Spring Break Really Isn't a Break for Moms... But it Sure is Fun!

I know all you can focus on is the darling children in this picture -- one of which is screaming because he wants to stand by himself -- but check out those gorgeous blue skies, Mt. Ranier, and too bad you can't see it, but the Puget Sound is back there too

What do you get when you take:

4 moms + 10 children under 6 + time off of school + 2 days in Seattle - naps + an agenda full of kid-friendly adventures?

Chaos.  Fun.  Exhaustion.  Pure joy.  

All ten of the children lined up eating a snack.  Ordered oldest (6) to youngest (18 months).

Yes, you read that right.  Let that sink in for a moment.  Three friends and I took our TEN children to Seattle for spring break.  Miraculously no children were lost (for more than 10 minutes anyway), all kids got along and behaved marvelously, and we all had a fantastic time.  And I've got the pictures to prove it.  It sure helped that our kids are above-average awesome.  And in my humble opinion, so are their moms.

 An attempt at a group shot at the top of the Space Needle. 

I've been a Pacific Northwesterner all my life (besides college) and I've never been to the top of the Space Needle.  The ride up in the elevator scared me spitless, but once we arrived safe and sound I loved it.  Seattle is so gorgeous from the ground, but it's breathtaking looking down and getting the panoramic view.

Shortly after handing out snacks, some teenage boys arrived and started doing tricks on their skateboards.  The children (minus adorable Briella) were spellbound.  This might have been the highlight (that and the hotel pool) of the whole trip for the kids!

Riding the Monorail (or the choo-choo as Sambo called it).

Getting eaten by a shark at the Point Defiance Zoo.  I consider this photo a miracle!  All 7 boys standing nicely in one place for more than a second!

Sambo LOOOOVED having all sorts of kids around to play with and follow around. He was so happy the entire time!

And of course Buddy was happy.  He was spending his vacation with his three best friends!

The weather was perfect at the zoo.  While we rounded up some lunch, the kids got busy rolling down the grassy hill.  And playing "pretend football" since we didn't have a "real" football.

Another highlight for Buddy was the shark tank of course.

Have I mentioned how awesome the zoo is?  It was our second time there and I'm already itching to go back.  The zoo has a really fun park.  The kids forwent visiting many of the animals, just so they could play longer at the park.

The younger of my two daredevils.

Pointing at the walruses.  We arrived just in time to see them get fed.

It was so great to be with my boys!  Love them!

 Not pictured (unfortunately):

• Our trip with the kids to the hotel pool and hot tub.  Talk about an accident waiting to happen!  Luckily only minor injuries.
• How jam-packed our hotel rooms were once we laid out everyone's sleeping spots.  We had two rooms each housing 7 people.
• Meal-times.  Wow, is all I have to say.  (Every night at home I freak out about what a mess my boys make.  I was right-they are the messiest children in the world.  That's now been confirmed.)
• The four of us moms hanging out in the hallway of the hotel after the kids went to bed so we could gossip and eat our snacks.
• The hotel manager "escorting" a yucky blond woman to her room at 11:30 PM.  That was a little awkward with us four moms sitting there in the hall trying to guess what they were up to -- and stifling our laughter.  He didn't stay long (probably because we were staring at them).  Mandy-Any ideas why a manager would bring a guest to their room? 
• The looks of disgust/pure shock/confusion we got when we filed into anywhere with our herd of children.  One lady did stop me, however, to tell me that our children are "such a blessing."  I'd have to agree.
• The 1,956,093 potty stops we made during those 2 days.