Dallin's (Early) Birthday

It was definitely a Ninjago birthday. Dallin was thrilled!

Phoenix Children's Museum

The kids assembled the pipes then put ping pong balls in the openings and they shot out, pushed out by a constant stream of blowing air. They rearranged the pipes for quite a while before we told them we wanted to see other parts of the museum. The next place we went was the noodle forest. I didn't get any picture but the kids really loved it. I had to keep telling them to walk though, they just couldn't resist running through all the hanging pool noodles.

Dallin and Gage got back to work on a different set of pipes this time. They arranged the pipes to make a track that a golf ball went through.

McKay and Jack had fun running balls down a different track. Here Jack is handing balls up to McKay. As the balls went down they hit different chimes making really pretty sounds.

The last place we stopped was the bike room. There are lots of tricycles, big wheels, and ride on bikes in this area. Sophie kept getting frustrated because she couldn't peddle very well (especially with Dallin on the back). We had a fun time with our friends and are so glad they invited us to use their membership!

$20 Minifigure

Dallin is our hardest worker. He consistenly completes his allowance items and earns $5 each week ($4 after tithing and savings). He was saving for a large lego set but when he saw a General Grievous minifigure online he had to have it. The minifigure all by itself was $18 plus shipping. We told him he had to wait overnight to make sure it was what he really wanted. Sure thing he was up at six the next morning asking if we could order his guy.



Dallin's pride and joy, General Grievous from a 2007 Lego set. He's only lost the head so far {rolling of the eyes}. He lost it in a friend's car and hopefully will find it someday soon. For now he has another head on him. I've yet to hear any regrets from Dallin over spending so much money on one minifigure. I guess we all have different things that are important to us. I am glad that he has a hobby that he loves and that he's willing to work for his spending money.

Dallin, Gage, Tyler, and McKay all showing off their Lego creations.

Museum for Youth

Emily, Ruby, Sophie, Nora, Avery, Tagg, and Jenna

Zoo

Sometimes after school we go to the zoo and enjoy the water caves. It's the perfect time to go because almost no one is there and we get to stay until it closes (and it's happy hour at Sonic!). The kids get worn out and as soon as we get home we eat dinner and get ready for bed. The afternoon goes so much better when we're busy.

Parker wanted to take a picture of him "holding" the giraffes. He was just a little off.

She LOVED the water and was splashing like crazy even though it was chilly!

We got an up close view of the Komodo Dragon as we headed for the exit. I wouldn't want to run into one of these guys outside of the zoo. Scary!

Tent Time

Sometimes when I mop the floor we'll make a tent out of the chairs. After a lot of kids getting hit on the head by falling weights, I finally tried using clamps and our tents are a lot safer and sturdier. The girls had a fun time playing in their pretend home with their babies. And I got a break to get some sewing done.

Dance Pictures

Sophie has her dance recital this Saturday. Here she is before we left for pictures. Sophie didn't have her full costume for this picture but I'll put up more pictures after the recital. Hopefully she does her dance, it's always entertaining to watch preschoolers remember their steps.

Mud Maniacs

We got together with a big group of friends at the school last week to let the kids play in the irrigation. The smell was terrible and I didn't even want to think about what was in the water, but the kids had an amazing time. They played in the sand, making canals and then covered themselves in mud. Dallin was the worst, he even got mud in his hair and it coated his belt. When we got home everyone jumped in the shower to rinse the muck off, they even asked to get washed off and that doesn't happen very often. It was a fun afternoon.

Building

Sophie has finally learned how to build magnet houses by herself. I'm so happy for her (and me)! She kept building until all the magnets were used up.

Jenna and her buddy Talley

Zoo Outing

The stroller that keeps on ticking.

Sophie feeding the ducks. Luckily Becky brought LOTS of bread to share.

Tagg and Sophie

Sophie's ready for swimming lessons! She was swimming in the little stream at the water caves.

Up close and personal with the orangutan.

Fun Pics

Sophie, Jenna, and I went to the Museum for Youth last week. Sophie had a lot of fun playing in the Artville section of the museum. It was designed for kids four and under with lots of building blocks, art projects, a stage with puppets, and even a play kitchen.

McKay was having fun stacking blocks as high as he could before they toppled. After he got good at it, he started taking blocks from the bottom away. He eventually had his stack balanced on two blocks.

Sophie wanted a turn at getting her picture taken.

She's cruisin' in style!

Before and After

We FINALLY saved enough money to buy slipcovers for the couches. It was a long time overdue and we're so glad we did it. What a difference! And the kids love it too, the slipcovers are super soft and comfy. One of our next projects is to redo the wall behind the couch and get some new pictures of the kids up and maybe a big family picture. Everything gets done, eventually.

Fathers & Sons

Aaron took the boys to Fathers and Sons last weekend. They had a fun time and no one threw up! Friday night McKay went missing and Aaron figured he was off playing. He didn't realize until going back to the tent later that he McKay had gone to bed. Dallin fell asleep on Aaron's lap while they sat at the campfire by around 8:30. So Aaron took Dallin to bed and went to bed himself. Parker got to stay up and play with his friends and put himself to bed when the campfire was put out. (Aaron is much more relaxed than me, I wouldn't have gone for that.)

The next day the boys challenged each other to get in the water. I hear it was freezing! Aaron even got in and said it was pretty cold. He was the only dad to get in. All the other dads probably thought he was crazy!

They got back home around lunchtime and that evening Aaron and I got to go out for his birthday while Heather watched the kids. It was great end to the weekend.