Dreams vs. Reality.....who will win????

It's that time of the year again, when the kids get to run amuck for a week... just long enough for them to smell the sunshine and realize that they don't want to be sitting in their seats when they get back to school next week. Sorry teachers, no fun for you!
This is the first year that all my kiddos have Spring Break on the same week. Since they are at two separate schools, they always seem to be on different weeks, which is a bummer. So, knowing that they were all going to be out at the same time, I started thinking big. I called Morgan at work last week and said..." I have a grand idea. Why don't I pack the kids into the bus (our van), and take them all around Arizona. I could take them up to Flagstaff and stay with friends there, and then over to St. Johns and stay with my friend there, and then down to Pima to stay with another family friend. We could stop through Phoenix on our way home and visit with relatives and then back up to Bagdad..... what to you think of my AMAZING idea????" He is such a nice guy and didn't yell back..."WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!!" instead he calmly said, " Do you really think it would be such a good idea for you to take four kids alone in the car all over Arizona with your no-immune system? What happens if you get sick?".......I hadn't thought about it that way.....now it just sounded like a germ collecting trip. Going all around Arizona seeing how many germs I can possibly collect in one weeks time. Hummmm, maybe my gradious idea wasn't so grand!
Plan B: The kids and I have been having a wonderful time here in Bagdad, and around Bagdad. It is beautiful here right now, so on Monday and Tuesday I took them out to Wild Horse Basin and the water is so high that they could practically swim. We gathered sunshine and rocks and had fun. Then for Family Night, we went back out there and made Dutch oven pizza and blueberry cobbler. Can I just say, that I married the best cook ever!!!!!! We also took the Relief Society President, Roberta, out there with us and Lund said somthing really great while we were all around the campfire. He said, "Let's play a game where we all say something nice about Roberta. I think whenever she goes anywhere, she makes it pleasant for everyone!" oh, a tear! What a nice kid!!!
Then we did what most kids really, really dread... All day on Wednesday we did Spring Cleaning! I mean A LOT of spring cleaning! Now my garage is TOTALLY full of stuff and all I have to do is call the scout master to come over and get it because they are having a yard sale fundraiser in a few weeks. Yea.... I will let them take care of it all!!!! he he, good plan huh?
The grand finale for the week is that Morgan is going to take Friday off and we are going to go to Prescott to a kids mini-amuzement place called Freedom Station, and then we are heading over to Links Lake with our pop-up for a night of camping! Ta Da... A perfect week!!!
So, maybe this week really is pretty Grand!!! (although I would really like to go and visit those friends someday!!!)

Believe me, this water is COLD! But, don't you remember when you were a kid and you just didn't care!!?? p.s. go Sarah, she is ahead of the boys!!

Lund earned the chance to invite a friend on day 2 at the River, and they sure had fun!!

Here are the moms, minus me, sitting with the kids and having a blast!
We had the neccessities :Lots of cheetos and toys!!!

Here is Cassidy racing against Israel.

All the "little kids" playing with their animals in the water. Don't you just love the dinosaur set-up? It looks simply prehistoric!

Sunburns beware!!!

Here is our gorgeous meal: dutch oven pizza and blueberry cobbler ala mode!

And here is the handsome cook extrodinaire!!

Will was telling us all that he was going to use this big stick for hunting!

It's just beautiful out there right now!

And here we have Will, "fishing".....hummm

He just had to have this certain stick, so he pulled and he pulled and he pulled, until it cracked!!! he.... he... .I couldn't help myself!

Brody came out with us for Family Night

The view at Family Night..

Sarah and the gorgeous landscape

I just had to throw this in. This took me and a rock and long time to do and the kids were wondering what on earth mom was up to until they saw the finished product. Then Sarah proclaimed, "You better write From Mom so everyone will know who wrote it!"

Hiking with Will

I love all the river rocks out there...

No reason.. this tree just strikes me as beautiful!

Again.... the beauty of the Earth!

Cassidy.....way out there....

I love this picture because Will was scared so Sarah decided to hold his hand.

The hard thing about hiking with Will, is that he wants to pick up EVERY rock he sees and keep them all. It must run in the family because I have been bringing back a basket of river rocks a day to put next to my flowers.

Wills other obssession is throwing rocks in the water, over and over and over again!

My hike with Lund

My crazy boys with apples and fruit roll-ups!

Lund is teaching Will how to shoot a BB gun...scary, huh!!

Mud, Tonka trucks...need I say more??!!

Look how safe those crazy Johnson's are!!!!! Don't worry, we had a little talk after this picture. A little "Safety Share" if you will!!

Just trees that I like...

Again with the sticks!!

Have you met my "home boy" Lund???

This is done "mommy-style". I backed my car right up to the river and we even got to listen to "Owl City" on my i-pod. Fun times!!