Together Forever Wherever: 2023, April 3-9

We spent most of the week miles apart while Hallie went to Disneyland and the rest of us stayed home.

Monday morning dawned snowy in Springville.

Fergus wanted nothing to do with it.

In sunny California, the Disney girls had another Disneyland day.

Hallie learned about some special treats the park only makes around Easter: Chocolate Easter Eggs! When Hallie got to the Candy Palace, she was able to get tickets early.

The girls had prime seats for the Disney Marching Band show. Belle made a special appearance.

Meanwhile, our intrepid homebodies did art and overdue homework.

Fergus enjoyed the extra company.

Corbin came over, and the kids played card games and watched LEGO movies.

Hallie enjoyed the sun and blooming poppies.

Here are the eggs she got to pick up later in the day.

Here is some more of Landon's amazing schoolwork. Even without the internet, Dad somehow made it work, ha ha.

Dad tooled around with some Photoshop effects in between some work activities and babysitting.

The kids got enough cabin fever that they decided they needed to go on a walk. Mike felt a little bad for seeing the kids bored, but at the same time they seemed to be remembering or inventing ways to keep themselves occupied that didn't involve hours of computer screen time.

Tuesday dawned pretty much as snowy as Monday in Utah.

Meanwhile, Hallie enjoyed delightful spring weather.

When Mike asked Landon about the status of his bedroom, the boy tried to avoid the issue.

Dad helped Landon focus in on getting his floor and clothes dealt with. Fergus looked out the open window into the cold, longing for something other than the white stuff.

He made significant progress, enough so that he had space to pull out his LEGO bins later in the day.

Hallie enjoyed many rides and shows. She named this horse Buddy.

The girls even saw a ladybug, which of course Hallie had to share with Eliza.

Eliza discovered the true crime channel on the antenna TV that was still available. We played Exploding Kittens, Five Queens, and other favorite card games.

By the evening, things still looked bleak at home.

Mike took Eliza to the library to pick up a movie he had checked out, and we participated in a Spring Break art activity.

We (Mike especially) love the Springville Library! We only went to the Bad Art Night, but we appreciated that we had several options available.

Landon had to resort to desperate measures to keep himself entertained, it seems. Here he is making new custom minifigs.

We woke up to the last of the snow for the week at home.

Wednesday for the girls meant a day at California Adventure.

Poor Fergy needs warm bodies.

Mike took the kids out for lunch at a Ramen restaurant in Provo, and after a trip on campus to take care of some business, the three went to Splash Summit so Landon could interview for work this summer. Doesn't he look dapper?

By the end of the day, the snow had gone from the sidewalks, and Fergus could roll around to his heart's content.

He caught Mike filming his reverie.

Here's a dramatic mountain view to round out the day.

It's a bit of a local joke that a sculpture of a breaching whale that was built on a roundabout in Salt Lake's 9th and 9th District is responsible for our record snowfall this year. Sure, maybe it's just a coincidence, but what if it isn't?

The girls had a magical day at DCA, which ended with the World of Color light and music show.

Thursday morning dawned sunny and relatively warmer. Mike and Eliza started it playing the Bridgewater-opoly game we received from Gma and Gpa Dorey.

The Disney girls had a day off from the parks and traveled to a few different places in Anaheim.

Eliza worked hard on tasks Mike gave her, so they went grocery shopping and had another fire pit.

Even the boys got involved with roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.

They also brought out the light sabers.

On Friday, Mike was disappointed to discover some pretty significant mess between Eliza's bed and the wall. We had to do a fair amount of cleaning to set things right. Eliza can be a bit of a tornado moving from one place to another without cleaning up after herself, so we have been working on that this week. Eliza mentioned later in the day that she actually likes having a clean floor. Maybe some of these efforts will stick, and E will want to keep things tidy.

The snow guy made a sculpture with all the white stuff. It had melted by the time Mike took E to BUH in the afternoon.

The Disney girls had their last park day. Here they are with a certain pixie in Fantasyland.

Eliza realized that Bridgewater-opoly was a lot like the Mandalorian version of Monopoly (the only version of the game we currently own). Maybe we need to get the original version.

Some of Hallie's photos have special features. Look! Classic mouse ears and a bowtie.

Who can pass up a chance to catch a sleeping cat?

Landon has tried teaching Mike and Eliza how to solve a Rubik's Cube. Mike actually learned quite a bit. Not enough yet, but soon he may be able to master the toy.

Someone gave Hallie the side eye at Galaxy's Edge.

Landon and Corbin found some "treasures" (i.e., shotgun shells) as they wandered aimlessly around the neighborhood trying to relieve their tech-deprived boredom. Eliza needed to get out in the afternoon to find some treasures of her own. Mike followed along. They saw cows, horses, mountains, frogs, and a corpse.

We're serious about the corpse. It was the remains of a deer(? young horse or cow?), but still.

Eliza wanted to extract a souvenir, so she took home a tooth.

This girl is the embodiment of adventurous.

The Disney Girls had a fancy sit-down meal that got them reserved seats for the evening's Main Street Parade.

On Saturday, Eliza and Mike walked over to Jaker's to participate in the community Easter egg hunt and raffle. Eliza got quite a few goodies, but we didn't win anything in the raffle.

Mike finally let the kids know that the tech and wifi were at the house hidden in plain sight on Saturday morning before he went to work. Unsurprisingly, the children were not amused and spent as much time as they could making up for not having their games during the week.

And just like that, it was time for the ladies to come back home. They had quite the blast and have many photos of their exploits. We missed Mom and are glad to have her back!