Spring Break! WOO WOO!

There was no school the Friday before spring break, so we took that opportunity to go to the Richmond temple open house!  It was so great-- as we were approaching, I told the kids to watch for the temple and their immediate response was, "We're already there???"  Trust me, no one ever said that after a drive to the DC or Philly temples!  

Angel Moroni!

It was windy that day and those enormous lamps behind the pillars were blowing a bit-- it was strangely impressive, and I was glad those chains were there to keep them (mostly) in place!

Bentley was going a bit later with a couple friends; Kendra had invited her friend Sophie to come along with us

There you can see that lamp better.  It's probably taller than I am...

Two days later the Nilsen family came to visit us!  The last time Tracy and Adam made it to Charlottesville was before Cora was born, so we were very excited to get to host them!

Cousin coloring time for Camille and Cora!

Of course, we had to take them to Carter Mountain.  As we were wandering around the store, Adam started laughing and explained, "This store is the Charlottesville version of Bay Hay & Feed!"  He's totally right!

And then on Tuesday we went BACK to the temple!  This time the older kids and Craig and I were all helping for the open house.  Tracy and Adam took Colton and Camille for a few hours and then toured the temple themselves.

Now we've got Bentley included!  That's better!

Tracy Adam and Cora!

Camille is ready to volunteer with her big siblings!

After that, we had dinner at Chuy's, which is always a delight!  The restaurant wasn't particularly crowded and our server took excellent care of us, so it was a great evening out!

And then the next day, we headed to Richmond again, but this time we were going to the zoo!  The timing for this worked especially well because Adam had to do some zoom meetings, so it was nice that we could get out of the house.  (He insisted it would be fine, but I don't know that he really understands just how noisy my kids can be.)

The last time we went to the zoo was in November of 2021 when Leah was visiting.  It was freezing and we were all bundled up.  This time it was in the high 80s and we were slathered in sunscreen and the zoo was packed.  But the animals were all still very fun to see!

Everyone loves penguins!

Kendra was extremely good at attracting the budgies!

She was also very nice about sharing those budgies with her little cousin!

There's just something so cool about rhinoceroses!  I think it's that they don't seem that far removed from triceratops...  

I just love how Colton is perfectly photobombing us back there!

This guy was happy to show off for us!

Bactrian camels are also just inexplicably cool...

We were hot and sweaty and all done by around 3pm, which was perfect since Adam was just finishing up his interviews!  Once we were home everyone showered, then Bentley made mac'n'cheese for the kids and the grownups all went to dinner at Mission BBQ.  It sure is fun having built-in babysitters now!

Adam and Tracy and Cora headed out the next day.  We were sad to see them go, but we still had other stuff to do before spring break was over...