Spring has Sprung

If you have not ever had the chance to visit Tucson in April, I highly recommend you add it to your bucket list. Normally dusty and brown, in the spring the desert bursts into life. Flowers bloom on every tree and cactus making the desert look like a sea of yellow.  The weather is near perfect and every living creature can be found outside enjoying the beauty all around before the scorching heat descends upon the land.

One of the draw backs to spring here in the desert is the wind.  Boy, can it blow!  One morning while the girls and I were out running we found this little baby hummingbird laying on the sidewalk.  She must have exhausted herself trying to fly in the wind.  I picked her up and held her until her heart stopped racing and a nasty cat stopped lurking near by.  Then I put her some where safe to regain her strength and we ran home.  It was a special experience to share with my two little animal lovers. It isn't often you get to pet a hummingbird!

 As usual, we spent a great deal of time at Papa's with the horses. Freya usually prefers to brush and lead the horses but, occasionally, she will ride.

 She is growing so quickly I find it hard to keep up! I have moments where I see her and realize she is no longer my little baby.  With that realization comes sadness and excitement.  This month she hit a big milestone, sliding down the slide without Mom!  It took Lillian coaxing her at the top and Sophie chanting to her at the bottom, but she finally did it!  

 Freya also decided to try mastering the scooter this month.  She goes very. very. slow. but she can do it and she loves it! I mean, just look at that smile!

 Lillian's big achievement this month was learning how to spell and write her name.  I just can't get enough of her chicken scratch letters and want her to write her crooked name all over everything.

She has also been excelling in soccer. I had not planned on her playing during the spring season but once the winter season ended she begged to keep playing so I let her!  She is playing with a new team, The Pirates, and is really starting to learn how to play soccer, not just run aimlessly around the field.  Unfortunately, Sophie is not on her team this time around but she does have a few of her other friends with her, Jonas, Molly, and Cohen.

She is aggressive, fearless, and determined. Her "take no prisoners" attitude makes her the leading scorer on the team.  She scored so many goals in her last game I lost count!

After living here for almost ten years, we have finally made some good friends.  This month we tried to spend as much time with them as possible before school ends and every one goes on vacation for the summer.  These girls are especially close and can have fun doing pretty much anything as long as they are together.  This particular evening I took them to our church's Stake Fiesta.  They ate cotton candy and snow cones, danced, sang, played with animals in the petting zoo, and then got very very dirty digging in the sand.  I am not sure Sophie's mom appreciated all the dirt she brought home but they sure did have a fun time!

 Another evening we had a movie night for the kids. They thought watching a movie outside and eating popcorn was the best thing ever!

All that other stuff was fun but, of course, my favorite part of the month was my birthday and all the celebrations that went along with it. The only thing I really wanted to do for my special day was go to Sabino Canyon. The day before my birthday we packed up, called some friends, and headed across town for a day of fun in the sun.  

The kids had a fantastic time exploring and looking for fish.

 The water was a bit chilly but very beautiful.  The further we walked, the more appealing swimming became!

 Lillian started to struggle after a couple miles and was ready to throw in the towel. However, Josh and I kept pushing her and telling her she could make it to the end and she did!  She was so proud of herself for walking all the way and I was glad she didn't give up.

The day of my birthday I was surprised by some friends with a cute birthday shirt, a heart attack, cupcakes, and other gifts.  It was a big surprise and it made my day.

 I was able to spend my day with Josh, the girls, and Nonna and Ppa who flew down for the occasion.  That night we went to dinner at Tavolino, a delicious Italian restaurant.  We had a good time trying new foods and just spending time together.

A few nights later we went to The Arizona Inn for dinner with Papa and Grandma Jean.  The girls and I carried on our Audrey Hepburn/Breakfast at Tiffany's tradition and dressed up as Holly Golightly.  We had a lovely time together eating and playing on the hotel grounds. The two little Audreys really stole the show!

 This year I took the Holly Golightly tradition a step further and invited some women over to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's with me.  We put on our pajamas, ate homemade ice cream, drank Italian sodas, and watched  the movie together.  It was a nice way to wrap up my birthday celebrations.

Before we said goodbye to the month of April we went to the feed store and bought some chicks.  They are the highlight of our house right now, all snuggled up in the Great Room where everyone can see them and love on them.  In a few weeks, when they are bigger, we will take them to Papa's house to join the flock, but for now the girls are loving having them here with us.