We have now progressed from this 'chicken house' in the living room
to a bigger house - still in the living room (because we're fancy like that and the 'maid' likes to dust)
to their official house OUTSIDE!
The girls are fat and happy, and increasingly difficult to catch! Now we just need to see some eggs!It's been so cold this spring! It's the end of May and the lilacs are still blooming! We've only had popsicles ONE day . . .
played in the sprinklers/watered the plants ONE DAY . . . .
and showed off our muscles ONE DAY. And that was WEEKS ago!
Around Christmas, Roger started hinting that he had a great gift idea for me. Then he said he decided to wait for my birthday. He started the serious hinting up again in April. From 20 questions, I learned that Part A was mineral, Part B was metal. There were 5 parts. The hint that I remember the most was 'it satisfies almost all your needs' (which include but are not limited to kat time, creating, learning something new, doing something a little uncommon and/or difficult). I asked him if it involved heat - thinking it might be a lamp work class, but he said it was something I have never done before, so that was out.
Closer to May he said that he was starting a new hobby, so he wanted to make sure that Tuesday nights were open. I still didn't catch on.
Sunday before the big day he continued the torture by asking some friends to ask me if I had figured out my birthday present yet. By this time I was thoroughly exasperated. Monday after dinner he gave me an envelope. The torture continued: there was a gift certificate inside with nothing but an address. The address led to this website: http://www.ambrosiaglassart.com/.
GLASS BLOWING CLASSES! I haven't thought about this little adventure for a few years. The arrival of my small friends put this one WAY on the back burner. Thanks to an incredible husband with a great memory and NO gift palsy this year I am playing with molten glass once a week. For 5 weeks . . . or maybe longer.
(Maybe what I really need is a photography class.) The first week's project was a 'worm' or ornament, and a paperweight. Just to get a feel for the glass and how to use some of the tools.
Week 2 was a tumbler - or vase in my case. Not pretty, but the amazing thing is that this baby made it into the annealing oven. At the second to last step, I set the blow pipe down too hard on the gate and the piece fell ONTO THE FLOOR! The lip totally caved in and started to close. The teacher jammed a wooden paddle inside to keep the sides from sealing to each other,
Week 3 was a vase, spinning out the lip and then ruffling it. I talked my way into some color. SO FUN! This time I was a little chicken on the heat, so it took a second heat - courtesy of the teacher - to get it hot enough to spin out, but then I swung it to finish it. This one is has a bit of a lean, but we're just going to grind off the bottom a little and it shouldn't be noticeable.
I can't believe this boy is 4 year old already! He is so much fun to have around - he loves trains; he loves construction vehicles; he loves digging; he loves to figure out how things work; he loves his sister; he loves his mom; he loves candy corn and gum drops and taking HUGE bites of whatever he's eating; he loves shenanigans when it's time to go to bed; he has the best voice and laugh; he LOVES tye dye (thank you Lizard); he loves his cat and bungee cords; he gives the best hugs.
We've been talking about the birthday cake for Alex for month - pretty much since Katie's birthday. I'm not ready to challenge Duff Goldman, but I am loving marshmallow fondant. And I'm looking for more reasons to experiment with edible paint. (There were left over pieces so he scored a 2nd cake - we had it for lunch.)
(The idea and instructions for the cake came from http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/fire-engine-cake/a4c6b0d2-2347-45f2-8327-8ab7e3b328c4)
Busy day for the big boy - we had friends come over for the day, and assembled the chicken coop and run. The chickens will soon be outside where they belong!
First BBQ of the year! Hooray for a boy who wanted hamburgers and fruit salad for dinner. He also picked out 'cheese puff balls' and CANNOT get enough of those neon balls of salt.
For his birthday adventure, we drove up to Idaho Springs on Saturday to the Phoenix Goldmine. I think the kids were more impressed with being able to hand feed the chipmunks before we even went in.
The mine tour was really cool. This might be the summer of mine tours! This mine has some large veins of gold still visible, and some old tools on hand to check out.
