Usery Pass

We just discovered Usery Pass a couple of weeks ago when Claire and I went with Sarah and her family on a nature walk there. Our family went back to take one of their short hikes and play at the playground. It's really sad we've just started to take advantage of it now that it's starting to get hot again! Claire liked it in the Kelty for the most part, and Molly did great, even through the tricky parts. The hike was 1/2 mile each direction, but once we finished the first half mile Molly was making it very clear that she was tired of walking ("I'm getting REALLY tired of walking mom!") so luckily the playground was there so Chris stayed and played with the kids while I ran back to bring the car around. We're so lucky to have such a beautiful spot less than fifteen minutes away!



Molly's favorite part was taking breaks.

The Last of the Birthday Celebrations

This month has felt like non-stop birthdays. Last Wednesday was the end of the celebrations for the kids (phew!). On Molly's actual birthday we: played dress-up, made cupcakes, went to Power Ranch Park with cousins, had a Happy Meal at McDonald's, rode the carousel where Molly had her first gumball, then had ice cream sundaes at Nana's house. What more could a girl ask for?

Happy Birthday Molly!

Molly is the Big 3 today. I've decided I am really starting to love this age because the crying is starting subside (a little) and she has hilarious things to say all day long. She is an excellent big sister (sometimes she loves Claire a little too much) and such a good girl. We love our Woggy!

The Great Experiment

I've been wanting a garden for a long time but have been way too intimidated to do anything about it. Last week my mother-in-law Kathy introduced me to her new square-foot garden, and suddenly it didn't seem so scary. Chris went to Home Depot and got some 2x10's to build my box, and $75 worth of dirt later my garden is planted. Hopefully in a couple of months I'll start seeing the fruits of my labor, even though I have no idea what I'm doing. If anyone has gardening hints please let me know!

Molly is an excellent helper in the garden. She mostly keeps to herself playing in the mud, then occasionally comes around to help water or put in a plant.



Claire is a terrible helper in the garden. She mostly eats dirt and mud, then comes around to try to pull up plants or throw the soil out of the box.


This is the box Chris built. I was a little over-zealous on the size (I only had enough soil to fill half of it) so I had to move the board in farther and only plant a fraction of the vegetables I bought. I'm learning from my mistakes already and the plants have only been in the ground for a day!

Birthday Party!

This past Saturday we had a joint party for Molly and Claire (Claire is March 3 and Molly is March 25) with our families. We went to Red Mountain Park, and we couldn't have asked for better weather!


Claire needed to finish texting before she could pose for pictures.




We ate the traditional park lunch fare of hamburgers and hot dogs.





The cousins are all pretty young, making this pinata pretty tough to crack. But once it was finally opened they had no problem making a mad dash for the candy, including Claire.








Molly flying her new kite from Auntie Jessie and my dad flying Molly.



It took many tries to get the candles lit because the wind was so strong, and I've never heard "Happy Birthday" being sung so fast so the candles would stay lit.




Claire had no trouble acclimating herself to the new world of sweets.



Presents!





Once we got home we spent the entire afternoon playing with the new toys. My mom got Molly a Samantha American Girl Doll (the doll I absolutely coveted growing up) and I hoped she would like it, but this kind of play isn't exactly what I had in mind for her.