

Food Challenge is a bit like Iron Chef. Teams of cooks are given 40 minutes, a bag of ingredients and a mobile kitchen to create a dish and then present to a panel of judges. In their five-minute presentation they must share nutrition, prep steps, MyPlate information, safety, cost and substitutions. It’s serious business.

Will’s senior team placed first in their heat and advanced to the finals, placing fourth out of 60+ teams. Our younger teams didn’t place first in their heats, but they did have a stellar day and shared with us it was their best presentation to date. They had about 50 junior teams competing and 60 senior teams, for a total of 104. It was stiff, but fun, competition.

Of course, the highlight was stopping at Buc-ee’s on the way home. We should learn by now to just go there for spring break.

The following day, we decided to do a little downtown Austin mural exploring. You might remember the first time we did that. What a blast. This time, we hit about four of them and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful spring weather. A more detailed blog post is coming. Pinky promise.

Scott and I were even able to sneak in a date night to the theatre to watch Get Out. Whoa. Yes, definitely scary/horror/comedy, but even deeper than that is it really made me ponder race relations in America. I love it when movies are out of the box and really get you thinking. This one did not disappoint. Bonus was that I got to enjoy a Dr Pepper float. God bless Alamo Drafthouse.

We ended the week with a bang: planting flowers and the kids got sassy enough to earn vacuuming out the minivan. Lest you think I’m the meanest mom in the world, I gave them the choice between toilets or the van. Personally, I would’ve chosen toilets. Nevertheless, it was great entertainment. For Scott and I.

So, while the rest of the world was enjoying Disney, Hawaii, skiing in Colorado or Europe, my kids were schlepping around in a pig barn cooking meals, making funny poses in front of Austin murals and detailing the swagger wagon.

Spring Break 2017. Living the dream.