Spring has Sprung

Holy cow, spring is a busy time of year for us.  Throw in that I'm doing work for a real estate company now and spring is down right crazy.  Papa has finals, Little Lady has her birthday, Easter, swim lessons, gymnastics, me getting work done, getting the kids outside into this glorious weather, working on getting all the yard work started up and done and trying to find the time to get to the gym every now and then.  Craziness.  So here is a look at the craziness.

For "spring break" I took the kids to the Bruneau Sand Dunes with the meetup group we're in.  

 The weather was great and they both had a blast.

 Getting to put your feet in the sand really is a great feeling.

 I got my workout in by pulling these monkeys around on our ziffy whomper.

 I had packed yummy snacks but, of course, forgot to bring forks - this guy didn't seem to mind.  He is straight caveman.

 We also went to The World Center for Birds of Prey (yes, it is in Boise).  They had a little presentation on falcons.  Ninja Baby seemed very intent at first, but then got bored and started making noises.  Of course, they had asked everyone to be quiet so the birds wouldn't get freaked out.  

 Eventually I had to step out with him so they wouldn't decide he would make a tasty snack.  Little Lady followed shortly after.  They had some interesting things for the kids to look at and do, although they are honestly still a bit young to appreciate it all.

 They had a Bald Eagle.  We get to see these guys everywhere around here.  We saw more in our first year here than we had seen in our entire lives.

 I unfortunately don't remember what this is.

 Or this.  Hey, I was working with two kids.

 Condor.  There is no mistaking this ugly guy.

Neat tidbit I learned: birds that lay eggs in nests lay round eggs while ones that lay eggs on cliffs/ledges lay more oval ones.  Round eggs roll straight while the oval ones will roll in a circle - keeping it from falling off the ledge.  Also, as condors get older they loose the feather around their face/neck and the skin turns pink.  That is how you can tell the ages of them.

Now you know too.

 Spring in Boise basically means it will get into the 70's during the day, into the 30's at night, and then just be 50 the next day.  Then sunny, then rainy.  It is a toss up what you'll get.  We have been enjoying every sunny warm day.  I've been making sure the kids get out every day and enjoy it.  The flowers are opening up, the trees are getting their leaves and it's time for me to open up the sprinklers!  The rule out here is to not plant anything (food wise) 'till Mother's Day or when the snow has melted on Bogus Basin (the highest mountain right here, which can be seen from pretty much anywhere in the city), whichever comes last.

This guy got his first professional haircut.  After the last cut where we tried to use the clippers and ended up having to give him and all over buzz, we decided trained professionals could do it.

 

 

 

 

While he may not have looked very entertained he did a great job.  Sat by himself and everything.

We did our first real egg dying.

 It was a hit.

 He got to scribble on them with a crayon and then we would dip them in the dye for him - he had a blast.

 We did have one little snafu.....Papa boiled them but had been worried he let them boil too long - so he put cold water in the pot to slow down their cooking.  Yeah - so the yolk was apparently liquid still.  More of a soft boiled egg.  Not the best for dying - with children.  Lesson learned.  We won't make that mistake again.

Spring is also known as construction season in Boise.  Every time I go ANYWHERE I have to sit through this - you can't get out of our neighborhood without going through a construction area.  Yes, I still remember the traffic in DC can't even compare, but I figure I'm complaining about the construction and not the traffic, so it's allowed.

This girl turned four.  Of course, I threw a party for her.

 She picked her outfit, selecting a dress she was given as a present by Grandpa Ted and Grandma Gigi, and some capri pants that were part of an outfit given to her by my sister.

 I even painted her toes for the occasion.  She has a "4" on her big toe.

 He was very excited for her.

 She was also clearly excited.

 The weather was perfect and the kids played in the yard.

 Everyone seemed to enjoy the chalk board I made - my effort to focus any chalk activities to that one area.

 She had a BLAST will all her friends there.  She is a social lady.

