No more training wheels!

Already an accomplished bike rider, the last little Nault broke free of his training wheels today. Much boohoo-ing and general disgust with the idea turned into big smiles and confidence after just a few short minutes. 

Legoland Discovery Center

Lucas' friend, Blake, invited us to go to the Legoland Discovery Center with his family one day. It was a perfect time to see the place - a quiet Sunday, on guest pass rate with Blake's family membership! First up was a little tour of how a Lego is made and each kid was given a LEGO to take home. The LEGO City car ride was fun. The kids actually got to steer these cars (instead of just riding a pre-set course). 

Lucas and Blake.

The model area...replicas of the Dallas skyline, Cowboys Stadium, Rangers Stadium, Great Wolf Lodge, the Fort Worth Stockyards, etc.

The detail was pretty amazing. This is inside the ballpark.

The 4-D movies were also fun to watch. The LEGO movies were in 3-D (hence the rockin' glasses) but then the audience was misted with water when it was raining on screen, smells were piped in when a skunk sprayed, etc.

There were no Spurs players on display, but there was a life-size Dirk Nowitzki.

The whole place was relatively small. There are a handful of rides and a playground in the middle. There were also LEGO building areas and a cafe. It was great for my younger kids but Jacob would probably be bored if we went too many times. But the first time sure was fun!

A little catch-up

Things have been rolling along pretty smoothly here. The kids are plugging away at school and scout stuff. Sarah is in the Save The Planet Club at school and we created this poster for her to talk about recycling during Family Fun Night.

Ethan "taught" a lesson on creating a "Make-Believe Comix."

For scouts, Jacob has to capture pictures of ten species of wildlife in his neighborhood. We live near a pond that is home to many ducks, turtles, fish and other birds. They are very accustomed to being fed by people and will walk right up for bread crumbs.

Like this one we like to call "Afro Duck."

Jacob took this shot of the Blue Heron with his cell phone...he was that close! 

We also captured some backyard wildlife:

This is a Texas spiny lizard. On the house. One of several that must live in the hedges below these windows. Not the cute little green geckos I was used to in San Antonio.

Mark got a truckload of dirt delivered to spread around the yard's patches. The canopy of the three large trees out front has made the grass die underneath. It's interesting to see our landscaping come to life with the changing of the seasons because, up until recently, it looked like the previous owners planted dead things and broken pots.

I'm busy with PTA stuff, as usual. I was elected treasurer for next year, but I'm still finishing out this year's hospitality job with staff luncheons and staff appreciation week coming up next month.

Starting to plan our summer vacation. We're headed back to Great Wolf Lodge and I've got the kids enrolled in basketball and scouts camps. Daydreaming about travel - maybe to the Gulf Coast?

And both Jacob and Sarah need orthodontic consults. Oh boy.

Ethan's 8th birthday

Ethan's birthday fell on the Monday after Easter this year. We grabbed a cake from the grocery store after school and I asked the young guy behind the counter to write "Happy Birthday Ethan" on it. You would have thought I asked him to stick his hand in the mouth of an alligator because he started stammering and admitted he was new and terrible at writing on cakes. Even admitted he had ruined some! So I asked if I could do it myself. He was shocked that I knew how and said that he could learn from me! So he brought out a pastry bag of blue frosting and I showed him how it was done! Steady pressure, cursive to minimize lumpy stops and starts; and make sure you know what you're spelling! 

Ethan's party day was pushed back until the following Sunday. He had a Minecraft party at Main Event. Minecraft is a computer game where everything is pixelated squares. I made the cake for this one, using an idea I got from Pinterest. Brownie-like cake for the dirt, grass frosting, rice krispie sand and jello jiggler water. 

His goodie bags had rocks, diamonds, iron bars and TNT, plus a key chain the kids helped make and some M&Ms for good measure.

Post-sugar high.

Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch

Bought a Groupon for this place called Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch and happened to see that they were open on Easter Sunday. After standing room only church, we packed a cooler and headed about 45 minutes north to Pilot Point, Texas, and spent a gorgeous day at this wonderful place! Lemurs and zonkeys and bears! Oh my!