We all panned for gold afterwards - unfortunately, although we all rubbed the 'Lucky Bucket' inside, no one struck it rich.
For lunch we hit the Buffalo Restaurant in Idaho Springs. It's so nice that we have some family close by to join us on our adventures.
I think we've hit on a good Easter plan around here. Saturday we do the candy, so that Sunday we can focus on the Savior. And boy, was there candy!
Saturday we went to Oma's house for an egg hunt and Easter dinner. Katie was the most interested in finding eggs; Summer was the most interested in opening them. Kat was the most interested in hiding things inside of real eggs.
My friend Kari arranges an Easter Basket exchange every year, so I've been on the prowl for fun Easter ideas. I saw this idea on Not Martha. MUCH easier to do than the version of Kindereier I tried last year - also off of her site. I am a little obsessed with surprise eggs. And the insides matched the outsides - between jelly beans and M&Ms, this wasn't too hard to do. (Even Roger noticed that little touch, and that kid never notices when I color my hair!)
The week prior to Easter we had a sugar cookie decorating fest at Margaret's house. I did a few of them with royal frosting - not as delicious, but SO FUN. And still pretty delicious.
We were in charge of dessert on Saturday, so we tried the rainbow cake also found on Not Martha. Such a fun cake to do. And I'm trying to get over the fact that the rainbow did not work out - the colors were still fabulous. (Next time we'll bake it a little hotter.)
The first weekend in April we thawed out the RV and hit the road for our first trip of the year. Roger planned a great trip to Glenwood Springs. I had no idea there were so many fun things to do - I've only ever stopped there for rafting or as a pit stop on the way to UT. Keeping true to form, we left late and camped around 11 pm. Why break with tradition? Note to self: No more Alex sleeping up on the bunk. Alex + swaying bunk = motion sickness = trip to Target for more PJs. I guess it was a win for him after all.
Friday morning we hiked up the first .3 mi to Hanging Lake. ONE of us forgot the backpack for Max. Turns out we didn't need it - the kid is a mountain goat. We turned around when things got icy - it was also preventative, as we were outnumbered by kids who could potentially want to be carried down the mountain. 
After lunch we went to the train museum, and then hit the hot springs. The train museum had an O-scale model train and a maintenance car to climb on, and was good for a nap. It also gave Rog a chance to practice his cliff-side parallel parking. The hot springs are enormous, and were ridiculously crowded. I don't even want to think of how packed they are in the summer. Pizza for dinner made for Roger's perfect day. 
Saturday we took a gondola up the mountain to the Glenwood Cavern Adventure Park. SO FUN. And fun for Max too, once he got used to the bumps when the tram went over the poles. 
The weather was gorgeous, and there were so many things to do. Katie got THIS close to trying the rock climbing wall - maybe next time. The boys could have spent the entire day in the sandbox 'fossil digging' area. Big surprise there. 
The alpine slide was everybody's favorite. Max's face in the middle photo is his reaction as everyone else got to ride the slide but him. By the end of the day he finally got his chance. 
The Speleobox - a wooden box maze simulating a cavern - was a hit with 2 out of 3 of our friends. Max got stuck 2 turns from the end, and started a chain reaction of inconsolable children. He finally let Katie lead him out - I tried to go in after him, but it was a little too tight for claustrophobic mom. Katie and Alex couldn't get enough of it.
The backpack would have come in handy during the tour of the caverns. The cave is really really great - they are opening more spaces this summer - but poor Max was just too cooked when it was time for the tour. Miner Alex loved being in a cave.
Every night we seemed to camp right by the railroad tracks. This picture also shows the snow as it just started to fall Sunday morning. A few hours later, Vail Pass was closed and we got to hang out in West Vail for 6 hours. It could have been worse - we could have been stuck at the McDonald's with NO play land! It would have been better if I had listened to Roger and agreed to drive home Saturday night. SOMEONE didn't want to arrive home 4 hours later 1 am - even though that same SOMEONE would not have been driving - so instead we scored the 12 hour travel day instead. 
