Sleepover b-day

Last year both girls had birthdays on the road.  This year we decided to be a bit more chill about it and so both will have b-days at home.  For her birthday Evie picked four friends for a sleepover.  She made her own invitations for her friends on the computer. We were pretty happy with her initiative and (for some reason) didn't think to proofread them... which meant that the birthday was accidentally set for a Friday night (when the weekend before we were in DC....) We rolled with it pretty well though :)

The birthday bash consisted of pizza eating and playing and then the main event of a trip to Valley of the Moon to see Rumpelstiltskin. Three of the girls had never been, so it was extra fun to have them experience the quirky place.  After the show they hung out and played the "games" for awhile and then we headed home for cake. 

After cake, Evie opened presents (Evie's friends bought her legos, shopkins and sewing crafts) and then the girls watched wiener dog internationals (a high budget film to be sure) and then had a "scary story contest". 

While the girls slept I put together clues for a scavenger hunt for the next morning and then got up early to hide the treasure.  I am not sure who had more fun... me or the girls :) 

It was a bit exhausting to have the party on Friday, but we were pretty thankful for a restful Saturday night and Sunday!

March? April?!

How is it that all of March and half of April have gone by without my finding a moment for the blog?

March was fully of birthdays... first mine and then Patrick's..... For my birthday I ran (or really ran/walked) a 5k beer run, had a crew come out with me for a room escape game, and then to the Casa Video bar for a good beer... pretty much the best birthday! Made all the better by the banjo that Patrick "bought" me (i.e., I picked it out)

Its a pot of gold cake

Patrick's birthday was celebrated closer to home (or really at home) but was no less fun.  He had an incredibly unique and interesting day (you should ask him about it...) and then we had a few friends over for cake and games. On a similar vein I "bought" Patrick a new hub and wheels for the MGA :)

The weekend after Patrick's birthday was our 5th annual International Day representing Belgium.  I made four batches of waffles and was still sold out by noon!

For Easter we went over to a friends house for a good ole desert egg hunt.  The girls made out like candy bandits (and were also very happy when the Easter bunny left them sparkly eye beanie boos under their fruit trees... Not sure what the Easter bunny was thinking... those kids must have almost a dozen of them by now :)

Then the biggest event of late was a spring break trip to Washington DC to visit family and for me to interview for Presidential Management Fellow positions.

While in DC we visited Chessie's dog park (aka the congressional cemetery)

Then later in the day got a little democracy in with a trip to the U.S. Capitol via a guided tour by an intern at our congresswoman's office. (It was not Izzy's favorite part of the trip... mostly I think because the poor girl was very tired)

Ate plenty of good ice cream.

 And took a visit to the natural history museum.

Perhaps the highlight though was the time the girls were able to spend with their cousins... a full on 3 night sleepover! The five of them were very cute together.

Then when we got home from DC it was a week's worth of Evie birthday parties... but I will update on that one in a few days :)

Anachronisms

February was full of fantastic anachronistic events! First we took a spontaneous (as in Sunday morning: Patrick - What should we do today? Kelly - I don't know... Patrick - Let's drive for 4 hours round trip and go to the Renaissance Festival! Kelly - OK sounds good!) Valentine's Day trip to the Renaissance Festival. I think we at least partially used the excuse that it was a unique American experience for Anna :)

At the Ren fest Anna and I got some rockin' henna tattoos, the girls got some rockin' hairdoos, and turkey legs were consumed by (almost) all.

Evie, Anna, and I also went on this "ride" that involved large trampolines and bungee cords designed to fling you really high in the air.  I was all for it because it looked like fun... but then every time I plummeted back to the earth and felt like I would surely die, decided maybe (just maybe) I am getting too old for that stuff (maybe).

Patrick did not partake in the bungee goodness... but his favorite part was probably the "live" mermaids...

We attended a few shows, including a joust and the girls both walked away with new weaponry as well... a bow for Izzy and a little crossbow for Evie designed to shoot marshmallows.  Look out world!

Then this past week for Rodeo break I took Evie and Izzy to Old Tucson, which I am pretty sure I haven't been to since I was Evie's age.  It did, however, remind me of the good times I had as a kid at Rawhide... complete with the panning for gold... but no strange assortment of farm animals that lay fortunetelling eggs (or maybe that is a false memory :) 

Regardless, the girls wore their fablous boots that Patrick bought them the day before at the real Tucson Rodeo.

