Happy 35th to Me!!!!

I am embracing my mid-thirty's.  The first half has been great and looking forward to all the next few years has to offer with these boys.

Let the celebrating start!

The boys opted to take me to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and lunch at Beyond Bread today to start celebrating my 35th birthday!  We didn't get as early of a start as I had wanted, as I somehow had forgotten how long the drive is....but we made it in time to see a bunch of the animals. 

We started making our way through the park, observing the animals and discovering treasures in the cave area.  Brandon, dutifully listened and participated in learning about predators and prey, earning himself a free post card!  Mason was a trooper and loved to play at the "turtle" play area.  Both boys humored me by letting me take pictures and read the information cards to them. 

It was quite warm by the time we were leaving so we rewarded ourselves with Icee drinks and ice cream, followed by a visit to the reptile area, and a return visit to the cave.  I should have cut the visit short by that point, but ignored my motherly instincts....can you guess what happened next????  Yep, my poor little Mas, had a melt down when I throw away his empty cup and proceeded to cry the entire way to the car (to note, he was fast asleep before we were a mile from the museum).

We all had a great time and can't wait to go back, maybe Daddy will be able to make the trip with us!

Oh Snap Circuits...

Brandon is still loving his Snap Circuits.  He has an incredible memory and can create circuits to turn on lights and run fans.....he is sooooo smart!  Too bad Momma still needs the instruction booklets to set up the circuits!  Let's just say electricity is not my thing.....

Happy Easter!!!!!

 Decorating eggs and getting ready for the Easter bunny!

 Eureka!!!  The Easter Bunny came.....

 The boys loved hunting for the eggs the Easter bunny left!

We all enjoyed a relaxing Easter celebrating at Grandma Diane's house this year.  Thank you for the wonderful meal and for the boys goody baskets! 

Fun in the tub...

Updates all the way back to early March!

FYI....I just updated the blog with our family vacation to San Diego....go back March 7th!  I am too "type A" to blog out of order!

Family Antler Hunting Spring 2014

No camping trip would be complete without bringing our pups!

Yes, Mason was our limiting factor.....Brandon was a trooper!

Cheeeeeeeese.....

Snack time after a little hiking

Look Mommy, snow

Treasures.....on our last day camping

Yes, this shed made the whole trip worth it!  Look at his face, it's as if I just handed him a hundred dollar bill!

We have taken the boys camping since they were six months old but this marks the first antler hunt for our family of four!!!!  We camped in the Alpine area and boy was it COLD. 

Picture my Yukon loaded down with all the bare essentials for camping plus our dogs....yes, you can imagine we looked like a bunch of hill-billies loaded to the gills with our camping gear!

The weather was not as warm as expected but we managed to survive the 18 degree mornings and the CONSTANT wind.  The boys had a blast and seemed to barely notice the cold.  The point of the trip was to find shed antlers, which is something Kevin has been doing since he was a kiddo.....here is to new traditions for our family.

Beautiful spring day!

Making a construction site

Cheese......

Just like Daddy....according to Grandma Diane

All lined up, perfect as can be!

new pavers....the upgrades continue

Our new pavers are done!  Next up, Bob-Sod!!!!  Everybody loves the extended porch, the dogs don't drag as much dirt on the porch, the kids love to ride their scooters and bikes, and we get to enjoy our backyard a little more!