Spring Break (part two)

Our Spring Break finished up with a bang. Maybe more of a ping than a bang. We were all pretty worn out by Sunday night. Brother Brig and fiance left early Sunday morning. #1 and #2 lamented their departure all day, complaining of boredom and the injustices of not living nearer to family.

Brother Brig was really good at engaging the kids and entertaining them. #1 kept begging for more "russlehousing."

Brig's fiance indulged #1 nearly everyday by participating in some 6-year-old pastime; paper dolls, American Girl dolls, wii games.

The zoo! We tried something new and brought the kid's bikes. I learned that #2 doesn't know how to use his brakes. Every hill was the same thing. He would get going really fast and steer himself into something, like a bush or a fence or the pavement, to stop himself.

Walking on a spiderweb. Leave a message and I'll call you back. And it's all your fault, I screeyeeyeen my phone calls..... honk if you're a 90's girl! (or guy)

After getting hot and sweaty at the zoo we stopped at an old ice-cream parlor for a cool treat.

Estrella Mountain Park. This hike was perfect for my little ones, .06 miles. Any temptation we had to extend the hike was tempered by warning signs of an Africanized Bee colony.

Saturday morning soccer game. Brother Brig and his photographer of a fiance. I wish I'd had some of her pictures for this post.

This is how we keep our kids corralled during the soccer game. #1 had to get in on this picture. She is such a poser lately.

Saturday night #1 lost her 2nd tooth. She says she wants to keep the tooth and isn't willing to risk putting it under her pillow. I guess she wasn't too impressed with the tooth fairy's first gift of a mere 4 quarters.

So long Spring Break..... until next year.

Spring Break (part one)

Since we couldn't go to Mexico, like we had planned, due to all the violence along the border and because we never really had planned to go to Mexico, we've been having a whole bunch of local fun for our family's first spring break. My brother and his fiance, enjoying their own spring break, are here helping to take some of the entertaining pressure off of me. Anything is fun with Brother Brig around.

Monday: AZ Science Center

Here is #1 bummed that she lost a mind game to me. Check this out: so these electrodes are supposed to pick up a certain brain wave that indicates stress. The person who is the most relaxed during the game wins. And I won. What the?


I want to borrow this bed of nails for time outs. But I'll make my kids sit on it instead of comfortably distributing the weight around by lying down.


Brother Brig testing his strength because it's soooooooo hard to lift #3 off the ground. Sheesh, what a wimp.


Tuesday: Downtown Excursion with fun on the Metro Light Rail, and Museum of Art (free on Tuesdays!)

#2 practicing his spiffy new "smile for the camera" face. Check out that dimple!

At the train stop.

#1 with fresh excitement. 15 minutes later she was asking how much longer we had before we could get off. The answer was, "way too long."

#1 and #2 in the miniatures room. I didn't get many pictures at the museum because #1 injured herself in a fun-house like nightmare. Ooops! I mean in one of those abstract light instillation pieces. The room was completely blacked out with little fiber optic lights fading in and out. All the walls were mirrored and angled so it was pretty much impossible to find our way out. After what seemed like an eternity I started to call for help. From the blackness I hear the usher say, "The exist is over there." Super helpful. If I could see the exit I wouldn't be asking for help out! But just then, poor #1, fooled by the illusions in the mirrors, thinking she has found our way out yells, "Here it is Mom!" and runs full speed into one of the walls. Her nose exploded like a bloody grenade. We were quickly escorted out and sadly the museum was much more concerned about their bloodied exhibit than they were about helping me push my stroller or carry my screaming 6 year old, while dragging my four year old to the nearest bathroom.


Stay tuned for Spring Break (part two).


What are you doing for Spring Break?

A Perfect Saturday

Growing up my family went backpacking and hiking for family vacations. Spouse would have written that "vacations" because his idea of a vacation is doing as little as possible.

Sitting here tonight I feel like I might have experienced The Perfect Saturday. For me The Perfect Saturday includes a long run, hours in the sun at #1's fist soccer game, children playing freely while Spouse weeds the yard and I detail the house. The perfect Saturday must include the satisfaction of a well stocked pantry and a full (clean) frig. It also includes #1 and me in the kitchen making strawberry jam while Spouse mows the lawn and #2 rides his bike on the back patio. The Perfect Saturday winds down with the kids eating cereal for dinner because I don't HAVE to cook every night, right? It's only perfect if I still haven't showered as I write this post and if my legs are so exhausted they feel like jelly under me. The Perfect Saturday will end with me falling into bed, very soon; scriptures sliding off my chest before I finish one verse. This is satisfaction to me.

Spouse, if you ever read this, I know you are rolling your eyes right now. My Perfect Saturday = Spouse's Saturday From Hell. Spouse's perfect Saturday would go something like this: sleep in. Sleep in so late it's time for lunch. Go out to lunch. Lay on the couch watching an old western or some boring science show, with me snuggled under his arm only getting restless when it's time to refill our popcorn and Diet Cokes. Doze. Rouse in time to get dressed for dinner which would of course be Mexican take out. Stay up late eating treats and watching movies. Don't ask what the kids have been doing all this time. In Spouse's fantasy the children disappear on Saturdays.

What is your Perfect Saturday?