Spring Break Part 1

Hearst Castle

Ever since living in Switzerland, our family has developed a travel bug.  For spring break we decided to head up the coast of California.  I made a similar trip with my family when I was in high school and thought the kids would love it.  We woke up early and drove straight through to make our 12:30 tour time at Hearst Castle.

When we arrived, #1 was the first to point out that it didn't look anything like a castle.  After the amazing castles we visited in Germany, who could blame him for feeling that way? 

Views to the ocean from the "castle"

The outdoor "Neptune Pool"

A view of one of the guest houses from the pool

One of the funniest things was how interested our kids were in listening to the tour guide.  In the following pictures you can see that they were not far from her the entire time.

 

 

The front of the main house

#3 getting a little tired and bored

The indoor swimming pool which was put in underneath the tennis courts

After dinner that night, Pete took the kids a few miles up the road to check out the elephant seals.  When I asked them to tell me about it, they all couldn't believe how LOUD they were. 

April

This month was filled with fun.  Birthday parties, spring break, Easter....what's not to love about April?  Here are some highlights:

For a school assignment #1 chose to read and report about Napoleon.  

Hmmm...I guess that Europe thing did leave behind a few impressions.

On the other side of the spectrum, #3 learned about caterpillars and butterflies in preschool.

The kids discovered and trapped this little guy in our HOUSE!
As you can imagine, I freaked out.

For his 9th birthday, #1 had several celebrations.

The first was with his best buddy who turned 9 four days earlier.

Our friends provided a pinata and the kids made off with quite a haul

On his actual birthday we headed to Disneyland for a few rides and dinner.

I also brought in a candle and lighter so that we could celebrate properly.

He wasn't too happy about breaking the rules.

 

A few days later we headed down south to celebrate with Uncle Philly who has his birthday in the same week.

We celebrated Easter a little bit early with friends at the park.

Poor #4 never made it out of her pajamas that day.

I love this bunny!

In preschool, #3 learned about planting seeds and watering.

After a couple of weeks it was time for a "haircut".

He decided to go for a Mohawk!

We had a lot of fun going to see the Red Sox...minus #4.

On Easter we did a hunt with real eggs around the house.

The month ended on a hot note and we spent a few days at the pool and a few dollars on treats when the ice cream truck drove by.

Yum!