 Enjoyed driving (in Evie's case) and riding (in Izzy's case) the antique 50 cc cars.

Evie insisted on being mad and Izzy insisted on being sad... what does this say about my kids?

 Posing for very silly pictures, including an old-time photo shoot (which was always my personal favorite part of going to Rawhide) where we all dressed a bit like old-time hussies... pictures at a later date...

And most importantly ate the authentic food of the times....roasted corn and gatorade, with ice cream for dessert.
Huzzah... giddy-up... and woot-woot!

Hikin' and Pink Jeepin'

We've done a great job these past few weeks in getting outside.  Two weekends ago, on the holiday, Evie, Izzy, and I took a great, almost 4 mile hike, up to their favorite spot at Sabino Canyon. 

 Along the way the girls worked on their cacti identification...

 Enjoyed their hiking gear

Played by the river (and had a picnic...)

 Rediscovered the secret bench (a broken bench in the middle of the river, swept downstream a few years ago by a big flood)

And of course, the goal of the hike, Sabino Dam.  We stayed at the dam itself for about an hour playing in the super icy cold water (so icy both girl's feet were bright red by the time we left)

Then this weekend we took our annual adventure to Sedona! On Friday afternoon the girls played at the pool (Patrick and I hung out and chatted with folks he knew (I for one am not getting in even a heated pool when it is 60 degrees outside)

 Then on Saturday morning while Patrick was at his conference the girls and I took a hike up bell rock.  Making it farther than we ever have before... with, of course, many stops to collect and play in the red dirt. The last picture above is as far as we made it.... I think the look on Izzy's face is a mixture of pride and fear... we were pretty high up and had to scramble to this point.

From bell rock we made our way down to Oak Creek, where we took a little hike and then the girls played in the river for over an hour while I mostly stared off into space... it was glorious!

We then headed back to the hotel for lunch and a break before our late afternoon adventure.... in a Pink Jeep on the Broken Arrow road.

Blurry because we were bouncy...

The trip also doubled as a family photo session :)  I am sure this is the max number of photos of me you'll see all year!

     

DC!

Last week Genevieve and I took a quick trip to DC so I could interview for a fellowship.  It also (of course) provided us a great opportunity to visit with family and friends!  On our first night there we went straight over to Aunt Vivi's house where Evie and Dylan had so much fun they decided to convene an impromptu sleepover.  (I went back to DC with Nicole) 

The next morning while Nicole and I scoped out where my interview would be the next day and took Chessie for a walk, Evie helped see Pete and Dylan off to school and then played with Vivian and Miles.  Around lunchtime we picked up Evie and headed to Cleveland Park for Vietnamese food and then to the zoo.  It was a gray and cold (but not too cold) afternoon, which meant the zoo was all but empty.  It was awesome.  Having found the perfect sweatshirt to keep her warm (a big heart with an elephant in it) we watched the cheetah eat diner, explored the elephant's compound, and then, after Nicole left due to parking constraints (only until 4 pm in our prime spot) I took Evie through the reptile discovery center.  It even had the same smell as when I volunteered there 15 years ago.

 

To continue to trip down DC memory lane we then took the metro out to Takoma park to visit with most of my old friends from ELI.  Two(ish) hours was not nearly enough time to hang out and chat, but it was definitely a highlight for me!

The next morning I woke up early, got dressed... in nylons for the first time in at least a decade.... made coffee, a little mix of music for my 20 minute walk to the interview, and set off.  Almost 5 hours later I finished the very interesting interview process (I could tell you about it... but then I'd have to off you....) and walked down to the National Mall and met with Nicole and Evie at the art gallery.  Evie (or rather Nicole) had bought me a lovely little bracelet and we had a delicious lunch and tour of some sculptures.  After our date with art we headed back out to Kensington to eat Friday night dinner with Vivian and her crew.

Impossible to get a picture with all four of them looking at the camera!  Here is 3 of the 4....

 

 

This time Dylan came with us for a sleepover and then the next morning (after complaints that the dishwasher kept them up all night) we headed out to the International Spy Museum.  It was totally worth the admission price! 

 

Among other things the kids and I got to crawl through duct work like real spies and Nicole and I got to help them with their "spy mission" of solving puzzles hidden throughout the museum. After some delicious cupcakes we headed back to Nicole's house for our belongings and then to the airport for home!

 

On Sunday, back in Tucson, because I am a glutton for punishment, I took both girls over to the Children's Museum, which was fun as always... but also probably why they both have colds again :P