Getting Warmer. . .

We started swim lessons for the kids on Saturday and after getting home I was getting eager to swim myself, so I turned to the weather channel to quickly check the coming weeks temps. From this 7-day forecast I'm thinking Wednesday would be a good day for a dip in the pool :) Yikes!

Easter/Spring Break Fun

All dressed up for Easter Sunday! We had a good Easter with just us here in Arizona. The night before some friends invited us to do a nighttime egg hunt with them at the park. It was fun with out flashlights, I had trouble finding the eggs. Taft of course, ate all his candy in one day--monkey!

During spring break we did one fun activity a day. This was wednesday, Kirt took the day off and we hiked around the Riparian Preserve. Dallin's friend Blake joined us for the day. We fed the ducks (later read a sign stating not to feed the wildlife--oops). The kids dug in the sand for a dinosaur and. . .

We brought a picnic lunch to enjoy.

After the Preserve we went over to the Rec center and the kids climbed the rock wall. Elaine is quite strong and actually got all the way to the top on her 2nd try.

Dallin also made it quite a ways up the wall before rapelling on down.

A quick recap of the week:

Monday: We went to the library for a St. Patricks Day activity and to get some books and movies to keep busy with during the week.

Tuesday: We went to the Mcormick Stillman train park in Scottsdale with a group of friends to play and picnic. Erin has a nice picture of it on her blog, and my camera batteries died that day :(

Wednesday:Pictured above :)

Thursday: We went to Tumbleweed park with same group of friends. It's nice for the kids to have other buddies to play with and Mom to have adults to chat with.

Friday: Mom was worn out! We caught up on some chores to get ready for the Easter bunny and later the kids went to the neighborhood park for a bit. I thought it was a fun yet low key spring break!

Happy Birthday Elaine!

Elaine turned 6 today! It was fun to see her so excited for her birthday. She is such a sweetie. Right now she loves animals, the littler and cuter the better. She loves her baby brother and gives him hugs and kisses before she leaves for school and at bedtime. She looks up to Dallin and loves to teach Taft things, but he can be good at annoying her like no one else. She has a bit of tomboy spirit to her, loves to giggle and be silly, and loves ice cream. She's a great help to Mom. And suprises her teachers at what a fast learner she is. We love our Elaine!

Elaine had a birthday party with her school and church friends today. She invited about as many boys as girls, it was a fun group. The weather was great so we had it all outside. 10 minutes before the party she told me,"Mom, I just can't wait anymore, when are they coming!"

She wanted an animal theme party. So, I made this cake for her with a safari scene. I used brown sugar and sprinkles for the desert oasis effect (It has ice cream inside-yum) She was particular though and wanted a white cake with white frosting--mission accompished!

All were anxious to enjoy a treat!

We played a few animal themed games, one of which was "Pin the tail on the Monkey" It was funny to watch.

Just some shots with her family on her special day. ( My camera has trouble focusing when there is too much yellow, so the pictures of the party with Mom and Dad and brothers didn't work :( as it was outside with the yellow table cloth and yellowish lighting overhead--wierd , I know)

Elaine's brother's were happy to celebrate this special day with her. Fortunately, for Mom's sanity they all had some place to be during the party. :)

Park Day

On Friday we went to the park to meet up with some friends from church and enjoy the sunny weather. The kids had a great time at the playground and running around the field. Even Briggy didn't mind crawling through the sand and trying to keep up with Taft and Elaine. Dallin was at school so didn't get to join us this excursion. Brigham just giggles with glee while riding in the swing.

Elaine coaxed Brigs all the way up the stairs by following her little webkin puppy. They then had a fun time going down the slide together.

Taft loves to jump and bounce around. Brigham crawled over to get a closer look.


Elaine also enjoyed flying through the air on the swings.