Arizona and Spring skiing

And now to try and catch up to date. We had lots and lots of snow in Feb. and March has been really warm and dry with only a couple of big storms. So we have been doing all kinds of winter, spring and summer like activities.

Our trip to Fountain Hills, AZ included fun activities every day. Bumper boats, go carts, mini golf. The boys of all ages like the bumper boats the best.


I love that we got to warm up and see the palm trees in the middle of winter. So nice of Grandma and MacMac to let us come and crash their warm party.

We had school time each day and Colter made this desert picture for Grandma and MacMac.

Lizard hunting is still a favorite activity and the boys can find them everywhere. We also did some rock scrambling and plant identifying along the way.

The Phoenix Zoo is fabulous! We could easily spend a couple of days wondering around that place. I appreciate that the spaces for the animals are big and comfortable looking, not just small cages with bored animals. The walk through Monkey area was high on the boys list, and of course the giraffes.

The cheetah and alligator or were very fitting choices for the boys. Thanks MacMac for letting them do this, they still talk about it.

We went "real" bowling after all of our practice sessions with the Kinect. Just so it is clear, GRANDMA was the big winner that day! The boys tried several different ways of getting the ball down the alley and each developed their own style

They both enjoyed snorkeling in the heated pool and hot tub. Swimming is still a developing skill for these mountain boys, but they are improving each time. Tree climbing, however, is pretty well mastered.

Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I am. Dylan loves Dr. Suess and we have The Lorax and many others memorized right now. He is very interested in books and reading and is starting to recognize letters and words.

Fat Tuesday celebration at Oak, the new Fat Alley, is always a crazy, busy and very interesting experience. Love that all my boys dressed up in their Mardi Gras best to meet me out for dinner.

All of the families in our neighborhood have great kid/gear hauling methods. This is the basic line up at the base of Lift 1 and 10 on any weekend day. Each of these represents a family in our neighborhood and we were all out on the slopes that day.

The kids are growing so quickly. Colter skied his first double black diamonds this year and can pretty much go anywhere on the mountain. Dylan skied his first black runs this year and is an amazing little athlete with a great attitude. Runs skied this year include Happy Thoughts (Colter), Plunge, Milk Run, Coonskin, Runaway Train,  Log Pile and so much more. Next year I will have to really step up my game! And for those of you that have not skied Telluride, the blues on this mountain could be blacks on other ski resorts. It is a steep and bumpy mountain, the kids that grow up skiing this will be able to ski most anywhere they like and do it well.

Homeschool crayon art. Entertaining and a little messy, boys were happy.

Sylvester is growing bigger all the time. He is a sweet kitty and he and Colter are best buds.

Glitter paint is the best, Dylan likes to make big banners for me.

Ok, we are getting closer. Time seems to be moving faster.