Gloria in Excelsis Deo: {SQT} Easter Octave Stay-Cation

1. Easter Triduum

Easter Triduum reports:

We were planning a touristy vacation but were so exhausted it that we cancelled it in favor of a stay-cation. I thought there would be hours of laying about, reading and doing nothing, but we were still bustling all the time. I think we need to rent a mountain cabin to achieve that laying about.

2. Monday

On Monday, we joined another family for the older kids to go fishing while the moms monitored the younger kids at the adjacent playground. John caught a 26" catfish and Mary caught two cute, little minnows.

3. Tuesday

On Tuesday, Chris took the oldest four and joined another family to visit Dan Nicholas Park. It's a great day trip for large families, as every activity is individually priced and cheap.

Nine children ages 4 to 11

Everyone happy except for two Little Lauers

Mama (and two babies) stayed home to do a lot of planning: planning Margaret's First Holy Communion festivities, planning the burial of my mom and stepfather, and planning school for next year.

4. Wednesday

On Wednesday after music lessons, we visited another family for a play date. I have no pictures so you can better you use your imagination to envision romping through a creek, catching critters, climbing the playground, jumping on the trampoline, riding bicycles, and playing baseball.

5. Thursday

On Thursday, we had some school to do for CCE and John had a mowing client--above, his sweet brothers are waving at him across the street--before Scottish Dance, playground fun, and Daddy taking all five out to a Mexican dinner. I stayed home doing much planning and administrative work--and I may even have taken a nap with the baby!

6. Friday

Friday marked our last regular meeting of CCE, and the last presentations given by my kids, before final memory testing the following week.

I have been trying to carve out time to play Margaret's new game of Bird Bingo all week, unsuccessfully, so it's on my schedule for Friday evening!

7. Plus Little Stuff

Taking the week almost entirely off of school--we did have a few stragglers to finish from the prior week, as well as studying for memory testing at CCE, and music practice as always--carved out space for some lovely family moments.

We took some walks in gorgeous spring weather, played Mexican train dominoes, got back to reading aloud "David Copperfield," and watched "War of the Vendee." (We look forward to watching "The Hidden Rebellion" when the DVD arrives to us.) Chris also used his time off work to do a lot of errands for us.