Spring break!

So, we don't technically get a "spring break," but we took (a short) one anyway. A couple weeks ago, cousins Megan, Patrick, Chaney and Keaton came down to spend a couple days at the lake. Then the four of us (adults) dropped the kids off with the grandparents on Friday and headed south to Hot Springs, Ark. for the weekend. Matt and I hadn't been in five or six years. It was so much fun - I hope we can make it an annual trip! We stayed at the Arlington, which is really handy because it's within walking distance to all kinds of downtown restaurants, bars, bathhouses and shops. No hot baths this time, but we did average more than 9,000 steps (strides?) on Saturday at the horse races - according to Patrick's pedometer. (Ha!) There were 10 races, and Matt and I bet on every one. He won on quite a few races - I won three or four in a row, got a little cocky (not really) and then proceeded to lose most of the rest of them. Matt pretty much broke even. I did not. We had a blast.

Waiting for a race to start. Are those the faces of winners, or what?

Here we are cashing in some winning tickets with our "lucky lady." Don't know her name, but we both placed our first bets with her, and since we're superstitious, we had to place ALL of our bets with her. Too bad she wasn't more of a lucky charm...

If that weekend was fun and carefree, this past weekend was, well, the opposite. Both kids have been battling colds, coughs, fevers... and Finn is cutting teeth like crazy. Neither felt well on Saturday, so we didn't do much besides stay inside and try to get well. 

Finn and I spent the day together on Friday. (This was before they both started feeling pretty crummy.) It was nice, so we spent some time outside.

He's really enjoying the playhouse this year, now that he's old enough to climb the ladder, go flying down the slide, swing on the swings... such a big boy, he is.

Matt has been wanting to take Lola white bass fishing. There was really nothing being caught this weekend, but we ran down there for a bit anyway - between naps and fevers - to let her get a line wet.

And finally, we have been on a homemade-pizza-making kick lately. We seem to throw these together on nights when we really don't have anything else planned. The crust recipe is a "quick and easy" one: 1 package dry yeast, 1 teaspoon white sugar, 1 cup warm water, 2 1/2 cups flour (I usually do half white/half wheat), 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon coarse salt. Preheat oven to 450. Dissolve yeast and sugar in water, let stand for about 10 minutes. Stir in flour, salt and oil until smooth dough forms. Let rest for 5 minutes. Turn dough out on a floured surface and work into about a 12-inch round. Cover with toppings and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden and bubbly. We had to scrounge for toppings when we made this one, and it turned out to be one of our best yet. We used mozzarella and sauteed strips of red onions, red, orange and yellow peppers. Simple. But really good!