Shamrock Farms Tour

This past weekend we did the Easter Egg Hunt and Farm Tour our at Shamrock Farms. It has been 3 years since we did this and I really thought Aspen would have fun since she is older now so I wanted to do it. Here are a couple of our previous trips out to Shamrock Farms. It was a long drive out to Maricopa but we made good time and got out there early enough for the kids to get their faces painted and play some games. Besides Aspen freaking out and panicking at the Easter Bunny (who was creepy tbh) the kids did really well during the tour. They were funny and all plugging their noses because of the smell. They got lots of fun prizes during the Easter egg hunt portion and then after the tour was over we stayed to eat lunch and have some Shamrock Farms ice cream. It was a fun morning and I am really glad we made it out there this year!

Cuties!

Creepiest Easter Bunny!



Ready to hunt


The best!

Christmas at the Princess 2017

This year was our third year attending Christmas at the Princess. This event can get really busy so this year we made it a point to go on a week night. While that is hard to manage with all of the kids school activities and extracurriculars, it was totally worth it. We went on Monday and we could tell immediately as we drove up it was going to be a better experience. Last year I believe we went on a Sunday night and could barely get a parking spot. You can see our previous trips HERE. It has gotten much more expensive than the first year and there are no more "value night" but they have added things so I guess at least you are getting more. We had a lot of fun and I am glad we were able to make time for it again this year!

that's a can of la croix incase you were wondering

 

 

the cutest elves

we bring our own s'mores supplies

Christmas Performances

Last week both Aspen and Everly had Christmas performances at their schools. Aspen's was first on Wednesday and she did absolutely horrible. She does things on her own terms and is shy so singing in front of people was not going to happen. The thing is, she sings all of the time at home and loves dancing and had been singing the Christmas songs they were working on so it would have been so cute. After her failed performance, Justin and I stayed and had a cookie with her before heading back to work. Maybe next year?

 

Everly's performance was on Thursday night. My mom and Nora came and Everly did great. I do wish they used music for this performance, but the kids were still cute. Everly had been working hard to remember all of the songs and was not shy or nervous. She loved being up on stage with her friends and we are so proud of her. I compiled some of the clips into a cute video. Can't believe Christmas is a week away!

 

Nora is such a good little cousin!

Illumination AZ

Monday night we went to Illumination AZ up off of the 17 and Jomax. It is the first year for this event so it was new to us. We went after Everly got done with soccer practice and caravanned with my mom and sister up to the lights. It was probably an 8-ish minute wait to get through the line so that was not too bad but it was a Monday and I have heard it is much busier on the weekends. The kids liked it, especially when they played a Frozen song. The lights were cool. Nothing mind blowing but they were cool. Once you get done there is an area to park and walk around and take some pictures with some light structures. We got out but we weren't really prepared for it so we didn't stay long. Nora fell asleep, Cameron had no shoes, Everly and Teddy were in flip flops, and then the kids had to pee so we just called it a loss. They did have some snacks, games and bounce houses so it looked decent. This year I am learning that we can't do every single Christmas activity that we want to. There are just so many things going on but we do what we can! Here is a little video and some photos.

Zoolights 2017

You know the holiday season is really here when it is finally Zoolights again. Last night we went for member preview night because it is way less busy than the regular nights. Also, member nights include free stingray bay and free carousel rides. You can see our previous years at Zoolights HERE. It is fun to look back at previous years. Arizona is weird. Sometimes it is cold and last night was not one of those nights. The weather was very mild and it is going to be a warm Thanksgiving this year. This year we were also able to go through the Dino trail since we have the season pass. The last time we were at the zoo a couple of weeks ago the kids went on the camel and we realized adults can go too so this time Doug took Cameron on a camel ride. He did great and the other kids were jealous! We did the carousel in the beginning and Justin and Doug took the big kids through sting ray bay at the end. It was a fun night and I still can't believe the holidays are here!

pretty pink skies last night!

love these goofballs!


dino fun!

they brought the talking giraffe back!

Isaac the camel

Love these guys!