Soccer

Practices and games are back on the calendar. It makes life a little busier but the exercise is so good for the kids. Neither or them really love the sport though--so we're planning on some new sports starting in the summer and fall (like golf and swimming and basketball and ballet...oh boy...)

Caroline's game:

It was quite cold at 9:00 in the morning so Cares snuggled up with her Daddy to keep warm


Bentley's Game:

By 10:00 it had warmed up considerably as the sun came out

This is his newest "smile for the camera" pose...hmmm

A Birthday and a Playdate

Last year I was such a ninny-muggins about my birthday--where was my positivity that day? This year it was a truly wonderful day. It helped a ton that we had just gotten home from a fun vacation and those memories were fresh and happy in my mind. When my birthday arrived on Monday, I took things super slow and stayed in my PJs until noon, had yummy leftovers from the birthday dinner Ruth Ann made on Sunday, fit in a good run on the treadmill while Livs napped, and enjoyed family time that night.

dinner at La Hacienda with the fam
(Joseph took the pic and my dad had to dart out early to take care of a patient)

Birthday flowers from Joseph (sitting on my new oil cloth tablecloth from my in-laws)

I am so grateful for my family and friends, for special phone calls, kind emails, a few text messages and lots of Facebook greetings that day. Those gestures really add up and made me feel quite loved on my birthday. It was a very good day (even if it did snow :)

By the end of the week however, spring decided to arrive and the kids and I have been outside enjoying it as much as we can (new storms are rolling in tomorrow, of course). On Friday, Bentley had a free day (PT conf. at school) so we met up with Cec for a park playdate.

Bentley and Cares were the only big kids there so they happily helped out with Livs and Connor. My kids slept so soundly last night after a full day of playing outside. Love these glimpses of spring!

Last Day in Phoenix

We made the most of our last day by swimming all morning long (miss Olivia sure loved the baby pool) before packing up our car and checking out at noon. We picked up sandwiches from Sacks and dropped by Grandma Susan's to eat them in her newly remodeled backyard. Grandma Susan is actually my sister's mother-in-law but after living in her ward when we were in Phoenix we feel a special kinship with her (and my kids just call her Grandma Susan like their Horsley cousins do :)

After a great visit with Susan and letting the kids run and roam and play in the grass, we loaded in the car and were off. I was a little sad driving away from the city that we love and knowing the sunshine and warm air weren't following us north. We followed cougar basketball via Twitter on our way to Vegas and it was so exciting to get minute by minute updates on Jimmer and the crew--talk about a suspenseful way to "watch" that game!

We spent Friday and Saturday in rainy St George and just enjoyed being together as a family. The kids played with all the fun toys in the house, we watched some Planet Earth episodes, fit in some bike rides and runs and swimming at the Sand Hollow pool. All in all it felt like a beautiful luxury to have so many days to just play and hang out together (9 including Sunday and our drive back home). I think we need an escape like this every spring.

The Rest of Wednesday

Joseph met up with some old design friends for lunch so the big kids and I had a hotel room picnic (our Livvies was sleeping in the other room so we had to stay in.)

And then it was out to the pool! We opted for the deeper, smaller pool near our room so Bentley could dive down for his rockets.

Our room was right around the corner from the middle balcony in the picture.

Love my little sunbather

Downtown waiting for dinner at this highly coveted place:

After an hour waiting in line we were treated to some very good pizza. We are lucky we made it inside at all actually--that place is crazy busy, only open Tuesday-Saturday from 5:00 until 10:00 and the line to get in for dinner begins around 3:30 each day. What??! Joseph and I had been years ago but I am pretty sure it was before they got this popular. Tye and Stacey made heroic efforts to come join us but when it came time to eat, the place would only allow 4 more people inside before they were full and we'd have to wait at least an hour for a free table. My brother encouraged us to go in and eat while his little family would figure out something else for dinner. We were sad to miss out on more time with him but thought it was so gracious of him to encourage us to stay.

Love that restaurant! So sad it is such a fiasco to actually eat there though.

We dropped by Joseph's Aunt and Uncle's house after we ate.
Livs was completely enamored with Edie's cuddly animals (Edie is Joseph's college-aged cousin)

Back at the resort we went for a little walk and bought ice cream sandwiches to eat poolside before bed.

I love swimming pools all lit up at night,
although the picture doesn't quite capture the inviting ambiance.

Desert Botanical Gardens

At the entrance, a few leftover pieces from the Dale Chihuly exhibit

Bentley mapped out our visit and showed us where to go

From the butterfly exhibit.
Cares had a few butterflies land on her visor and shoulder--she must smell very sweet :)

testing out how butterflies see the world

the bright yellow trees behind us were some of my favorites that day--I am in love with that color

tiny Livs, her big daddy and huge saquaros

Bentley learning about all 4 deserts in North America which all overlap into Arizona. My kid was loving that kind of information.

voila--a double stroller!

A pic Joseph took of me with his phone
(I do spend a good deal of time behind that camera :)

Sunshine Day

We woke up to a gorgeous blue sky on Tuesday. Hello Phoenix sun!

And who doesn't need a rockin' pair of sunny-g's on a day like that?

We were up early (as always with our little brood) and decided we still needed some Tia Rosa lunch. After a quick stop at Old Navy, we made the drive out to Mesa again and got there right when they opened (we were what you call eager beavers...) Rightly so--what a yummy lunch! I could eat those chips dipped in refried beans all day. And we sat in the sun while we ate. Delicious all around.

Then it was over to McCormick Railroad park in Scottsdale

Livs was happy to find a pine cone to hold

while Cares made up her own game of pine cone soccer. Simple pleasures.

Oh how pleased my babes were to just run and run and run!

My little railroad girl

and my boxcar children.
How cool were those books as a child? I used to daydream about finding my very own, hidden in the forest boxcar to use as a fort/playhouse whenever I wanted.

After a long swim (for Joe and the kids while Livs napped and I read) we spent the evening at the Biltmore. Or more so walking around the Biltmore on our way to Hillstone down the road (used to be Houston's but they have changed names and locations without changing the menu.) My kids were the only children in the restaurant and let me just say they behaved beautifully (might be because I warned them they had better or else...) Beans, Cares and I all shared a full slab of babyback ribs which were divine. But as Bentley aptly pointed out--Nanny's were still his favorite and I had to agree.