Birthday and Shriners

I had a birthday, shout hooray! In case turning 30 (yikes!) and finding two (count'em two!) white hairs wasn't enough to plunge me into a third-of-a-life crisis, Yogurl turned on a Pandora station she thought I would like. It played such happy birthday tunes as "Cat's in the Cradle" and "Dust in the Wind." 

I found the Avengers Happy Birthday Balloon at my locker after my classes along with a birthday card and a dandelion that Sabrina had picked for me. It was a very nice birthday surprise. I attached the balloon to the rack of my bike, so it trailed behind me the whole way home. That way the whole world could see that it was my birthday and somebody loved me. Or that I am a real dork. 

Both are true.

 We went to the Dogwood Parade downtown, and it was really packed. We were thinking of leaving after a little while, but Sabrina wanted to stay. Then somebody sitting nearby told us we had to stick around at least for the Shriners. He was right! How cool are those cars!

One of my favorite books to read to the kids is called Rattletrap Car. The Shriners had a rattletrap car in addition to their mini vehicles! I hope the guy in that car doesn't plan on using his seat for anything other than sitting. Then again, people were cleaning up after the horses anyway...

 Sabrina really enjoyed the parade. Until a clown came up and asked her if she was a clown. With a look of horror she shook her head "no." I wonder who likes clowns?

 Well we weren't the only ones downtown for the parade. The parking garage had an exit lane that wasn't working, so it was moving unreasonably slowly. We had bought lunch so we sat in the back of our car and ate. The cars behind us waiting in line probably moved 20 feet during the 20 minutes or so we were eating. So we went back down and talked for a while to one of our friends who was working downtown. Then we came back and tried to drive away. It took over half an hour to get from the third floor to the second. Then it started moving quickly, and it turned out the police had come and were directing people out without paying. Hooray for speeding things up and not paying, but I hope there wasn't some emergency on a higher level (like the extreme frustration causing a heart attack) and that was why they were clearing people out. 

Sabrina has always been excited to help in the kitchen, but now that she made a chef's hat at school. she is even more excited. The hat was part of a healthy eating unit at her pre-school. The unit included eating ants on a log made with cream cheese instead of peanut butter, and making pepperoni pizza on hamburger buns. 

Well, whatever.

Wild times with Manburger and Yogurl!

This first picture is Clark doing what Clark loves best, playing with sticks outside.  He is certainly a boy.
On General Conference Sunday, since the broadcast didn't start until noon, we knew we needed to get the kids outside for a while if we wanted to hear any of the talks.  So in the morning, we packed up the kids and went up to the trail near Monticello for a nice family walk.  It was such a beautiful day and both kids did great.  Near the trailhead, they have a tulip poplar tree from Monticello that they had to cut down and they have turned it into an awesome play area for kids.  Makes me think of the cool hollowed-out rock in Albany that my sisters and I posed in front of for photos.
  The next pictures...well, wild party at our house.  Must have been something exciting in his morning nursing that day...

Field Trip!!

Sabrina had her first official spring break recently.  Since we have gotten used to her preschool schedule, I knew we were going to have to plan some fun activities to help the week go smoothly.  On Monday morning we went for a hike with some friends.  And on Wednesday we took a field trip to a local farm.  My friend buys her meat from the farmer and since the farmer loves showing folks around, she set up a tour for some of  us moms and little ones.   Both kids loved it!  They had a wonderful, friendly Great Pyrenees who loved the attention from the kids and could have been considered livestock himself; he was huge!  The kids all took turns giving bottles to the two kids on the farm.  Sabrina just jumped right in there.  She wasn't afraid at all!  We also saw some of the cows at a safe distance and then got to see the chicks and chickens.  What a great activity!  The farmer was so nice to show us around and let the kids hold the kids and the chicks.  I bought a few pounds of ground beef from him before we left, and I don't know if it was the dry-aging or just the freshness of it, but it made some mean hamburgers!