The Rest of Winter

Winter in AZ is seriously the best. The weather is amazing and we get to spend the majority of our time outdoors. Because of this, winter always FLIES by. Seriously, how is it almost May? And whyyyy? Haha. Anyway, here are some of our winter highlights that I haven't mentioned yet:

Family outings outdoors! We call them "hikes" but really they're just nature walks.... I think I prefer that anyway. ;-)

Picnics:

Valentine's Day! Our tradition is for me to take Matthew out on a date and for Michael to take Kate. Next year I'll probably start also taking Joshua on a date! Anyway, me and Matthew got a McDonald's ice cream cone and Michael and Kate went to Bosa for a donut. I love this tradition.

Park days galore! We live it up while we can before it gets impossibly hot.

Kate continued doing ballet, which she loved as much as always-

This really cute place that does haircuts for kids is pretty cheap if it's your first time so I took Joshua shortly before his birthday so that he'd look extra handsome for his birthday. Now it's probably time that I figure out how to cut his hair myself. Yikes. (Matthew and Michael both have the type of hair where I just use clippers. With Joshua, I need to learn to use the actual scissors. I see some bad haircuts in the poor kid's future while I figure it out.)

Volcano Day at preschool, a tea party, and lunch at LoLo's Chicken and Waffles. (yummier than it sounds!)

Some days are even nice enough for the pool! (Though I try to save the pool days for when there's nothing else to do in the summer.)

And t-ball!!! I am so, so glad that we had the option of doing t-ball in the winter. We spent all our Saturday mornings in January and February (and part of March) at the baseball fields, cheering on our new little t-ball player. Since he was on a team with such little guys, most of the dads helped out and would stand out on the field during the games to help direct the players. It was so fun to see how much Matthew improved. Towards the end of the season he even hit a ball that was thrown by the coach! (As opposed to hitting it off the tee.) Seriously so fun. Go Black Pirates! :-)

Matthew got to be on the same team as two of his best friends - Caleb and Zach Ferguson. (Matthew is #17)

This was the week he got MVP.

Watchin the game. 

And the Chandler Ostrich Festival.... These things are way too expensive but for some reason we love them. Maybe it's the funnel cakes. I'm such a sucker for funnel cakes. We also paid too much for me and Matthew to ride a camel. Kate originally said she didn't want to go. After watching me and Matthew ride she changed her mind but it was too late. Next year I guess!

Good, good times. I am so lucky to get to spend so many amazing days with these amazing people.