Monday morning started early. Aaron and David went to pick up the trencher just before 8:00 am. They got to work as soon as they got back. It was cheaper to rent it for 4 hours, so we tried to get it done as quickly as possible. The problem we were trying to fix was that we had 7 sprinkler lines and 5 of them cover both lawn and pasture grass, which need to be watered differently. Pasture grass can be watered for 12+ hours at a time about once a week, whereas lawn should be watered more often for less time. The plan was to dig a trench along the border between the lawn and the pasture then cap off the lines coming from the lawn, and extend the lines to the pasture so they could be turned on separately. We also have a strip of pasture grass that has one line of sprinklers, that just never seems to reach far enough, so we wanted to split the line and run two lines of sprinklers (one down each side) and have them run toward the middle.
We had to dig down pretty deep, but didn't want to run into the sprinkler lines so we watched where the sprinklers came up and hoped we could run the trencher more shallow in those spots. We didn't hit any lines until the last one. It didn't even break, it just got pulled to the side and bent. So once we were done with the trencher Aaron cleaned it up and returned it. The kids and I spent the morning removing the loose dirt from the trench and digging down to the sprinkler lines with shovels. The younger kids weren't much help and David was getting frustrated. It was getting later and we had plans for the afternoon. So about 11:15 we gave up and I told everyone to wash up, get into clean clothes, and told the boys to make sandwiches while I showered. Aaron arrived soon after, and we headed out, about 15 minutes late. Aaron went with David in the truck because they were picking up more bark for the landscaping on the way home. We surprised the kids and went to the trampoline park. Crystal wanted to do one last get together before they moved. It ended up being Melissa F* and her youngest 3, Crystal's kids, Elizabeth J* and her 3 kids, and us. The Monday special was a family rate where basically the 6 of us got in for the price of 4. The kids had a ton of fun. I ended up sitting and talking with the moms, and Aaron followed Melanie around while the other kids wandered on their own. I wanted to take pictures, but my phone was dying already! So Aaron got a couple of blurry pictures, and this cute video.
Melanie was a little timid at first, but then really enjoyed it. We stayed for about an hour and then it was time to go home. Melanie didn't get enough of a warning, and threw a fit when we told her it was time to go. It was already past her nap time, so I picked her up and carried her. She wouldn't put her shoes on, so I had to carry her kicking and screaming to the van, and force her into her seat. I thought for sure she would fall asleep on the way home, but instead she cried almost the entire way with bursts of "You put me in the van" "I do it myself" with a big breath between each word. She stayed awake the whole time, but it didn't take long for her to go to sleep once she was in her bed. Once Aaron and David got home we finished pulling the loose dirt out and then the kids "helped" Aaron put the new pipes in. Between redoing the irrigation and chasing Melanie at the trampoline park Aaron racked up over 31,000 steps!
That afternoon I started another batch of cinnamon rolls. I offered to bring some to Crystal. I was sure they would have their kitchen all packed up, so rather than make them run to McDonald's or just eat cereal, I thought they'd enjoy something fun for breakfast. Of course we got a pan to eat among our family as well. I'm sure we had dinner, but I don't recall anything else out of the ordinary, other than delivering the cinnamon rolls to Crystal before she went to pick up Daren at the airport.
Unfortunately Timothy woke up in the middle of the night vomiting. He does that way too often I think. So he was in his bed for most of Tuesday. Our plans for the morning were to unload the bark and help Aaron get the sprinklers working. The irrigation water had already been turned on for the season, so we could try out the sprinklers. We unloaded another yard a bark and we were still short on covering the entire landscaping. I guess next time we'll have to remember to get 2 1/2 yards of bark. After spreading the bark around we filled in the dirt back on top of the pipes except around the connections to make sure there were no leaks. Everything looked great, until we tried the last set. The connections were fine but where we had bend the sprinkler pipe it had pulled it enough underground that it pulled a connection loose about 4 feet up the line. So Aaron had to dig down and find it. In the mean time Daren called to ask if they could borrow the truck for a couple of runs to the dump. When he arrived they discussed the irrigation stuff, and Daren mentioned that he had extra 6 inch pipe that Aaron could use to create easy access to valves. So Aaron worked on the irrigation and I fixed some lunch, then it was nap time. We tried to rake the dirt out of the grass and into the holes as Aaron put a new sprinkler box in for the new valves. Finally we finished and ran all of the lines to see how they worked. Everything looked great, but somehow I missed a broken pipe at the top of one of the lines (I was only checking the new lines).
Our fun plans for the afternoon was to take the kids to see Cinderella in the theaters. We had a slight change of plans as Timothy was sick. So Aaron stayed home, and I took the other three. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they have $5 matinees on Tuesdays, so instead of costing $22.50 it was only $15! Of course I think we spent that much on popcorn and soda as well. But we don't do it very often. We all enjoyed the movie. Amy especially liked the Frozen Fever short before the movie started. Melanie was a little bit noisy, and got a little bored, but snacks and drawing helped. I don't think she was too much of a distraction. I didn't get any nasty looks from anyone. Perhaps it helped that there was a group of disabled patrons that were a little more distracting. One boy clapped randomly throughout the movie. I think the other movie goers were a little more tolerant of each other that day.
It was late when we got home, but Aaron had fixed us a delicious dinner. We had fried clams (the ones we caught and froze) and popcorn shrimp, with edamame on the side. We ate quickly and then got ready for bed.
Spring Break continued for the rest of us, but Aaron had to go back to work on Wednesday. I had a plan for the morning to finally get out to a park. So after a trip to the grocery store where we picked up a picnic lunch, we went to the park. We were playing in the creek, and on the playground.
I forgot to bring bread for the ducks, but they didn't look very hungry. There were people there with bags and bags of bread. David tried out the disc golf course. Then we enjoyed lunch. They played for a little bit more, and then headed back home for nap time.
The afternoon was quiet, but still fun. David really wanted to play a game, so that's what we did. Eventually Aaron came home for some dinner, but then went over to the K*'s to help with loading the moving truck. While he was gone I put the kids to bed, and then I became a little emotional. We were losing some good friends. I can't see us ever needing to drive through Nevada, or any reason for them to come back up this way. I honestly don't know if I will ever see them again. I hope we do, but that night I wasn't hopeful.
Thursday morning was pretty quiet as well. Just playing. I had developed a cold over night. I was stuffy and tired and just not feeling well. Timothy and I had an appointment that morning. I had felt bad he missed out on the movie, so after our appointment we ran to Costco and then we picked up some lunch at Burger King. By the time we got back David had fixed and served lunch and had gotten Melanie ready for a nap, she was sitting up in her bed though, so I got her to sleep. I don't think we did anything else exciting, just a game marathon. We took turns picking the games. There was also plenty of playing outside. I tried to rest to get over my cold.
Friday was another quiet day. We did run to the store in the morning. And I finally boiled some eggs so we could dye them for Easter. We didn't get to it until after dinner, so it was rather late when we started.
Melanie was excited to participate this year.
David's finished eggs.
Unfortunately Timothy was feeling sick again, and after dying a couple of eggs he went to bed unable to finish decorating them.
