Bikes and Ostriches

So here is another very random blog posting.  It seems like if I don't blog a couple of times a week, I get behind.

The kids have been riding bikes a lot lately.  Sterling has learned how to ride his bike without training wheels and Avalon has learned how to ride a big girl bike.

Here are some videos of the kids riding: 

Here is a short video of Truman:

 When I was little, my mom used to put my hair in foam rollers so that I would have curly hair for church or school pictures.  I decided to buy some rollers and try them on Avalon.  Here is what happened. . .

As the day went on, the curls settled down a little and she looked like a blond Shirley Temple.

Last Saturday, we took the kids to the Ostrich Festival. I've probably blogged about the Ostrich Festival before. This is the festival where they race Ostriches. It has gotten to be a pretty big fair and the kids really wanted to go this year. We didn't get a chance to see the Ostriches race, but we got to do some other fun stuff.


 Avalon got her face painted.

 Sterling is really into antiques and old stuff, so he was really excited to tour this old farm house.

 I felt really bad for this momma goat.  I'm pretty sure she gave birth in front of a crowd at the petting zoo.  She was just cleaning up the baby when we got there.

A tired baby covered in cotton candy.

Aaron and I went back to the Ostrich Festival that night for our anniversary.  I have to admit that we really don't know what to do each year when our anniversary comes along.  It is too close to the holidays and Valentines Day, so we usually don't do presents and with three kids, (one of which goes everywhere I go) it is hard to be too romantic.This year, we went to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and then we went to the Eddy Money concert at the Ostrich Festival.  It was fun and it has been a good 7 years of marriage.

My youngest brother, Klint, is getting married in a couple of months.  Mom bought Avalon and her little cousin some cute dresses to wear to the reception.  I've been working on making some hair barrettes to go with them.  This is the first try.  I am working on smaller ones.  I found the really fun pattern to make the flowers here: http://sew4home.com/projects/fabric-art-a-accents/541-organza-flower-tutorial

Halee and I went in together and bought a pass to the Phoenix Zoo. It was kind of expensive and so we are trying to get the most out of it before the summer get really hot. Since it was spring break and Sterling didn't have Pre-K, I took the kids to the zoo the other afternoon. We walked a ton and by the end, I had Avalon riding piggy back and both boys in the stroller. I couldn't get off the couch that night. The zoo has a really cool water play area that was open and we had a lot of fun playing there.

It has hit the 90s down here and so it was time to get the kids new swimsuits and a new pool.  I bought the kids a molded plastic pool because every time we get the ones with the soft plastic bottoms (snap set pools) they melt.  When we got the molded plastic pool to the car, I realized that I couldn't get it in to take it home.  I found one bungee cord in the back of the car and so I strapped it diagonally across the pool on the roof of the car.  Then I opened the sun roof and held on tight to the edge of the pool for the whole drive home.

The kids have had a blast in it.  I think they have already gotten our money's worth and we have only had it for two days.

For St. Patrick's day, I always like to cook a green dinner.  The kids think it is fun and I feel like we are doing something festive.  So, yesterday, the kids and I dressed in green and we all had green eggs and ham for dinner.  By the way, when you die ham green, it is pretty unappetizing.