The kids looked at animal exhibits for kangaroos, lemurs, macaws, and black bears; and fed goats and pigs and other critters at the petting zoo.

We rode a safari tram through the horse, zebra and donkey pasture where we also saw a zonkey (zebra/donkey mix - see below) and a zorse (zebra/horse mix).

Then we hit the second pasture with emu, deer, wild pigs, guanacos (humpless camels) and more. The third pasture were all giant camels!

Do you see the two baby lemurs? 

We had an amazing lunch of wood-fired pizza in their new restaurant. It was really, really good pizza and kids chowed down, even though it wasn't a perfect circle of cheese from Papa John's. It was a terrific Easter and family day!

Easter: Pay It Forward

The kids' pediatrician hosted an Easter egg hunt. It started at 5 p.m. on a Thursday and we showed up at 5:05. Totally missed the egg hunt! The kids were pouty and didn't even want their picture with the Easter Bunny so I said "Let's just go then!" apparently loud enough that another mom took pity on us and explained that there would be another round.

So while we waited, kids who did NOT miss the egg hunt began to share their goodies with my kids, and other kids who were too little to gather much on their own. (Except for two pre-teens who hoarded Target bags of eggs and did not share their Tweety bird sticker prizes. I mean, seriously? You're too old for an actual easter basket but not too old for the egg hunt?)

But then the second egg hunt was announced and my kids made a break for it. They found plenty of goodies and lo and behold, SHARED them with other kids who came even later or didn't get many eggs. Paying it forward. I couldn't be prouder.

Oh, and since their moods improved, they did sit for a picture with the Easter Bunny after all.

On Easter morning, I got a text from our wonderful next door neighbor. It said "You better send the kids out the front door before it starts to rain." And this is what they found!

His smile says it all! So excited and such a sweet thing for my neighbor to do. This is the same neighbor who borrowed Lucas' car seat and installed it in her son-in-law's car as a not-so-subtle hint that she is ready to be a Grandma! Hahaha! I love her sense of humor! 

Scottsdale Trip

For Mark's NAPA reward trip this year, we went to the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, AZ. Thursday and Friday were packed with the compulsory NAPA reception, meeting and banquet, but we squeezed in a Jeep tour of the Sonoran Desert. 

The inside of a cactus looks like tree bark around water tubes.

Our guides were dressed in full cowboy gear with boots, spurs, hats, guns and knives in holsters, etc., but their stereotypical attire and comedy routine was completely upstaged by their incredible knowledge of the desert - both it's content and history.

There's a saying about the desert that everything in it either bites, stings, pricks, shoots or inflicts pain some other way. Here's Walker, about to gently poke Mark in the palm with a cholla cactus needle. The cholla, or jumping cactus, has needles so sharp they can pierce leather. Fortunately for Mark, the needle is covered with an outer skin that traps water so this particular needle didn't pierce his hand. After the demonstration though, Walker dropped the rest of the cactus (shown on his knife) onto his boot and had to get scissors to cut it off!

Flint, the Comanche Indian guide, discussed Indian history and languages. Did you know that the Cherokee were the only tribe to have a written alphabet? And that it has 84 letters? It was a really fun tour. The guides made it great!

Saturday I was fortunate enough to see one of my college roommates and bridesmaid, Julie! If you attended our wedding, she was the one who sang the Ave Maria! We ate lunch by the pool, floated the lazy river and tried to figure out how many years it had been since we saw each other last. Too long! 

While we hung out at the pool, Mark hiked up Camelback Mountain.

Sunday, we cruised through Tempe, home of Arizona State University where Mark went to college, on the way back to the airport. Sweet friend, Elizabeth, and her daughter Addison, were waiting with our kids back home.

Spring Break part two

Spent the rest of Spring Break with our friends from San Antonio, the Lathams. We fed the ducks at the nearby pond, and played on the playground and zip line. 

We also celebrated Mark's birthday with friends and yummy margarita cupcakes and peppermint cupcakes with Andes mints.

Got to stay one night at the Great Wolf Lodge...and it was so great, I didn't take any pictures until this one....right before we left! 

Now it's St. Patrick's day and we have a broken washing machine, school tomorrow, and Phoenix this week!