We came home from our latest road trip and life hasn't slowed down since. Work has been crazy and busy for both Hubs and myself. The minis have been busy finishing up homeschool lessons all while enjoying plenty of time with friends. There's been basketball, hiking, outings, family time, spring break, saying goodbye to a pet, and...well, it's been a lot. Here's a quick look at what we've been up to the last month:
We were greeted with a case of Girl Scout cookies when we came home from Alabama. A daycare child's grandparent bought daycare an entire case of cookies! The kids were thrilled and slightly skeptical that I've let them have cookies every day. We took time to make cards for the grandparent, but ran into issues when everyone loved their card so much that they had to keep them. So, we gave one giant card and each kid got to color a part of it. This kept everyone happy and we got to show our appreciation.
Our neighbor dog was soooo excited that Zeus was back from vacation. She even came into our yard to play (this is how she announces her arrival in our yard when she broke out of hers). The daycare kids excitedly exclaim, "puppy Penny is back to play Zeus!"
The middle mini has put his baking skills to use. For my dad's birthday, Harrison created a Thin Mint cake. Chocolate cake mix, mint flavoring, frosting (dyed green) and plenty of Thin Mint cookies made for a delicious cake!
Spring break was tiring. There was constant movement, a special St. Patrick's Day, a sleepover with (older) daycare friends, Lego building, and our monthly Universal Yums box. Even the dog was exhausted.
I may complain about the little Legos all over my basement floor, but I can't get over the detail that goes into their building. A few kids build a floor plan of a house they imagined. On one of the walls was a Ukrainian flag, while the cupboards in the kitchen held little boxes meant to be pantry staples. I'm always in awe of their creativity.
A night out seeing Rent! Finally! I bought tickets with my cousin in 2019, but she was sick this weekend, so Hubs took her place. We wound up having two date nights since we went out to a trivia night the evening before. I don't think we've had two dates in one weekend since we did a quick getaway at the beginning of 2020 (or pre-pandemic).
We celebrated birthdays with family. The minis got to enjoy my uncle's new fire pit, that my husband is now obsessed with too, with s'mores. They had a ridiculous amount of sugar this night.
We had a true Sunday Funday. Well, at least a family version of it. We picked up Whatcha Smokin' BBQ and took it to Leges State Park. We had a car picnic (at the request of the youngest) and then hiked 4 miles. I love when they have Canyon Dr. closed because we can walk in the road without worrying about getting hit by a car that is always going faster than necessary. This also meant that the trails weren't crowded in the least. We have pretty well avoided this Park since it became overly crowded during the pandemic, so I was happy to see it less busy on a gorgeous spring day.
Above: This is the ridge we usually hike along and then hike down (and back up). I never realize how steep that ledge is until we're at the bottom. Below: My favorite spot to take my children's picture because I have ten years worth of pictures in this very spot on this trail.
This was supposed to be a date night. The minis were upset they wouldn't get to try a new restaurant with us, so instead of a nice dinner we settled for Starbucks in the dance studio parking lot.
The boys made Peeps Rice Krispy treats. I joked that it looked like they drowned the Peeps in the cereal before they were cooked.
My sweet pup, Zeus. He punctured his carpal pad and had to have it wrapped. Of course it didn't slow him down one bit. He was up running around the next day and hiking with us 36 hours after it happened.
These two goofballs. They often have to be separated for fighting or being "too much." This was nearly a "too much" moment, but they reeled it in before mom lost it.
Last year, the DNR drained Lake Ahquabi and we've been meaning to make it to this Sate Park ever since. Hiking drained lake beds can be fascinating. We've found shells, snail shells, bugs, plants that would otherwise be covered with water, many dropped treasures from boats, etc. It's a fun experience. Unfortunately, this lake bed was quite muddy (although we weren't surprised by this given that it's springtime), so we didn't get to hike as much of it as we would have liked.
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Finally, our favorite local ice cream shop opened for the season! We made it to opening day and got all of our faves: a cherry dipped cone, cherry floats, blue raspberry float, chocolate malt, and of course, the pup cone. It was barely 50 degrees, so we opted for the drive thru on this visit.
