Girls Weekend and Mother's Day 2016

Girls Weekend! So fun! And I went kidless this year! :-) The theme this year was Jungle Safari. As usual, my mom went way above and beyond and had everything decked out top to bottom in safari decor-

On Thursday we chatted, laughed until we cried, did pedicures, learned to make some seriously amazing caramel apple pie apples, and made the yummiest dinner ever. (Well, ok, my mom made it.... I think I just chopped some lettuce.) Seriously it was so good:

Ummm, that cheesy bread was one of the yummiest things I've ever tasted. So so delicious. I am afraid to make it myself because I will eat it all in one sitting. 

Anyway, it is always good to be with these ladies.

On Friday we got up and hiked around the Hollywood sign. It's seriously nuts that I've never done that before! We also walked around the Griffith Observatory, which I have been to before but it has definitely been a while so it was neat to see those views of LA again.

^this pic cracks me up

That afternoon we went to the yummiest bakery ever and then that night we went out for pho and laughed and laughed again all night. :-) 

Oh, and we wore these awesome elephant pants that my mom picked up in Thailand earlier this year-

The next day we went shopping in downtown MB and I headed back to my family in AZ. I am very grateful for all the work my mom puts into Girls Weekend every year. My sister took this picture of all the Girls Weekend pictures through the years (we're only missing one, from the year themed "Pink") and I love it. Good memories!

And I definitely need to mention that Michael seriously does an amazing job when I'm at Girls Weekend every year. It's his tradition to take off work and have his mom come help out and then they basically just make the weekend a party. They do fun activities galore. I love that he makes the weekend so fun for the kids. This year they went swimming, to the Mills Mall Aquarium, out for donuts, to the gym, to the library, and to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Lucas' house.

Mother's Day was awesome. I was lucky to grow up with an exceptional mother and sister who made it easy to respect womanhood.  The great women have only become more and more common in my life. My in-laws are all wonderful and of course I'm lucky enough to mother the three cutest little crazies in the world. Matthew gave me this card upon my return home that he'd made in preschool -

So thankful that I get to live my motherhood dreams with these kids! (And Michael!) They are the best!

Little Chefs

My kids LOVE helping me in the kitchen. Especially Matthew! If you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he'll quickly inform you that he wants to be "a missionary and a chef!" Seriously, the second they hear me preparing food, they'll be begging to "help." This is especially true when they hear the KitchenAid mixer going, since they automatically assume that means I'm making cookies or some other treat. (They're usually right.)

Anyway, I found a cute little class through the city called "Crazy Chefs" that was basically a cooking class for kids. It was perfect for them and I especially loved that they could do it together. They are BFF's these days! Every week they enjoyed going to "chef class" and were super excited to show off to me their cooking masterpieces. They mostly made kid food, such as cookies, pigs in a blanket, english muffin pizzas, and simple cream cheese danishes.

I know that they probably won't always be so excited to help me in the kitchen, and I know I'll miss it. (Even though sometimes their "helping" isn't always super convenient.) ;-) Love these cuties and their love of creating good food, or ANY food really. Haha. Seriously, could this preschool age be any more fun!?

Easter stuff and Easter weekend

I know I sound like a broken record but every holiday is seriously amazingly magical with little kids. And I feel like Matthew and Kate, at their ages now, are the most magical age of all. I try to appreciate every second. I know it'll fly by way too fast.

We kicked off the Easter celebrations with coloring eggs for FHE. I like to do this 2-3 weeks before Easter so that we can use all the eggs and enjoy them before Easter is over. (Not that you can't enjoy them after Easter... but you now...)  It was a little chaotic but still so fun. ;-) And we had these little painter things (made specifically for coloring on eggs) that the kids LOVED. Perfect for preschool age kids.

Easter egg hunts!!! Love! Other than the hunt they had Easter morning, they also went on a hunt that the community put on as well as one that my amazing friend put on. Every year she does a Flashlight Easter Egg hunt and it is so much fun! The kids loved it.

Game planning with Dad before the community hunt started. Haha!

Flashlight Egg Hunt. As soon as it gets dark the flashlights come on and off they go!

Matthew also got to enjoy an Easter party with his preschool class. Seriously, I want to go to preschool. They do the most fun things.

Easter weekend also happened to be my birthday weekend this year. I'm actually not a fan of Easter being in March simply because I like the holidays to be a little more spread out, and luckily it's not super common. But it's extra uncommon to have my birthday only one day before Easter! The weekend was fun though. The Schlesingers came to town on Saturday (my birthday!) and that's always super exciting since we don't get to see them a lot. We ate Gimaldi's pizza for lunch (YUM!) and per my request, Michael picked up a giant chocolate chip cookie from Paradise Bakery as my "birthday cake." They are seriously so delicious. And no, their regular sized chocolate chip cookies aren't nearly as good. I don't get it either, but it's true.

We spent most of the rest of the day just hanging out with everyone and enjoying catching up. Michael wanted to play the girls at tennis because they're both awesome at it. And the kids adored all the Schlesingers. Can't blame the kids - they ARE fun!

I suppose it would be rude if I didn't mention that although Michael got an amazing workout, that's water all over him, not sweat. ;-)

That night we got a babysitter and went to an Escape The Room place. We did one that was an "Escape the Dead" theme (felt Halloween-y) and it was SO FUN. I have to admit that I didn't think I'd like it that much, but we all did. Way more fun than it sounds. I want to go again! :)

Easter Sunday was great as always. The kids enjoyed their egg hunt, we went to church, and then went to Michael's grandparents house for Easter dinner. Love my family!