Spring Break 2013 day 1

Spring Break was March 11 through March 15. We had beautiful spring weather the whole week and even though Jason had to work he was able to take some afternoons off to join us for some fun. Monday was not one of those days. So the kids and I went to lunch at McDonald's with a play structure that is NASA themed. Appropriate, as it was less than two blocks from Johnson Space Center. Then we hit a new park on the water's edge in Clear Lake.

Nothing like playing tag at the park.

My kids orchestrated a few games of duck, duck, goose and red rover and included some kids that were there with a day camp group.
There was also an informal game of climb the Nathan. I promise he never got hurt.

After they were tired of the games the eight of us headed over to a pier to look out over the water. It was beautiful weather but a bit windy and my ears aren't fans of the wind. Not to mention that I cannot see with all my hair whipping around so I tucked it all into the hood of my sweater so that I could see and spare my ears.

Caleb likes to mess with my pictures.

Then we moved to another new park and had some fun running around there. Like the first park, there were a ton of day camp kids but my brood just meshes with others so well. After this next series was taken Nathan spent most of the time at the tire swing coordinating turns and giving big pushes to all the smaller kids. And if my kids weren't in Nathan's line they were off playing tag with a bunch of other kids. I'm grateful that my seven know how to play well together and that they know how to reach out to others to make them feel included and loved. I know my kids love each other and show it in the way they play together so when they included other kids in their games those children feel that love and acceptance also. These are some of the best moments of parenting. (It's best to talk mostly of these because these are the ones that make it all worth it.)