The Adventures of the Dahle Family

This year for spring break we decided to head south to enjoy some warmer weather and allow Jim to sleep peacefully as he was working night shifts all week. We left after school on Thursday and drove as far as Las Vegas to spend the night with our friends the Fillmore's. The kids enjoyed some time playing the next morning before we hopped back in the car on our way to San Diego. We stopped at the Douangaphaivong's house to rest for a few minutes and then get ready to head to the beach. We met up in La Jolla with the Napoleon's to spend some time playing at the beach. The kids had a blast playing together and I enjoyed catching up with both families.

Thanks to my friends for some of the pictures as I was busy chasing a little guy!

We headed to Old Town for some authentic Mexican food for dinner. The next morning we headed with the D-15's to check out the Mormon Battalion Center that has been recently renovated. The girls especially enjoyed getting to ride in their yellow jeep to get there. The kids liked the interactive experience followed by the panning for gold afterwards.




We had lunch then got dressed to head to Kalei's baptism. Whitney and Kalei had been good buddies in Virginia so it was wonderful to be there for her baptism and enjoy the beautiful reception her family put on afterwards.


Soon as that was over we headed for Arizona arriving at Nana and Papa's house about midnight. We were lucky that Nana-san was also visiting that weekend. They put together a joint birthday party for Jonas and Whitney since it was a the week between their two birthdays.




The kids got thoroughly spoiled as always while we were there. I enjoyed getting to play a round of golf with Nana and the girls enjoyed multiple trips to the pool with their Papa. They also enjoyed the little pool we set up on the patio so Jonas could swim too as he's not allowed at the community pool yet. Also we were lucky to be there when some of their cactus were blooming. The blooms only last one day. We all enjoyed being able to wear shorts and sandals for a few days!

This year for her birthday Whitney had asked for a pedicure, to go to a play, have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, and have a surprise birthday party (whose kid is this?). Not all her wishes were granted but she seemed to have a wonderful time nonetheless. We surprised her the night before her birthday by getting a babysitter for Jonas and the rest of us going to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" at the Children's Theater downtown. She had been on a field trip earlier in the year to see "Ferdinand the Bull" which she loved so she was excited when we walked up to the theater. She had also recently read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" so she was excited to see the play. The theater is pretty small and the stage is set to make it very interactive with the audience so the girls both really enjoyed it. The next day after soccer games she invited 7 friends to come over for a baking party. They each got their own apron and chef hat to decorate. We made individual pizzas and they had to follow a recipe to make smoothies for their dinner. We then celebrated with birthday "cake". This year Whitney requested cheesecake so we made a chocolate truffle cheesecake that the girls each got to decorate their slices with their choice of toppings. The girls all had fun but it was a bit hectic for me to manage it all and as such didn't get many pictures of all the fun.

We've had a really snowy spring this year. These pictures are from our back deck on April 30th. We even had a few skiffs of snow in May including Memorial Day. It makes it real hard to get a garden started with snow so late!