Spring Break 2012!

Monday--Service Day

As is now the tradition during Spring Break at our house, we have a different theme every day. Today is Service Day. I wanted the boys to have opportunities to work hard and be satisfied with knowing that what they did helped someone else.

I also decided that every morning this week I would get everyone out of the house and exercise in some way. I had these great pictures in my head of all of us jogging in line down the sidewalk and everyone stopping to watch us. Scary. But I braved the idea anyway. So I loaded Brett in the stroller and Brock in the umbrella stroller for Bradley to push and off we went. After quick jog down our street, we ran some sprints down an incline at our park. It was an incredible 70 degrees outside with a slight breeze--perfect for running outside. We ran around the street behind us and back to our house, took a quick water and potty break, then loaded up in the car for our next stop--Grandma-ma's and Grandpa Long's.


They had a great task for the boys--washing Grandma-ma's car. Grandpa gave everyone their instructions and the boys did a pretty good job following directions.


Grandpa hosed the tires down first, told the boys to get their rags wet in the soapy bucket and then make those tires shine! After that they moved to the other parts of the car as directed.


Bradley was Grandpa's right hand man and learned a lot about the right way to wash a car.


Baby Brett stayed cool in the shade of the garage and played with Grandma-ma for a while. After the crew had cleaned to make Grandma's car sparkle and cleaned up the rags and soap, they were invited inside for a soda and cookie break! Brock was so proud that he made Grandma's car sparkle! As we drove away they all agreed that washing Grandma's car was soooo much fun! The cookies and soda only sweetened the deal!

Next, we journeyed down the 202 to Kaley's house. She had a list of chores for them to do. And while not quite as much fun as washing a car and having Grandpa get them all a little bit wet (they loved it!) they did a good job cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting and steam cleaning.


Happy Aunt Kaley and her Cleaning Crew (Brock fell asleep in the car after our lunch break!)

After lunch, Bradley and Bryson went to Mom's house to help Dad with some yard work in the backyard. I took the little kids home for Quiet Time which was sort of quiet but no one really got a nap so there were a few cranky kids later on. I should have asked Dad to snap a picture on his phone because apparently they all but chopped down a tree in the backyard! Mom said Bradley had been sawing on the same piece of branch for an hour! However, when Dad dropped them off they didn't look as tired as I thought they would, so I sent all four of them to our backyard to hose off the table and chairs and clean up the toys outside. It was a GREAT day and a very productive day. I think (hope) they all learned to enjoy or appreciate serving others more than they did before. We'll have to have a repeat Service Day another time. In the mean time preparations for tomorrow are already in the works. . . . .