Easter Saturday

After doing this parent thing for seven years now, we have finally come to the realization that it's best for our family if we do the "fun" Easter activities on Saturday, and reserve Sunday for church and family. 

With that new revelation in mind, our kids awoke on the Saturday before Easter (which was also the first morning in our new home!) to find goodies from the Easter Bunny.

Then we headed to the Rockin' R Ranch for some Easter fun with my parents, at an event put on by the Sharing Down Syndrome organization.

Happy Easter!

March 30th, 2013

The Mesa Experience

After selling our house in Globe, we moved in with Adam and Heather while we searched for a home to buy. They have a huge house with four bedrooms and 3 baths, and since it's just the two of them (until their first baby is born this summer!), they were gracious enough to let us rent half of their living space. We descended upon them, filled their home to bursting with furniture and boxes, and promptly took over 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. And part of the kitchen and living room. We had no idea how long we'd be there. They are brave souls indeed.

The stress of moving, shopping for a home, putting offers out there, and all the paperwork that goes with it was bad enough. But I also had to continue home-schooling Bree, and try to prevent the kids from destroying Adam's house. The kids had a bit of a rough time of it. Lincoln was uncharacteristically clingy and weepy for the first two weeks. Heck, I was weepy too. There were many tears, and much stress-eating. But we found the perfect house for us after only two weeks of house-hunting. It was the third offer we made, and it was a winner. So then we just had to sit and wait, and hope we'd made the right decision.

I was determined, however, to do a few fun things with the kids, in an effort to stay sane, and try to give the kids the attention they so badly needed. Thankfully, Mesa has a lot to offer.

We went to the huge and gorgeous Mesa Library a few times. The kids were overwhelmed with its size and the selection of books. Our entire beloved Globe Library could easily fit in the Mesa Library's kids section, with room to spare.

February 28th

One week, I told Bree and Mason that I would take each of them out on a date, just the two of us. On Bree's day, she wanted to go somewhere we'd never been before. So we went to Sweet Cakes in Downtown Mesa, which is famous for their cookies and other sweet treats. I got a huge, delicious cinnamon roll, and Bree chose the biggest sugar cookie they had. We enjoyed a leisurely snack, then did a little shopping.

March 19th (Bree's loose tooth looked hill-billy-ish for a couple weeks there)

Mason was very easy to please. All he wanted to do was buy some Legos. So, after a trip to the drive-thru at the bank (another novelty we didn't have in Globe), we headed to Target to buy some Legos with the gift card Chad's parents gave us for Easter. After he had his new Legos in hand, he wanted to go straight home so he could play with them. Done and done.

We visited the Arizona Museum of Natural History again, and let the kids dig for dinosaur bones again, and mess around with whatever they wanted. This time we were able to spend some time in the kids' discovery room, where there are some fun hands-on toys and crafts.

March 22nd

Finally, our house closed, and my parents brought their trailer with them to help us with the move. Our new place is about 45 minutes from Adam's, and after filling the back of my parents' truck, our van, and our Suburban, we were able to move everything in just two trips. The kids were very excited for a new place and new adventures. And they couldn't wait to move into a house with stairs!

March 28th

Our (soon to be) new home!

 
I also have a video. Keep in mind that this was the video I took on a day when we were looking at several houses. So it is quick, and the camera-work might make you a little sea-sick. The house is within walking distance of the school, and there is a neighborhood park visible from our front yard. It's a very family-friendly neighborhood, and we're excited for a bigger house! With a garage! And a fenced backyard! That was built in this century!

We close on the 27th!

Renaissance!

Since moving to Arizona, we've lived less than an hour away from the famous Renaissance Festival, but have never gone. Tickets are a little pricey. But when Chad got complimentary tickets from work, we figured we'd better not let them go to waste.

The grounds and buildings are really neat, and there are vendors everywhere. The festival is definitely designed to get you to buy as many "renaissance" souvenirs as humanly possible. And plenty of other things that have nothing to do with the renaissance period. We watched a clown who juggled hats and fire, then begged for donations afterwards. Nice touch. It actually authenticated the act even further. There were costumed workers roaming around, some dancing or singing, or playing musical instruments. We chowed on bratwurst, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob.

But my favorite part was the tournament. It's no Medieval Times, but it was still fun. First we met the knight we were to cheer for: the limp-wristed Eduardo de la Something-or-Other from Spain.

This is Bree having fun:

After watching the knights hit a target, then put their lances through rings, we got to the main joust. The "defeated" knights were hilarious--dropping their shields after being hit, and then falling off their horses.

Then we wandered over to the glass-blowing demonstration, which we all felt should have been more entertaining, and less like a college lecture. Oh well. Nothing a little hat shopping won't cure.

And I don't know what the deal is with getting my kids to look at the camera!

And I still don't quite know what this character's schtick was supposed to be.

Even after a few questions related to the big metal ball and chain, and the circle drawn in the sand next to him (there was a stuffed animal in the middle of the circle and a "Scotsman" in a kilt standing nearby), I was still confused. I think he was might have been drunk. So naturally I pushed my kids forward to snap a picture with him.

All in all, it was a good experience. And now that we've been, we can cross Renaissance Festival off my wish list.