Girls Day Out

Matt attended a 20/30 event today with his buddies so the girls and I had the entire day to ourselves and we had such a ball.

After breakfast we got ready and drove to Hobby Lobby. Ellie rode in the cart and Hayden walked with me. They both did really well in the store (it's amazing what fruit snacks and the promise of McDonald's will do to motivate them) and I was able to pick up a bunch of crafting stuff. There was one small incident where Ellie managed to break a glass wall sconce but the check-out gal was really understanding and insisted that I not pay for the broken one.

After shopping we picked up McDonald's and headed to the park. I grabbed the stroller and blanket out of the back of my car and we had a little picnic in the grass. The girls did pretty well with their food, taking into consideration all of the things going on to distract them from eating, and after we were done we headed over to the little play area. Hayden saw a little friend of hers there from school, Rory, and they played on the swings while Ellie and I went down the slides.

The girls both took great naps when we got home and I'm proud to call the day a complete success!

Nakey Trampoline?

The girls are normally pretty good about taking turns jumping on the trampoline but this night they climbed up there together. There wasn't much jumping but there was a lot of tickling and laughs!

Hi Cuties!

Uncle Cyrus

At the end of February we had a very special visitor stay with us for the week...Uncle Cyrus! Cyrus was a college roommate of Matt's and one of the most wonderful people we know. We were so glad to have him stay at our house and especially excited that it was for four days!

He got in late on Monday night so Tuesday after work we went out with the girls to Maggiano's for dinner. The food was great and the girls immediately fell back in love with Cyrus. It's been several months since Cyrus was last in Phoenix but during dinner Hayden sat on his right and Ellie sat on his left. I can't say that Cyrus enjoyed it all that much but I know that the girls sure did. That night he also gave each of the girls a singing Ernie doll (of the infamous Bert and Ernie) and their love for Cyrus continued to grow.

The next few days were spent at home (me home with a sick Ellie) and then dinners with Matt's parents one night and out a Culver's another night. Cyrus also made a trip to the Grand Canyon (which is a little crazy since neither Matt nor I have ever been) and came back with snow globes for both of the girls. While he was here he also got us hooked on Lost. While I'm convinced that we're going to be annoyed during the entire series and with the ending, we are still hooked and can't wait to get through it. And Cyrus, we will be waiting for your dissertation upon our completion of the series.

Hayden was LOVING her talking Ernie doll from Uncle Cyrus.

Cyrus had recently returned from a trip to Australia where he visited an aquarium.
Hayden was totally digging the fish and shark video he took. 

Sick Girl

In late February, our sweet Ellie got a nasty flu bug that wiped her out for four days.

It all started with a really wonderful dinner out at Maggiano's with the girls and Cyrus. She ate really well but was a little quieter than normal. We put her down without any trouble that night but at about 9:30 we heard a weird sound and then crying. I went into her room and found her covered in throw-up (sorry for the visual). Poor baby. She had such a sad face like she was asking, "Mommy, what the heck is going on here?!"

We got her all cleaned up and sheets changed. To cut the chase we had to clean her and her bed up another three times that night before we got to sleep. That was Tuesday night. I spent the next two days at home with her and then Sarah came over Friday morning to take the morning shift and I came home in the afternoon to be with her that afternoon.

She was just completely wiped out. She slept on the couch next to me most of the two days and even snuggled with me and fell asleep on my chest a few times. It was super sweet and made me miss her being a baby. By the end of the weekend she seemed to have bounced back to her normal self. And even though I felt so sorry for her it sure was nice to spend some one-on-one time snuggling with her.

Conked out on the couch

Awwww...that sweet face.

I was totally loving her sleeping on me.

Cousins Visit!

In late February Beth, Zoe, and Zachy came to Phoenix for a few days for a visit!  Yay!

We met them out for dinner on the patio at Dos Gringos on Wednesday night and followed that up with dessert at the Gelato Spot in Old Town Scottsdale. They spent the night with Dave and Sarah in Chandler and we saw them again on Friday afternoon when we met up with them at AZ Air Time, an indoor trampoline center. Matt and I took the afternoon off and after plenty of bouncing around we headed for home to clean up for dinner at El Encanto in Cave Creek.

El Encanto is a huge restaurant with outdoor and indoor seating as well as a duck pond. The dinner (and margaritas were excellent) and the kids were really well behaved. We were serenaded by a Mariachi singer table-side and the kids couldn't keep their eyes off of him while he sang and played his guitar. After dinner we let the kids feed the ducks, which they loved. After we got home and got the kids to bed we hung out in the backyard listening to music and playing Phase 10.

The next day Matt had a golf event he had to attend so Beth and I took the kids out to the Train Park. We walked through the model train museum, rode the train through the park, rode the carousel, and played on the playground. Afterward, Beth treated all of us to lunch from Culver's (YUM!) and we let the kids run around in the backyard while we soaked in the sun. That night Matt made dinner and we got the kids to bed early without much fuss.

On Sunday Dave and Sarah came back to the house and joined us for a HUGE brunch prepared by Matt. We ate outside by the pool and let the kids play. Grandma and Grandpa also helped Hayden put together a giant castle that she got from her cousins for Christmas. They all loved hanging out in it! Their flight was early afternoon so we had to say goodbye after brunch.

Thanks for a GREAT weekend!  We love you guys and wish you lived closer!

One Night of Queen

Savannah had the idea to go to a Queen concert and got tickets. No, this was not back in the 80's this was in February. And it was not the upcoming tour with Queen and Adam Lambert. This was Gary Mullen and the Works and their show "One Night of Queen." This guy Gary Mullen and his band plays tribute to Queen and performs all the hits.

If you didn't know any better, you would think Freddie Mercury crawled out of the grave and jumped on stage (minus the Dawn of the Dead zombie look).

All the moves, the dancing, the weird pointing and butt slapping - it all looks just like Freddie. Don't believe me? Check out a video of them (not taken by us).

And a video of the real Freddie here.

It was a theater in the round so the stage rotates at a pace of about once every 10 or 15 minutes. It is a great place to see a show.

It was a fun night and they were great - just like the real thing.

Under the Table and Dreaming

Playing Outside

A couple weeks ago we got home from work, fired up the grill for burgers, and hung outside with the girls. The weather is perfect lately and the girls were both in such good moods for the rest of the night. I think getting to be outside definitely puts them into great spirits and also makes for some cute photo ops.

Father/Daughter Dance

I couldn't help but capture this moment between Matt and Hayden. Matt put on some Coldplay last night and then had a little slow dance with Hayden. It kind of melted my heart.