Playing Outside

We're continuing to take advantage of the wonderful Arizona winter weather - night time bike rides to the park are a family favorite!

It's fun to have zoo passes, because we can just enjoy visiting a small portion of the zoo each time we go - it's great to take our time, and giggle, and learn about the animals :)

Emma and Becca are the best big sisters to Claire.  They are so patient and helpful to her.  I love that Emma just picks up Claire without having to be asked so that she can see the animal in this exhibit...

My goofy ladies...

AND.... my energetic boy...

The kids have been spending a lot of time playing in the front and backyard - riding bikes, exploring, playing with neighbor friends, and making chalk creations...  Jake drew our family - I love how he draws people - just heads and legs.  :)  I asked him why there are 2 people missing in his family portrait and he said that he didn't want to draw Emma or Becca.  Apparently he likes the idea of being the oldest :)

Snow Party!

We decided to do a friend party this year and I told Emma she could pick a theme - she must have been thinking about it already, because she immediately announced she wanted a winter snow party!  Since we live in Arizona, we had to get creative...

Favor boxes... filled with powdered donut holes (snowballs!)

Cups and stripey straws for hot chocolate... and white chocolate chips and marshmallows for fixings!

I set up a photo wall for some fun pictures...

Photo booth dress ups and props...

First up - photo booth!  Emma got a pic with each of her friends, then we did some group ones.  Emma shows her true colors in these shots...

Next activity- Roll a Snowman

Cotton ball relay...

Next, the girls were put in small groups and tasked with building the tallest structure using toothpicks and marshmallows.  They LOVED this activity!

Present time!

Then we had hot chocolate and cupcakes.  The girls added their own toppings - white chocolate, marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and blue spinkles...

We put 8 candles in Emma's tiny cupcake...

I just can't seem to get a normal smile out of Emma very often...

Time for a snowball fight!!  We took the kids to the nearby park, and split them into teams.  To avoid too many snowballs to the face, we told them to stay behind their coolers.  We ordered snowballs from Bahama Bucks - the kids loved it!!  Each team got a cooler of 60 snowballs and we just let them go at it.  There were tons of snowball remains all over the ground at the end of it... but they quickly melted away... 

Caroline was quick to grab a snowball to show her mommy.  :)  The Lee's were beyond sweet and picked up our snowball order for us (in Mesa) and drove them across town to the party for us.  They even took Jake during the first part of the party so we just had our girls for that part - it made the day go so smoothly!!

After snowballs, we played at the park, till it was time for parents to arrive...

Yay for birthdays!  Emma you are SO old!