To say we had an amazing time would be an understatement. It was such a great trip and was life saving; or at least sanity saving. I was in desperate need of some time away from real life and I left feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on reality again.
We did just enough activities to keep the kids busy and entertained, but managed to have enough down time and time to relax. Just a day after we had made it to Klamath, my mom was playing for three choirs over at district choir festival in Medford, which is an hour away. We definitely wanted to head over and spend the day. Taytum was not very happy to be back in her car seat, but she managed to get over that and the hour drive flew by. We were sure glad we made it over when we were greeted by mid 70 degree weather. It was scrumptious! The kids sat so quietly during the performances. They loved listening to the choirs and see Gramzee playing the piano up on stage. (During her first number the piano starting rolling across the stage...) Between choirs we headed outside and let the kids run around in the grass and pick dandelions. Did I mention how yummy the weather was?!
We spent the afternoon shopping and eating and shopping and eating. Yeah, it was nice.
We had to head up to see where Grandpa Paul worked and of course hit up the scrub sale. Funny story: Every morning that my dad wasn't home when we got up, Andi would state, "Grandpa Paul's not here. He's at work." One morning I said, "Yeah, he's gotta bring home the bacon." Well, later that day Andi says, "Grandpa Paul's not here. He's getting.... He's.... getting..... He's getting the bacon." It was super cute to listen to her try to figure out what she was trying to say. And so yes, my dad gets bacon for a living. And we also call Jefferson's adjustments "getting popcorn" because of the sound it makes. So my dad gets bacon and my husband makes popcorn. We're a very food oriented family. I digress. Here we are visiting Grandpa Paul's office:
We went and saw "How to train your dragon." Super cute show. My kids loved it. I was slightly worried that some of the dragons would scare them, but as you can see by the faces, they were unfazed.
My mom, little sister, and I decided to try our hand at fondant. It was really fun and highly satisfying. It was also super sticky and actually much easier to make than we had all anticipated. Easier to make, not easier to make look good...
Not horrible for our first time out:
My sister and BIL moved into a cute new house and hosted a BBQ while we were in town. Ben, Sharon and their boys drove down for the weekend and were able to make it just in time. This is the best pic I could get of the kids. What can I say, they were too busy enjoying the delicious food to pose for the camera.
Isn't my mom gorgeous? I love this picture.
My kids also got to experience their first real trip to a bowling alley. No more of this fake Wii stuff. Carter thought he had died and gone to heaven. While all the other kids petered out after a few frames, Carter filled in for whoever wasn't up for their round. After the kids game was over on one lane, he hopped on over to the adult lane and finished up a few frames for the rest of us. In heaven. Even though it was a Saturday morning, the alley turned on their "cosmic bowl" with the black lights and music. While the kids were waiting for their turn they danced around.
I also have to add an honorable mention for our McDonalds Meltdown. It won't be near as funny for anyone else to read, but I just have to remember, because it was seriously quite the sight. We had gone to McDonalds for lunch one day to let the kids release their wiggles. It all started when Carter was up in the middle of the playplace crying hysterically. I thought that maybe he had lost a limb or an eyeball or something; which would have been less than surprising seeing the caliber of kids that surrounded him. Anyways, I yell up to him to see what's wrong and he just sobs out, "I want Andi to play with me!" Really? That's it? Anyways, he finally comes down to where Andi is sitting and asks her so sweetly, "Andi, will you please come play with me?" I lean over the table and go to say, "Carter, thank you for asking Andi...." When mid sentence Carter pulls Andi right off her seat and splays her out on the floor. Andi starts bawling. I grab Carter and set him onto a seat for a little time out, so he starts bawling and yelling that he wants to be nice. That's it... time to go. I tell Andi to go grab her shoes and put them on. She walks over and gets her shoes and then lays down on the floor, flopping around, crying and screaming that she doesn't want to go. I try to put her shoes on and she just kicks and flops some more. Carter is still sitting on his chair sobbing. In the meantime, my parents are loading up all of our garbage onto a tray and a bag tips over with open cups of ketchup that spill all over my mom's white pants. She cleans up as best she can and we head out the door. Andi won't come so we just walk out the door to the main dining room where she finally comes screaming after us. I grab one hand of both my kids and seriously start laughing so hard, we're talking tears down the cheeks laughing, and just walk them out to the car. My mom was just behind us and overheard one of the workers say, "What else could she do, but laugh?" You may have had to be there.
Every evening was games and delicious treats. My mom cooked tons of divine meals: lobster mac and cheese, a new pot roast recipe (in her beautiful new pots), home made spaghetti noodles with homemade sauce, oatmeal crispies.... We were spoiled rotten and were quite tempted to stay firmly planted in their basement. If only we could have convinced Jefferson to come on over, we would be there still.
I cannot thank you mom and dad enough for the perfect trip! Sanity saving.
Then a package from a pirate ship sailed in and brought the kids their own pirate get up; a patch, earring, and sword. It also came with buckets for all the kids and kicked off a treasure hunt! 
At each clue they got a little goody to put in their buckets. The last clue took them back upstairs to where the presents and cupcakes awaited.
Carter got lots of fun things from everyone. A few of his favorites were Candyland...
These were the last minutes before bed, Carter still in his Bumble Bee costume...
After the kids found all the eggs, Carter hid them a few more times and they all kept the Easter egg hunt up for a good hour.
We had the traditional ham and cheesy tatoes for dinner with everyone. We managed to catch pieces of conference while we wrangled kids and did puzzles. It was a very nice Easter. Summer and Josh were there, though I have no pictures to prove it. (I need the ones from the Easter dinner! Who took those?)
The penguins. It was a new attraction and the kids loved it.
Petting the stingrays... or at least trying too. The water was too deep for even me to touch one.
We hit up the animal show towards the end of our stay. They brought out all sorts of fun animals for the kids to see, talking birds, spiders, snakes...
And the adults, courtesy of Carter: