Happy End of April

March 8

March 15

I took Benjamin to the fancy kids’ haircutting salon and told the wonderful lady that I didn’t want to bring him back for a while. She took out the clippers. I tried not to gasp. Now Benjamin looks like a big boy! He’s very adorable, though I miss his mop head a little bit.

The hairdresser made that little spike in front.

Benjamin's big-boy haircut. — Benjamin’s big-boy haircut.

March 16

Every year I bake myself a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Then I spend the next two weeks eating it mostly by myself (Dave doesn’t really like cake). This was a good strategy until recently, when we had to start making another cake a week later to celebrate Phoebe’s birthday. Now we’re overwhelmed with cakes in mid-March!

Can you tell it's chocolate frosting? — Can you tell it’s chocolate frosting?

March 17

I had a lovely birthday. I went to work, but afterward I got to celebrate with spaghetti, cake, presents, and my family!

Spaghetti for dinner. Benjamin's shirt says "Mommy's good-luck charm." — Spaghetti for dinner. Benjamin’s shirt says “Mommy’s good-luck charm.”

My birthday cake. Phoebe decorated and wrote the "Mommy." — My birthday cake. Phoebe decorated and wrote the “Mommy.”

March 21

Phoebe got pretty lucky this year; we chose a date for her birthday party and then learned that most of our church friends couldn’t make it that day. We didn’t want to miss celebrating with them, so she got to have two birthday parties—one the Saturday before her birthday and one the Saturday after! At each party, the kids made marshmallow snowmen, went on a treasure hunt, played in the yard, and ate cake. The grownups supervised, drank beer, and ate cake. Both days were just beautiful outside—perfect for hanging out on the deck.

For the treasure hunt, I took tricky photos of the treasures and taped the next clue to each treasure. The kids had very little trouble finding everything. Treasure hunt photos:

Did you figure out where in the house and yard all those photos were taken? Here are more party pictures:

I bought this personalized printed icing sheet from Etsy and put it on a marble cake.

Building snowmen. Elaina, Isabelle, Phoebe.

"Okay, guys, do this!" — “Okay, guys, do this!”

And a video:

March 22

Dave had to fly to Chicago for work on Phoebe’s birthday, so she opened her “Mommy and Daddy” gifts on Sunday night. Her actual birthday was full of amazing grandparent/relative gifts, and Dave Skyped in to watch the unveiling.

Books from Mommy and Daddy for Phoebe to read!

March 28

Second set of treasure hunt clues:

April 2

April 11

We went on our first camping trip of the season in early April. We planned a trip to Fruita, because we knew the Western Slope would be warm enough at that time of year. In fact, it was beautiful weather during the day, but the nights were pretty chilly, down in the upper thirties. Good thing the kids run warm!

Dave was supposed to come home from Chicago on Thursday evening and go to a recording session with his swing band, but thunderstorms and tornados grounded his plane, so he didn’t get back to Colorado until Friday afternoon. I managed to pack for camping by myself, though it took until late Thursday evening. When he arrived, we picked up the kids, had some dinner, and finally got on the road. We didn’t get to our campsite until 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, and the kids were awake for at least 40 minutes while Dave set up the tent.

We had a really nice time even though we were all kind of sleepy. Phoebe got to ride her bike around the campground a lot, and on Saturday afternoon, we drove over to the Kokopelli trailhead where Dave and I have spent so many happy weekends. Dave had a plan that Phoebe would mountain bike Rustler’s Loop, a 3.6-mile loop with interpretive signs that teach you mountain biking skills. Dave and I would hike along, and Benjamin would ride in the kiddie carrier backpack. It’s a gorgeous ride, but I was very uncertain about Phoebe’s stamina. Turns out, she was amazing! She didn’t ride the whole way, by any means, but she hiked like a trooper when she got tired of riding. There were a few minutes of Dave carrying her on his shoulders, and he spent a good amount of time carrying her bike, but we were so impressed with her cheerfulness and energy!

Sunday was a nice day, too, though Benjamin fell off the end of a slide and got a bloody nose. (It was as far off the ground as he is tall!) We were all pretty frazzled when it was finally time to drive home, but we didn’t hit much traffic and got home in time to relax a bit before work the next day. All in all, it was a very successful first camping trip of the season. We hope we have several more to come!

We found a little bit of shade in the desert!

Phoebe colored herself and Benjamin mauve after the fact.

April 18

My mom came out to visit on the 17th; she flew in Friday afternoon, so I took the afternoon off to pick her up from the airport. It was really nice to have time to chat in the car, and I got to spend some of the afternoon cooking dinner while we talked. Very relaxing. Of course, once the kids got home from school, Grandma had some serious responsibilities; Phoebe expects to be read to continually, and Benjamin warmed up to Grandma pretty quickly this time.

On Saturday morning, I went for my usual run, and then we went for our usual burritos and coffee. Woe to any guests who don’t like breakfast burritos! Then Mom and the kids and I drove down to Denver to see a mythical animals exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It was pretty cool, actually: mermaids, unicorns, even a gigantic ape and a giant squid. Cyclops and those Chinese dragons you see at New Year’s. We got home in time for Benjamin to take a late nap, and then we tried an Italian restaurant we’d never been to. (We’re not likely to go back, either!)

On Sunday, we went to church and then Dave and I had a band concert at a retirement home in the afternoon. Mom was gracious enough to watch the kids, so we could play without worrying about who would take care of them. They were pretty good, though Benjamin dropped a puzzle piece down a heater vent. The concert went okay; we hope the music will be even more presentable in mid-May when we have our real concert at the music building. Sunday evening, Mom and I watched an interesting show about the coywolf (a mixture of coyote and wolf) while Dave grumbled about it and then fell asleep.

On Monday, Mom and I had planned to relax, which I was hoping would mean we were going to nap. However, she had to write a tricky funeral sermon, and I had to give an online presentation for work. We spent the morning at Kohl’s, where Mom bought me some new jeans, but when we got home, we had a message that Benjamin was in a lot of pain. Clearly he had another ear infection, so we spent part of the afternoon taking him to the doctor for more antibiotics. He’ll have another ear tube put in next month, so we hope that will help more permanently. On Monday night, Mom and I watched an old Cary Grant movie called The Grass Is Greener. She had to leave for the airport early on Tuesday, so Dave dropped her off on his way to work. It was a great visit, though next time we’ll try to do more relaxing! Somehow, despite all the reading they did, I didn’t manage to take a single photo of Phoebe with Grandma. Shame on me.