boomerangs

The boys got boomerangs last weekend. Colin got the hang of it pretty quickly (maybe 30 minutes?) while Bo & Nate are still working on that skill. Nate took a break from boomerang-ing to gather sticks (one of his all-time favorite activities).

diaper "cake"

This is a "cake" I made from 58 diapers & a bunch of baby things for my friend Denise's baby shower. Isn't it cute?

pony rides

This was Nate's favorite part of visiting the fair!

climbing wall

We went to the Maricopa County Fair on Sunday. Colin tried his hand at the climbing wall. We may have a future climber here! He said this was his favorite part of the fair.

twinkie sushi

This is my brother, Matt, with the hostess sushi I made for him when I was in town for his wedding. He loves sushi . . . and twinkies . . . so there you go. The sushi rolls are made from twinkies & fruit roll-ups. Cute, huh? The other is from mini powdered sugar donuts, swedish fish and fruit roll-ups. They looked cute, but tasted weird.

Please keep him in your prayers. He leaves for training in MS today and heads off to the middle east in 3 months or so with the Army.

earlier this month

He makes the funniest faces!

This statue is on the wildflower trail at the Desert Botanical Gardens.

** Just a note about Nate's footwear. No, I don't encourage him to wear flip-flops when we are going someplace like the Desert Botanical Gardens! But, the day before these pictures were taken, he was giving a brick a ride on his swing, and decided to sit on the brick -- and when he jumped off, the brick jumped off after him and scraped the back of his heel pretty good. The only shoes he could wear for a few days were flip-flops. He's healed just fine now! And no further altercations with any bricks either!

flowers

Just a few flowers from native desert plants. I am often told by people who don't live here (or those that DO live here, but have chosen not to open their eyes) that deserts are brown & ugly. While Arizona has its share of desert brown, there is also a lot of green and many different blooming plants with vibrant colors. (from the top: globe mallow, pincushion cactus, prickly pear, heavenly (or Texas) sage)

mother's day roses

The boys gave me a rose tree bush last Mother's Day. It is doing well in front of our home, and recently started to bloom again. In a week or so, it will be covered with sweet pink blooms. We all check daily for new buds and blossoms.

first time geocaching

This afternoon we went on our first geocache hunt - or as the boys like to call it a "treasure! hunt". Bo checked out this website and located a few geocaches near our home.

We filled up the camelbaks and went out to search!

Here we are, heading off into the desert, following the GPS.

The desert was pretty green considering the lack of rainfall this spring.

An ocotillo blossom. This ocotillo was absolutely huge! It was really an amazing sight.

I spotted it under a palo verde tree! Bo got us close to the location with the coordinates, and then it was a search to find the actual cache. It was hidden under some branches and a rock.

Here the boys are checking out the contents. There were small toys, including hot wheel cars, dinosaurs and action figures. As I signed the log book, they were deciding what to trade the yellow car they brought along for.

While Nate thought he might like the dinosaur, he ultimately decided he didn't want to part with the yellow car. So, we packed the box back up and re-hid it for the next treasure hunter.

It was a fun search! We plan to hunt for more caches, and plant a few of our own!

more easter

The Easter bunny also hid baskets for both boys indoors. They found superhero capes, pop up figurines, chocolate bunnies, jellybeans, stuffed bunny, toothbrush, chalk, orangutan, anteater, tapes of Peter Rabbit & Friends stories, and chocolate eggs.

The eggs from the yard held coins, jellybeans, chocolate eggs, stickers, small plastic toys and bouncy balls.

backyard easter egg hunt

The Easter Bunny hid 50 eggs in our backyard! The boys worked hard to find all of them. Nate thought more of the eggs should have had coins, and was also disappointed when finding eggs that didn't make noise when shook (those held stickers). Colin was happy with all the eggs, and didn't have any complaints.

another kind of egg

Colin was cleaning the patio in anticipation of the Easter Bunny and noticed a clump in the sunblinds. He asked if it was a nest, and when I looked at it, I said it was!

I climbed on a stool to see if any eggs had been laid, and sure enough - there are 4 tiny speckled eggs inside. The bird worked fast, as I'm almost positive the nest wasn't there yesterday.

A few days ago a bird flew in the patio door, so I wonder if it's the same bird? We'll be watching to find out!

coloring eggs

AJ Easter egg hunt

For the last few years, we've been attending the Apache Junction Easter Egg Hunt. It's an event put on the Saturday before Easter and it's great fun! They have free easter egg hunts separated by age groups, bouncy toys, and simple carnival games with prizes for all the kids. Colin & Nate love going, and it's a fun way to spend the morning.

Getting ready to run!

And he's off!

I think this is a superhero pose . . .

There was a petting zoo this year. In years past, they've had pony rides.

Nate at the Easter egg hunt

Nate on the bouncy slide.

Waiting to hunt for eggs.

Petting a bunny.