Spring Break

We never travel for spring break - the weather is gorgeous and it's the perfect time of year to enjoy all that Arizona has to offer.  This year, I chose to spend most of the week just the three of us.  

First stop...the zoo!  We spent over six hours doing anything and everything Lily and William wanted to do.  I think we saw every single animal, some of them twice.  These two have so much fun together (when they aren't fighting, ha!)...I am loving this stage!

Another day, we explored Mesa.  We started at the Museum of Natural History, to see the dinosaur display.  Not our favorite, so we quickly moved on and walked a few blocks to the IDEA museum.  Very interactive and much more interesting to my 3 and 6 year old.  Hours later, we were hungry so found an outdoor cafe on the mainstreet of downtown Mesa....perfect for William with the metro trains riding by every few minutes!  Another highlight was the Street Pianos.  We found four and Lily was beyond thrilled that she was allowed to sit down and play them!   Such a fun, and exhausting, day!

Spring Training (March 2016)

The boys were back in town and our loyal Royal family headed to Surprise to watch the pitchers/catchers practice.  

 We also caught our 'traditional' Royals vs Diamondbacks game with neighbors James and Karen.  I think this is our third year in a row?  So much fun to have an adult only day out!

To wrap up the season, a large group from the neighborhood took in a Friday afternoon game with perfect lawn seats and lots of kiddos.  It was a blast and I think we should turn this into an annual event!

Already excited from next year.  Spring training is honestly one of the best perks of living in Arizona!

Flagstaff (February 2016)

It was a memorable weekend in Flagstaff.  Lily and William's first time skiing!  We introduced them to the bunny slopes for an hour before putting them in a private lesson.  They did great!   But completely passed out during our lunch break.  I forgot how exhausting skiing can be! We called it quits and headed back to town for dinner and lots of train watching along Route 66. 

On day two, we went back to the bunny slopes and spent a few hours practicing.  However, William was NOT having it and was honestly a nightmare (think, going limp on his skis when he was supposed to be getting on the lift 'carpet' causing them to have to shut the whole thing down, etc).  Ryan wanted me to have more time on skis (because I'm awful) so he took William back to the lodge while Lily and I continued practicing together.  

After the boys left us, Lily was convinced she was ready for the ski lift and her first true "green".  I, being nervous of heights plus a horrible skier (and therefore unable to help her if she need me), said absolutely not.  But we know Lily...she doesn't give up and insisted.  I told her if she could ski the harder bunny slope (that was the end of the green she wanted to go on) without issue, we could try it. That girl looked at me, rolled her eyes, headed for the harder slope and skied straight down to the ski lift below.  I guess we were ready!

She was AMAZING.  We did the trail over and over again, with her skiing fast to the bottom and impatiently waiting for me.  "Mom, you are too slow!"  Towards the end of the day, Ryan switched with me and was floored at her progress in just a few short hours!

Needless to say, we were very impressed with Lily and can not wait to go back next year.  It was a perfect weekend get-away for our little family!

Winter fun

~Lily got a new bike for Christmas and we've spent hours on family bike rides (while William rides in the trailer behind Ryan).  While some woman adore the newborn stage of parenting, this is my jam!

~Choo-Choo.  Our little conductor continues to be obsessed with all things trains. Thank you Nanny for the Key overalls...Ryan remembers his grandfather wearing the same thing and was pretty excited William had his very own!

~My two crazies....

~We spent a long weekend with Grandma and Grandpa, plus lots of visiting family.  One highlight was showing our guests a favorite hike, Pinnacle Peak.  Lily practically ran the entire trail, making me one proud mom!  William did over half by himself before having to be carried back.  It was a great hike and a great weekend with family!!

New Year's Day 2016

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We kicked off 2016 perfectly with a family hike.  Last year was a bit of a roller coaster, but we have so much to be thankful for...family, friends, health, and lots of happiness.  2016 is our year, I know it!!

Christmas 2015

{My goal is to update the blog more frequently, and I have a bunch of catching up to do.  Expect lots of photos and just a few words as I work through our past few months adventures!}

In December, we spent a magical weekend at the North Pole, which has a "portal" from the Little America hotel in Flagstaff.  Our family was treated to SNOW, a tour through Santa's workshop and a visit with the big guy himself, and spending time with some great friends!  The weekend also included William's first time sledding.  Lily was thrilled to show him the ropes and they had a blast together!!

As always, we headed to Kansas for Christmas.  It was a fast and furious trip and I did an awful job documenting this year.  Thanks to Aunt Soni for a sharing a few photos of the all the "kids". 

One highlight of the weekend was Mema's gift from the family.  Uncle John asked everyone to write down a few of their favorite Mema memories and then we read them aloud during our Christmas feast.  Matt and I had quite a few similar ones - summers in Colorado, spending the night at Mema and Bobby's house, etc.  It was a special moment!

October/November update

For some reason, I haven't whipped out my good camera in months, therefore blogging and photo taking have been pretty minimal.  Here is a quick attempt to document October and November...

Halloween 2015:  For the 2nd year in a row, William wanted to be a fireman.  And Lily wanted to be a witch...but more specifically Maleficent.  We found the perfect head piece at Disneyland and she was beyond excited.  We did our traditional trick-or-treating with neighbors Brayden, Eric, and Emily, and had a blast!

Ryan and I were able to spend one October weekend with our neighborhood mom's group at an 80's costume party.  Any guesses?  We joined our good friends Kiki and Andy as the Golden Girls.  How Kiki ended up as Blanche, and myself as Dorothy, I'll never know.  Nor forgive.  :)

November brought another amazing Ragnar weekend. It was an eclectic team with a lot of my best running friends...including the one and only Mel-B who flew in from Colorado.  Walt and Ryan held down the fort while the girls enjoyed a night under the stars.  Guess it's now our turn to visit the Blesers!

And to wrap up November, we love hosting Mom and Dad (aka Nanny and Papa Kurt) for Thanksgiving.  I look forward to this tradition every year, and am beyond thrilled to celebrate Papa Kurt's birthday while he is here...by making him take us out to dinner.  Thanks for an incredible meal at The House Brassiere.  I'm craving a return visit!