I LOVE SPRING BREAK!!

I love spring break now even more than I did as a kid! School days are long, busy, and most of the time I get with Lily is spent reminding her of what she needs to do to get ready for school, do homework, or get ready for bed. Needless to say, I LOVE when she has time off of school.

Spring break was awesome!!! My dad came to visit us for the first time. It was great having him here. We learned that Grandpa Clark loves Oreos and Froot Loops. He loves Oreos so much that we kept our pantry stocked! I won't say how many packages of Oreos we went through that week. We sure enjoyed helping him chow them down. We'll just say the kids call Grandpa "Oreo head." Unfortunately for me, I'm a close second for that title! I remember eating Oreos with him when I was a very little girl. I still love them!

The Excavator Park

Carter rocks the excavator!

Grandpa Clark and Hazel

Mustaches. Carter got a Dorito mustache. I asked him if he was turning into a teenager. He didn't like that at all, he kept telling me it was from the Doritos. When he tried to lick it off, it just smeared around.

Horse Back Riding

Lily was going to do a short ride around the coral with Carter. But by amazing chance, her dear little friend showed up at the same time as us! She was going to go on an hour long ride by herself, so Lily and I joined her. Lily loved the ride. She listened closely to the instructions at the beginning and I was pleasantly surprised to see how proactive and confident she was on the horse.

(Yes, we did cut Lily's hair! 12 inches!!)

My cute cowboy. He loved the cowboy garb. His only disappointment was that he didn't get to wear spurs. Carter waited an hour and a half to ride his horse. He was so patient and good.

I was also surprised to see how much Carter enjoyed the ride. I thought he'd be a little afraid, but he wasn't!

Look at that face!

Hazel found this little shopping cart at our friends' house and she adores it. She pushes it all around our house. The funny thing is that she doesn't crawl, she does a very funny scoot/shuffle. She gets around fast and it allows her to have a hand free to push her cart. It's the cutest thing!

Desert Botanical Gardens

The weather was lovely this week. We all enjoyed the gardens.

We learned on our horse excursion that this is a hedgehog cholla. We had fun identifying them all through the gardens and on a subsequent hike.

I thought this was such a pretty shot with the rock and plants behind.
(Gotta love Carter's shades. When the sun's bright he forms these cool shades with his hands which block the light but still allow him to see. Ingenious.)

Absolute cuteness.

The butterfly exhibit was the unanimous favorite part of the gardens. All three kids got so excited seeing the butterflies flit about the exhibit. I loved seeing their excitement.

The Train Park

Uhh, cuteness again. Don't you want to reach out and touch her squishy little arms and legs?!

My little loves.

Hooray for carousels! Hazel loved the bright colors, horses, and the music on the carousel. She was excited to sit on a horse. She was surprised and a little unsure when the horse started going up and down. It was cute to see her response to something new.

Hazel got so excited seeing the model trains move on their own! She couldn't get enough of them.

She watched this one go around and around. Grandpa was a good sport to hold her so she could watch for a long time!

Pure enjoyment! Grandpa got the kids these train suckers, and as you can see, Lily and Carter loved them. Aaah, how pleasant and carefree is childhood.

Jump!

We've wanted something fun in the backyard to draw the kids outside in the lovely weather. When I was about 7 years old, my aunt and uncle got a trampoline. My cousins and I loved jumping on it. My aunt and uncle still have that trampoline, and my kids play on it. With fun for the whole family, and longevity in mind, we got a trampoline!! It's proving to be so much fun, for the kids and the grown ups!

Lily took to it like she was born to bounce. You should see how high she gets when we pop her! Carter was cautious at first, but now jumps on it with the best of us! He's gotten good at jumping, and I love seeing his little legs jump! Hazy loves the trampoline too. She sits and bounces or likes to be held in our arms while jumping.

Come on over and jump!

Snow, snow, snow!!

We went sledding with our friends, Andy and Andrea last week. It was so much fun! This is the first time the kids have ever been sledding (except for when Lily was a baby) and they loved it!


Andy and Lily are just about to go over a steep little ridge. Look at the apprehensive expression on her face.

Then they're over the edge and Lily realizes it's just plain old fun!

Cutest snow baby! I love babies bundled up in puffy snowsuits. Hazy loved being outside in the fresh air. She enjoyed seeing birds flying around and seeing the tree branches move in the wind.

Andrea played a lot with Hazel.

Aaron and Andy became friends in the first grade. I think it's so cool that they're still close.

Carter's been dying to do this for months! He's been practicing at home: grass angels, carpet angels, rock angels (just kidding!).

The adult to child ratio (4:3) was perfect for a day in the snow! I could handle the extra help more often! My kids love how Andy and Andrea play with them and teach them.

Andy and the kids made a snow man.

On our afternoon walk. Carter loved throwing snowballs at everyone!!

I love that we live in the desert, but in less than two hours' time we can be in the snow. It's fabulous! We loved the snow trip and the fun with friends! As a side, I didn't take any of these photos. They were all captured by Andy, Andrea, and Aaron. I think they got some incredible pictures that weekend.

Sweetest tea

My cute Carter was rummaging in Hazel's closet and pulled out an old tea set that's been on a shelf for ages, so we had a little tea party. This is the first time Hazel's had a tea party. It was so cute to watch the wheels turning in her head as she watched Carter and me.

After a little while she picked up a spoon and started stirring it in her cup.


Delicious!






Then she picked up the tea pot and poured some into her cup, then mine. It was so so precious!

Hazy took her first steps this weekend! And I missed them! I was in the other room and everyone excitedly called me in to see. She had taken a couple of steps, and didn't take any more...until yesterday. She took three cute little steps in the middle of our living room. For the time being, she still prefers her scoot to get around quickly!

Happy first, Hazy!

Hazy turned one in January! She was a perfect baby and she's still the epitome of joyful sweetness!

She fell in love with this baby doll at the store. Every time we passed it she got excited and talked to it. She was so excited to have her at home too!

Hazy enjoyed her cake. At first she touched the frosting and tasted it. Then she poked her finger all the way into the cake. Then she stuck her hand in. The cake looked intact from the top and the other sides...but this side looked like a little wren's nest in a saguaro cactus.

We really missed having family here to celebrate her first birthday. But we were very happy to have these good friends celebrate with us! Yes, Hazel's in her birthday suit. After the cake, she needed a bath!

Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Robison!

Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Ford!

Birthday dinner at Red Robin. Hazel may have had some help from her siblings in choosing the venue.

Carter loves their cheeseburgers.

Lily loves their mac and cheese. She only ate two servings of it this time!

Where's Hazy?

Peek-a-boo!

Finally one like me!

Hazel loves broccoli! It's been noted that my kids are picky eaters. Hazy, however, enjoys eating just about anything we give her.

We gave her broccoli for the first time last night and she devoured it. In fact, she set a crepe down to pick up more broccoli! It was so cute seeing her love that food.

I'm so excited that this girl has a wide palette and loves good food! I hope it will last as she gets older. Cross your fingers for me!