The Simonson's: When Thanks Is Not Enough

How do you say thank you? Is a plant enough, how about a phone call, a hug? Last week Mike and I went to Miami for a conference and Wanda and my mom split the week up helping with the kids. I really love going on trips with Mike but this time of year is so busy. So Thank you Wanda and mom for making time to come stay with the kids. They all had a great time and are still telling stories about their week. Rachel informed me that Grandma Wanda's spaghetti sauce is really good, Becca had fun building her Lego's with Grandma Julie, and Alec has called me Grandma more in the last 18 hrs than mom. So thank you grandma's for taking time out of your busy lives this time of year to come spend some time with the kids and help run them around to all their activities.
So here are the last 2 weeks as I didn't take the time to blog before leaving for Miami. April ended with snow! Yes the last day of April we woke up to a snow on the ground. Monday we took Rachel to school and then came home to work in the yard. I finished putting mulch down and then decided to get the tiller out and till up our raised beds. After we picked Rachel up from school we replanted some romaine lettuce and put in our carrots and radishes.

Alec helped with the radishes

The girls planting the carrots.

Tuesday we took the girls to school and went to Jazzercise. We then ran to Walmart before coming home to do some laundry and clean the house. It was 75 degrees Monday and Tuesday the high was 45, really Nebraska what was going on the last week of April? Wednesday Alec got sick on the way home from taking Rachel to school so we spent most the day snuggling and doing laundry, poor boy. The girls had their last night of CCD so Mike took them in for the BBQ dinner. Thursday Alec was feeling better so we took the girls to school then went and got the oil changed in the Suburban; we picked up Jimmy John's for lunch and then came home. The kids we excited that it warmed up enough again so they could run home from school.

Friday we were finally able to go back to Jazzercise since Alec was better and neither of the girls got sick. Mike was off early on Friday so we all went to eat supper and then to the new Jungle Book. The kids all thought it was really good, it got a little long for Alec as it was getting close to bed time. Babs and Sam also joined us for the movie!

Rachel at the movie

Becca trying to be the angry bird!

Saturday we woke up to snow on the ground. We then got everything packed and picked up Rebekah and headed to Lincoln for Nolan Swanson's wedding. The kids had a great time swimming before the reception and dancing and spending time with their cousins. We got up on Sunday and came home to get ready for the week.

Poor Flowers

Tired boy after the reception

All ready for the party

Love this one

Silly boys.

Monday Rachel had school and then we came home so that I could do laundry and mow the yard before we left. Becca and Alec had fun taking turns riding with me on the mower and playing outside while I worked. Tuesday Rachel and Becca both had school so Alec and I went to Jazzercise. We came home then so I could clean and pack. Rachel had her spring concert Tuesday night; we enjoyed listening to all the singers and spending some time with Auntie J and Wanda. Wanda stayed at the house Tuesday night and Mike and I left Wednesday morning at the same time Wanda and kids left for school.

She found us.

Silly Kids!

Mike and I flew from Denver to Miami Wednesday. We didn't get into Miami until about midnight as Miami had a really bad rain storm that shut down the airport for the afternoon. Thursday through Saturday Mike had class from 7-12. While he was at class I enjoyed walking the golf course, working out, and some quiet time to read and work on my CE books for my Radiology Tech license. Thursday afternoon we sat by the pool then decided to try to head to South Beach. The traffic was so bad that after sitting in a cab for 30 minutes we had them drop us off at the nearest bar. The beauty of not having plan is you can sit at a bar and not feel bad. We then decided to try our luck with Uber, a type of taxi service that is done on your phone and is a service people provide with their own cars and it is all charged on a credit card. Kind of scary at first but we had some of the best drivers while using it and they knew way more than any of the cab drivers we had. Thursday evening we went to a huge mall and had some drinks, did some shopping, then ate supper and went back to the hotel.

Friday we had lunch at the resort then headed to south beach, we did some shopping, went to the beach, and then found a great Italian place for dinner with live music and dancing. Saturday we decided to walk across the street to a pub house for lunch then came back to the resort to golf. Mike had made reservations for a Mother's Day supper that night and we enjoyed a nice supper out on the patio that evening. Sunday we got up early and came home. The kids were so excited to see us and show us all the things they had done since we had been gone. We talked with Mom a little then she headed home and had to drive through some hail and rain but made it before the really bad storms came that evening.