Chase Field in the CITY!

We went into the CITY last week to meet up with Conal's family for lunch. We surprised his dad, as he had no idea we were coming! We ate at Fridays Front Row at Chase Field...and of course the girls love to make a photo shoot out of anywhere we go!

Special birthDAY at Schnepf

On the morning of Taylor's birthday, Pam, Cash and Paisley met us at Schnepf Farms for a little playdate. I couldn't let a celebration on her actual birthday pass us by, especially since her birthday party was being held a whole week later!

We ate lunch at the cafe at Schnepf and let the kids play! They played on the sand toys, and the wooden train. They threw rocks into the koi pond, let me take a ton of pictures...Cash scouting photo ops for me! We went on a train ride around the orchard, and just really enjoyed the day.

A day without the older two commanding the show! Cash and Taylor just played and got to enjoy each other without interruption!

Mini golf with mini people

Conal's vacation overlapped Hayden's Spring break by one day. We wanted to do something fun with the girls, so we decided to try miniature golfing at Golfland. We hadn't been since Hayden was under 3 and Taylor was a newborn. This time was much, much more fun!
We are learning that neither of our girls have a competitive bone in their body. It's a bit sad to me! Conal, well, he doesn't get it...why it makes me sad! lol. He's not competitive, not really driven by the need to win. He doesn't care to put stakes on a game (unless it's for a head rub), and me....it's KILLING ME!!! I don't like to play for fun!

PS..... I WON!! heehee

NieNie Day

My sister and I don't get together too often. We both work from home, have kids that go in different directions, plus she has an infant. That being said, we wanted to try to get the kids together over Spring Break once, as they miss each other and often ask for playdates. With some calculated manipulation of the calendar, we marked in a date. Not to be changed unless someone was puking!

We wanted to take the kids...yah, the kids to Smeeks! Smeeks is a candy and novelty toy store located in central Phoenix. We've both read about it on the NieNie Dialogues, and have been awaiting the opportunity to get there! We planned our field trip about two weeks in advanced and hashed up a game plan. We knew the kids would want some treats at Smeeks, so we gave them a list of chores to complete, to earn money for their purchases. Her boys each earned $9, Hayden earned $10 and Taylor earned $2.

They picked us up and we trekked into "the City", as my girls so affectionately call Phoenix.

This is a big deal. It's like we're going on a trip, going to the City! We had a great time at the candy store, Hayden purchased some candy, Taylor purchased a lipstick lollipop, and I revelled in the photo booth pics I took with my girls!

On our way in, we decided to make it an entire NieNie Day and eat at one of NieNie's favorite lunch spots in Mesa...Sweetcakes. It was a beautiful day out, so we ate on the patio, and finished our lunch with some delicious cookies. A trip to the Glitter Box rack rounded out a completely successful, utterly fun NieNie day with my sister and all our kiddos! Sadly, we don't do that stuff too often, but I have to say I think it makes me appreciate the time so much more!

Zoo time!

We haven't been to the zoo since last Fall. That's a little unusual for us, considering we used to have a membership and would go at least twice a month! I let my membership lapse this year though. Now that Hayden's in school full time, and Tay is in preschool, I figured I wouldn't use it as much.

So last Thursday, on a whim, we hitched up with Becky, Kady, Faith and their grandma and went to the zoo. We enjoyed a picnic, soaked up some sun and let the girls overload on cotton candy and snow cones. I came home and had to go to work, so I let Conal deal with the repercussions of the sugar high! ;)

Mary Poppins!

I found a bargain online the week before Mary Poppins rolled into town. Four tickets for forty dollars! I called my mom to see if she was available, knowing that even if she wasn't she'd probably clear her schedule for this! ;)

So, a few days later, on the Friday night before Valentine's day, we went on a girls date! Mom treated us to dinner at Cheesecake Factory, and we enjoyed an AMAZING production of Mary Poppins! We were in the upper level...but quite honestly, our seats were really good and I'd sit up there again! The bathrooms were not crowded (if you've been to Gammage, you know what I'm talking about!), and we had an unobstructed view!

The show, itself, went beyond anything I could imagine. The broadway producation of Mary Poppins was practically perfect in every way! Captivating, magical and totally imaginative! Hayden and Tay loved it so much that they watched Mary Poppins multiple times throughout that weekend, trying to re-live it!