St. Patrick's Day Treats

For the first time in our school days, St. Patrick's Day was on a weekend - it was a little strange to not be sending the girls to school in their green, themed shirts.

And for the first time in years, no one in our house created a leprechaun trap. That's a sad thing - another young-child thing over.

But, Stace and the girls created appropriate crepes for breakfast, and Violet did make sure to wear her shirt.

We met up with Mom2Mom friends later in the morning at Hart Park. This scene made me laugh.

A couple of people were walking their alpacas in the park - there's something we don't see every day!

We picked up Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds on the way home. We justified the outrageous sugar content with the idea that we'd put them in the fridge and enjoy them over several days.

Bingo Fun

We had a full house for Bingo Night on Friday, and my friends who worked on it with me couldn't have been happier. We've been preparing for a couple of months now, and all went very smoothly.

This is me at the front table, helping pick the numbers and check winners' tickets.

Our friend Yass was the MC, and he did a great job. Jen spearheaded the prize donations, Rachael handled the food again, and Christina helped with everything. I chaired the committee, so I did lots of little things.





Those little bingo balls can be hard to read!

We had over 30 prizes - Jen really went all out!

Violet skipped most of the bingo - she read in the hallway, rather than have her hopes dashed again. Or, she's tired of we grownups remarking on how cute she was a few years ago, sobbing every time she lost.

We raised close to $2,000 for the school! I'm so pleased, and so blessed to live this life, with time and energy to volunteer.

A New Class for Cora

 Hello! It's Cora! I have been getting into silks. It's really fun! Grandma and Grandpa paid for two classes for me to learn how to do silks, or aerial acrobatics.

My teacher, Cheryl, is an old friend of Grandma's and went to my parents' wedding. She's really nice and patient, and she's very good at silks.

The hoop was a little harder than I expected, because I had to twist my body and hang off the thin edge without crashing into the floor.

I can't wait to be able to do it again, because I thought it was a really good workout for me and it was really enjoyable.

Week in Review

Stace and I had a mini date Wednesday night during Pioneer Club. We used to like going to McDonald's for a chocolate-dipped cone, but our local outlets have stopped offering them.

So, I introduced Stace to good old Foster's Freeze in Canyon Country, where I got my favorite ice cream treat.

Magic Mountain changed its hours and is now open daily, all year long. So, I took Cora and Emily on a Thursday after school for a few hours of big rides, with no lines. It was great! We tried out some rides we'd never been on, and decided that we love Full Throttle the best.

Patrice picked up Violet from Wizard of Oz rehearsal, and she had fun at their house with Charlie and Tommy while I had the big girls.

 

On Friday, Cora was invited to Kameron's birthday party, which had a Hawaii theme. All the children painted a scene, guided by a YouTube video and Kam's aunt, who happens to be a teacher at the kids' school.

The girls had a great time - Violet took the art very seriously, because she felt very privileged to be included in the party for a big kid she doesn't know very well. They all had fn on the bouncy slide - here, Cora and Cooper are leaping in.

Over the weekend, we went back to Patrice and Geoff's for dinner. We love this family, and I'm so glad we've reconnected after just plain busyness meant we hadn't gotten together for a while. Stace and Geoff are having fun with the model helicopter here...

...while the kids had fun in the pool and spa.

The Long Way Home

We woke up Monday in Sedona, eager to have a great and interesting travel day, and also eager to get on the road so we weren't getting home too late on a school and work night.

We made our first stop at the Indian Gardens Cafe, where Grandma and Grandpa got coffee while Stace and Cora crossed the street to check out the river.















The drive up to Flagstaff was gorgeous. Our next stop was the Cornish Pasty Co. in Flagstaff, where the girls found snow on the back patio to play with.

This Pasty Co. outlet is less than a year old. We had a good time with the darts and pool while we waited for our lunch.

Since it was a Cornish place, Stace felt it was only right to have a cider.

Now that's what you call good fast food for the car journey!

While on our drive back to SClarita, my Hyundai crossed the bit 100,000 mile marker. Unfortunately, not long after this, it had some problems starting after we stopped at a gas station in Kingman, Az. It eventually started back up, but hopefully this is a problem Stace can resolve before too long.

We made it home before 8 p.m., and we were all so happy about that! It was another great getaway.

Sedona Adventures

We continued our Arizona adventure Sunday with a return to the gorgeous Sedona area, this time with Sara, Tony and the girls.

We hiked/walked together out to Bell Rock.

Lucky Violet caught a lift!

No, Stace didn't create this stack. He just added to what was already there. Thanks to Sara for letting me steal a few photos this weekend!

We then said goodbye to our dear friends - we'll next see them this summer when they come out for Sara's 40th birthday bash.

We went on into town for our next adventure - a rugged Jeep tour of the back country.

It was a beautiful - and very bumpy - ride. Cora loved every bouncy second as we explored through some seriously gorgeous scenery.

Cora was also on the hunt for snow. There were traces left from a snowfall the prior week, and she found enough to make some weapons.

It was a day filled with incredible beauty. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for giving us this experience!

Dodger Fun

With my parents, we returned to Arizona for Dodgers Spring Training over the weekend, and had a great time with Sara and Tony and their girls.

We got in very late Friday night - it's a long drive when you have to get through the Los Angeles area. Sara and Tony stayed up to meet us, and all the girls gave us a friendly welcome.

We got to Camelback Ranch on Saturday before noon, to take in the scene.

 A Dodger doing fielding practice tossed a ball to us, which Cora grabbed. She then got a few players to sign it, including starters Logan Forsyth and Joc Pedersen.

It wasn't nearly as hot as when we attended a spring training game last year, but it was still warm enough for a frozen treat.

 I treated myself to a new cap - I've been wanting one for months. Here's the whole gang...

 After the game, though we didn't discuss it beforehand, we all ended up at QuikTrip for a cheap cold drink.

Our Friday night was so late - and these girls were so happy to see each other again! They were playing into the wee hours.

Queen Elizabeth I, Violet-style

 Violet very ably portrayed Queen Elizabeth I in her class's Wax Museum presentation on Friday. She worked hard on her project, reading through a biography several years above her grade level for her research.

She came up with a speech about two minutes long, and earned 97 out of 100 possible points on it!

The Wax Museum is a third-grade project, but Dr. Porter decided to let her second-graders in her split class complete it, too. Violet proved herself more than up for the task!