Week FOUR of COVID-19 :: Spring Break

This week is our SPRING BREAK! Our family's plans were to be flying back from Africa, through Paris with a 21 hour layover, and be home in Wilmington late Tuesday, April 7.  Our spring break "plans" were to catch up on sleep, adjust to our NC time and back to life. 
I keep thinking of this verse: 

The heart of man plans his way,

but the Lord establishes his steps.  

Proverbs 16:9

So here we are, spring break at HOME, just like the rest of the world! And as of Sunday evening, I had no new ideas for our spring break at home.  I texted a few friends to see if they had any ideas and then prayed for creativity. I asked each family member to pick something they wanted to do, create, or a treat for the week and we would try to make it happen.

MONDAY: We did a scavenger hunt at our park in the morning. Kids loved it.  They teamed up and went searching for sticks, pinecones, certain colored flowers, etc... We also got out the chalk and chalked the driveway. In the afternoon we painted and then went on our typical adventure, but today we put our feet in the lake.  Kids loved that too!

Snack at the park

A fairy house the kid's created

TUESDAY: We rolled out salt dough and made some Easter ornaments (Meg's pick for the week).  This was a really fun activity to keep working on every few hours. Dough + roll out, then bake + cool, then paint and later hang once dry.

Their beautiful creations.

our Easter trees

We also swung by Lewis Farms to grab ice cream for that evening, Lily's pick for the week. It was a beautiful day so the kids ran through the sprinkler in the afternoon.

WEDNESDAY: The kids have been asking, and begging, to SWIM at the lake. Today was the day! It was over 80 here so we got on our swimsuits and biked to the lake to swim. 

THURSDAY: Jake took off of work Thursday and Friday to spend extra time with us while the girls are off of school.  Jake & Wren's pick for the week was to go get donuts so we enjoyed those for breakfast. The temps dropped overnight so we didn't last too long for our picnic.  Wren was shaking and shivering. Once home, the paint was pulled out again.

Masterpieces everywhere

For years, we have talked about building & adding an outdoor shower. We decided to do it now while we are home and before summer hits. Jake made a trip to Lowe's for all the shower supplies and I added flowers and mulch to his list. He came home and started building, while the girls helped me plant.

The lady banks roses - my fave!

Fresh flowers + mulch - April in NC

FRIDAY: Meg braved going to ALDI in the morning while Jake kept plugging away at the outdoor shower which is looking great. Lots of playing outside, biking and painting are happening this week.

More outdoor shower progress.

Our back porch art seems so fitting right now.

Benny's pick for the week was to go to the store and buy a new LEGO set.  Well, that wasn't going to happen, so instead he's enjoyed making new LEGO creations during any spare moment and then we all sat down together to watch another episode of LEGO Master's Friday evening.

SATURDAY: More outdoor shower progress - It's looking GREAT! I took the kids to drive by their school and see the new building progress.  We also explored some new trails while out. BIG NEWS: as of today, Wren is off of training wheels. She is super proud. Ella's pick for the week was picking up dinner at ISLAND's - one of our family's favorites!