Spring Break 2012

Spring Break was action packed this year. I took the boys to Phoenix to visit Oma, Shelli, David, Melissa and Andrew for a couple of days then to Prescott for a day to see friends. At Oma's we played around, did some shopping, relaxed and enjoyed some extended family time. The boys stayed up way too late and woke up way too early. They played hard and slept hard. The boys and I shared a king size bed. However, the boys naturally gravitate towards each other and me while sleeping so we are a big pile up of sleeping Mellens.

As is traditional with Spring Break in northern Arizona it snowed...and snowed a lot. Two feet to be exact. Church was cancelled. The first day of school after Spring Break was cancelled and the second day of school after Spring Break was delayed by two hours. It was an amazing snow. We had fun for several hours in the snow on Sunday. We raced in the snow, took turns shoveling the driveway, threw snowballs and built a sled hill with the excess snow. However, our day did not start out so fun. The morning started out like this: http://youtu.be/OGcbn-jkcQQ

The sled hill was not very long or steep but it provided a lot fun for all four of us for awhile. We just kept piling on the snow and packing it down with our runs down the hill. Cole always made it the farthest. Here are some videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M
http://youtu.be/YyY03UjZcCY
http://youtu.be/qlzAH9WeY8w
http://youtu.be/bNIqNz9nsGk
http://youtu.be/a2-RrfFYsiQ
http://youtu.be/F7M7Pvf8pYE

There was so much snow that sledding was just as amazing the next day as it was the first. Grant invented stair sledding. Our porch stairs are so steep and there was so much snow that Grant found the giant plastic sled from our garage gave him lots of speed and lots of thrill. All it gave Cole was a mouth full snow and eyes full of tears.
http://youtu.be/qyNKj8dwV08
http://youtu.be/jBVL-MH7Aus
http://youtu.be/PDVNK7vP5pA
http://youtu.be/EY4aQyKqH1Y

On day 3 of the snow there was still enough snow left for the boys to make a fantastic snowman. This snowman was the result of Grant's sole and unadulterated creativity. He dressed it, found the sticks for the arms and put the gloves on the sticks all on his own. Chad and I were inside while the construction was taking place. I love that Grant got a carrot for the snowman's nose, while Cole got a carrot to snack on while Grant worked.

Needless to say, by Tuesday morning when it was finally time to take the kids to school after their extended Spring Break, I was more than ready and the house beyond in need of a good cleaning. Of course, the house cleaning didn't happen for a few more days because what's the point when snow, slush and mud just keep getting tracked through the house.