Super Bowl Sunday!

Super Bowl Sunday was not as exciting as it would have been if the Cardinals were playing, but Everly loved the idea that we were having a party so it was fun. I started the day with a morning hike with my mom. The weather was PERFECT. We had planned to go over to my sisters to watch the game and she set up a game for the kids. I made cookies to bring over and Justin made queso and guacamole since we were doing an appetizer night. My sister made some super yummy potato skins and the kids played while we watched the game. The half time show was really good and Everly now recognizes Lady Gaga when she is on TV. My sister had a pin the football in the posts game for the kids which they loved as well. It was a crazy game and I wanted Atlanta to win, but it was a fun Sunday. Hopefully it is the Cardinals winning next year!

 

Home Depot Kids Workshop

Last Saturday morning we headed to Home Depot for the February Kids Workshop. It was Valentine's themed so the kids were building and painting Valentine's photo boxes. My mom and sister also met us there with my nephew. Teddy got paint all over the place. Everly is getting really good with her painting and never globs it on anymore. It was kind of a more complicated build so Justin and Katy did a lot of the construction. I think it turned about pretty cute. I got a picture of the girls printed to put in the front of the box too and it looks really cute. Now to fill it with Valentine's!

Friday Train Park

Last Friday I had the day off so I met my sister and brother-in-law at the train park in Scottsdale after we took Everly to school. The weather was great because obviously this time of year in AZ is the best. We started with the playground so the kids could burn some energy. The slide was a big hit for Aspen and Ted was in his own world making all sorts of new friends. Mae loved the sand and Nora loved the swing. After the playground we took a ride on the train followed by a visit to the model train building. Aspen had been watching Minions on the ipad in the car and then saw Minions on one of the model trains and was immediately excited. She also loved the trains on the tracks above us. We hit up the carousel before we left and once again, Ted met a new friend. That kid! Aspen was acting like she hated it at first but then I got her to calm down and she loved waving to Kim ever time we circled. It was a really fun morning and Aspen definitely took a great nap after all of that running around! Here are a couple of pictures and a little video:

she was very adventurous

 

The cape was a great help finding today throughout the morning!

 

the many faces of Mae

Weekend in Review

We had a fun little weekend. Saturday morning I went out for a run before Justin had to go to work and did something I rarely ever do. I planned to run 5 miles and ended up extending it to a 10k. I know it is not much more, but I am usually trying to convince myself not to shorten my runs so it is big for me. I was rewarded by seeing a shooting star that I would not have seen had I not extended my run. Kinda cool. After Justin went to work, the girls and I headed out to Scottsdale to watch Teddy's soccer game. He did pretty good especially considering he usually is distracted by Everly. I think Everly is getting excited about starting soccer back up next month. After the game we stopped by the American Girl store because Everly had a gift card from Christmas. She got a bathtub for her baby and an outfit for her doll. We actually made it a pretty quick trip because we looked at catalogs before so we knew what we wanted. On Saturday night my sister watched the girls so Justin and I could have a date night. We had a small dinner at Macaroni grill and then saw Hidden Figures after. It was a good movie and it was nice to have a night to ourselves. The girls love spending time with their cousin Mae so they were happy, too. Sunday morning I had planned a Disney and Donuts morning for the girls. I had seen this other girl do it on social media and I really liked the idea. We basically just ate donuts and watched Beauty and the Beast but it was still special and something that we will definitely be doing again.

 

Teddy's fan club

 

 

Macaroni grill has an awesome happy hour every day.  

Beauty and the Beast

love these girls

Park Meadows 45th Birthday Bash!

Friday night we took the girls back to Everly's school for their 45th Birthday Bash party. They had lots of free activities for the kids and Everly really loves her school so we decided to head over after dinner. Everyone who attended got a free book walk ticket and raffle ticket as well as a little gift bag. We also purchased raffle tickets to enter into a drawing for one of several gift baskets. Hopefully we win! The first thing Everly did was the cupcake decorating because, hello, cupcakes. Justin took Aspen to get popcorn which she inhaled all night long. After the cupcakes we did the book walk. She was really into it and you get to keep walking around until you won and then pick out any book you wanted. She picked out a book she can read which is good because we need more of those. Everly got cotton candy and had her face painted. They had music playing and kids dancing up on the stage and both girls had fun with that. Aspen loves following her sister around. Everly did one last game of pin the tail on the scorpion before we headed back home. It was a fun night and I am glad we went!