 He had a blast as well.

I failed to take a picture of the food.  I like to entertain and try to have a nice spread.  My goal was finger food.  We had lettuce wraps (baby romaine), turkey lunch meat, kerrygold cheese, lazy deviled eggs with prosciutto on top, prosciutto wrapped dates, plantain chips, guacamole, sweet potato fries and homemade mayo.  I think that was it. Not strict paleo (lunch meat & grass fed cheese) but we're feeding the masses here.

 We sang Happy Birthday and she blew out her candles.  

And then I realized I screwed up and only did three candles.

 So I added one more and we sang again.  She was totally fine with that.

I forgot to take a picture of the cupcakes before they had been sitting out for a while.  Per her request, I made carrot cupcakes.  The frosting does have grass fed cream cheese, but the cake part is paleo.  Using our natural food colorings, I tried to mix up some orange to make carrots on top.  That didn't happen. I paid for them - I'm gonna use them, no matter what I end up with.

 I requested no presents, but people just can't resist.  FYI, we really don't need ANYTHING.  We are so grateful for all the gifts, but we really love simple tokens as well, like a hand drawn picture or card.  We are drowning in toys.

We all ended the day with tummy aches - reminding us why we regularly eat the way we do! 

Of course, the very NEXT day was EASTER!  So not a huge break on the tummies.

I had to wake this lady up (Ninja baby got up early enough on his own, go figure) so we could get baskets done before heading to church.  Thankfully we got there rather early since it was PACKED.

 This girl gets some awesome bed head.  She looks like a real college student here.

Of course she went straight to HIS basket to check it out.  You know, just to make sure it all looked good for him.

 She eventually moved to her basket.

 I have to admit - we didn't actually get them anything for Easter.  Grandma Gigi sent some boxes with plenty of stuff in them that we just put that out.  It would have been overkill if we got them anything.  So, thank you Grandma Gigi and Grandpa Ted!

 Candy?  I'm not eating any candy.  What are you talking about?

 We then got them dressed in their Easter finest and headed off to church.

It was packed.  Ninja Baby usually wanders around the back during mass, but it was full of chairs, so that was a no go.  It was a tough mass.  We took turns with Ninja Baby - the sugar beforehand was probably also not a good idea.

 After mass the Knights of Columbus had an Easter egg hunt at the park by the church.  It had different areas for the different age groups.  She took right off, grabbing eggs.

 He walked over and picked up one - then they were all gone by the time he realized he should find another one.  Yes, I'm totally wearing the same shirt I wore the day before.  That is pretty much how life is right now.

 These two cuties have been running up and giving each other hugs lately.  So stinking cute.

 They got in some running around and playing.

 Burning off some of that sugar!

We then made our way back home and had a decadent brunch!  I made Spunky Coconuts Best Ever Paleo Pancakes (a keeper) with strawberries in simple syrup that I canned the summer we were first here and eggs and bacon.  STUFFED. 

It was then time for Ninja Baby to nap.  That didn't last long.  His napping has been horrible lately (when I'm relying on nap time to be able to get work done, of course).  Every last tooth in his mouth is coming in right now - every.last.one.

So, it was time to have them hunt eggs in the backyard.

 They were more than happy to give it a whirl.

 He is still a "one egg" kinda guy.

 She scooped up all the rest.

 They then spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the backyard.

 In theory, this was a cute picture - but the chalkboard needed a better cleaning after the party the day before.

My goal had been to get a nice picture of their outfits - since I made Little Lady's dress again this year.

I then headed inside to make our dinner while Papa worked in the yard with them.  One busted lip (Ninja Baby) and at least two tantrums (Little Lady) later, they came in for a dinner of Lamb, artichoke/spinach/mushroom thing, and roasted red potatoes and some yummy Cabela's fudge (yes, they have fudge too) for dessert.

We all slept well and are now ready to resume our "clean eating" to give our tummies a rest and whatever craziness spring has in store for us!