Fresh Lemonade

Our first lemons!  This little tree had 3 lemons on it that we have been waiting for.  (We would have had 4 more, but an "incident" occurred involving Spencer, the trampoline, a stunt gone wrong, and an unplanned "landing" into the tree.  It was sliced almost in half, poor tree.  It was taller and wider--Spencer was just bruised, maybe a scratch or two, I don't remember).  

It was very exciting when we decided the lemons "felt juicy" and were ready to be picked.  Hallie and Emily did the honors.  Hallie was especially excited about the lemons, and has been patiently waiting for them so that she could make some fresh homemeade lemonade.

Since there were only 3 lemons and 4 kids, I cut them in half and let everyone take a turn juicing.  We actually got quite a bit of juice out of them.

Hallie

Emily

Dylan needed a little bit of help from my huge muscles.

(I like how the tv is on in the background on ESPN --that's my Mikey)

A little sugar, water, ice... and voila!  A super delicious glass of homemade lemonade!  

Next fruit, hopefully, will be our clementine tangerines.  We also have plum and apricot trees in the backyard, but I don't think those produce anything until they are  a few years old, and I just planted all of these trees last year.  I would love to have a vegetable garden, too, but there's no room left in the yard.  Maybe I need to sit outside and stare until I figure something out.  It will give me a new project to do.  Mike, I know you're SO excited.  Love you!

Temple/Museum Field Trip

The wild beasts, Emily & Dylan, on the North side of the Temple 

Since Monday was President's Day, the kids didn't have school.  We tried going to the Museum of Natural History in downtown Mesa, but it was closed.  So then we tried the Children's Art Museum around the corner...closed.  We finally settled on a street hot dog from "the hot dog guy" on the corner, and went to the temple.  We walked around the Visitor's Center and the little Sister Missionary there gave the kids a short talk.  Then we tried to watch the new Joseph Smith movie that was there, but Dylan kept hopping on his chair (he's too light to keep it down, and it was folding up on him..he wouldn't sit on my lap) and Emily kept saying "I'm hungry!  Where's the popcorn for this movie?"  There were like 10 other people in there, so I had to take them out so everyone else could watch the show.  The only problem was the movie was an hour and 20 minutes, and Spencer and Hallie wanted to stay and watch it.  That meant  I had to entertain the 2 little ones for all that time.

It was a VERY long hour and 20 minutes.  We walked around inside, outside, watched a 2o minute cartoon church video, back outside, inside, bathroom, outside....I was so ready to leave when it was over.  Spencer and Hallie really liked the movie.  I wish I would have been able to see it, especially because that's what all my Primary lessons are about this year.

Then on Wednesday, the kids had ANOTHER half day.  This time, the museum was open, and we were able to go.  Dylan was a little scared by all the dinosaurs and in one part of the museum that was a  replica of a mining tunnel  (maybe because Spencer was lurking in the dark corners and jumped out at us).  Man, 11 year-old boys are retarded.  There is also an old jail and Spencer was pretending to "lock" Hallie up, and the little kids didn't like that.  It was a little creepy in that part..I guess just because I could imagine the actual prisoners there.

They also panned for gold, Emily got soaking wet of course, and then I let them each pick one thing from the gift shop on our way out.  

Panning for gold

Digging on the planet "Mars"

Hallie was especially a trooper.  Just before we went to the museum, we stopped by Mike's office and she had her baby canine teeth pulled, because the adult teeth were coming down at an angle.  She was really freaked out before she had it done "even though the dentist was Daddy".   I watched, and it WAS a little rough.  She did great,  and the tooth fairy gave her a special bonus that night that made up for it.

Dylan doing a "fashion plates" like dinosaur

FOUND

Ginger has been found!  And we have to say 'sorry' to Spencer for falsely accusing him.  (He did act awfully suspicious, though).   Apparently,  Ginger was sleeping in Hallie's bed, and it was a wild night, so she slipped out of the bed and was stuck between the wall and her bed.  She had looked there several times, but apparently, not good enough.  She was SO happy to find her.  The whole subject has brought alot a drama to our house.  Hallie posted 'FOUND' on all her 'LOST DOG' signs to announce the good news.  Ginger's  a cute little work of art, but she IS paper.  What will it be like when we get a REAL dog? 

Name that plant

I forgot to mention this little plant I found while we were on our hike.  It was kind of hidden behind some giant rocks in a crevice, and it was a huge patch.  But, I didn't see it growing anywhere else- which made me suspicious.  The leaves looked a bit familiar...could it be?  Did some druggy plant "mary-jane" in a random spot, and plan on coming for a "hike" when it was time to harvest? Obviously, I'm no drug expert, but I thought it was possible, so I took a picture and googled "marijuana photo" when I got home.  The results?  I was  right...I'm no drug expert. Although similar looking to marijuana, it isn't.  So, what is it?  I don't know.  I'm no plant expert, either.  I kind of want to find out now, though.  Perhaps, it will just remain a mystery. 

(Side note: I realize, I'm not sounding very intelligent right now--and, as my Mom has always said "Carlie wasn't blessed with great intellect, but she has other talents"  ya, talents like "street smarts"  -that's what you really need in life.  Anyway, the point is, I AM an expert in others things.  Just had to defend myself a little.)

Half Day Hike

Last week the kids had a half day .  It seems like there are a lot of half days.  I don't remember that being the case when I was a kid.  

I decided we needed to go do something fun. So,  when Spencer and Hallie got home, we packed a lunch, and drove to Papago Park, near the Phoenix Zoo.  We had lunch by a little lake with ducks, and then hiked to the "hole in the rock".  It's only about a 5 minute hike, but with Dylan, it was just right.  It was such a nice, sunny day,  and there weren't alot of people there which made it even nicer.  We stayed at the "hole" for quite awhile before we hiked down.  We were all having such a good time, we didn't want to leave.   Now I want to find more trails, so we can do this more often! 

 

City view of Phoenix from the top.  It was higher than it looks.

Lost Dog

Hallie is nuts!  She just finished reading the book "Ginger Pye" by  Eleanor Estes -she LOVED it, and recommends it to all kids.  She also loves dogs and is obsessed over when we are getting one.  She draws them, writes songs about them, makes up stories about them, and even pretends she is a dog (ok, ALL my kids do this one).  Anyway, she drew a picture of "Ginger Pye" how she imagined the dog would look (it was really cute), and cut it out like a paper doll.  She carried it around with her...until Ginger went missing.  It's just a paper dog, but she had become attached to her "masterpiece" and hung these signs all over the house:

Of course, we all assume Spencer took the paper dog, and hid it.  He denies it, but when he does stuff like that ALL the time it's hard to say "innocent until proven guilty".  Last night he even asked Hallie what the reward was, or rather, how much it was.  I wonder if she might be getting a ransom note soon.  Poor Ginger, where are you?

(By the way, it says room 512, because the kids play "Hotel" and they have room numbers taped on all the bedroom doors for when they "check-in".  They even do room service and have a maid come and clean.  They're creative!)

Crazy Hair

This is what you get when you mix a wild 4 year-old with long hair, and a trampoline!