Ethel M

Just got back from Ethel M. I wanted to get out of the house for a while so we walked the trails of the cactus garden then claimed our free piece of chocolate.

Marie-Anne

Square Foot Garden

We finally have a square foot garden and a few containers as well. Since this is our first season, it is more of an experiment. We plan on adding to it as we gain skills.

I mixed the soil according to the All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.

 

The garden is also part of the kids' homeschool. They each helped to plant and water half of the garden and they have their own containers to take care of. I also got the Square Foot Gardening with Kids book, also by Mel Bartholomew. It has interesting things for them to learn and do.

Marie-Anne

Fox Ridge Park

 

 

For our family walk we took the kids to Fox Ridge Park. The kids walked around almost once, but they ditched us at the playground. Frank and I continued to walk the trail several more times.

Marie-Anne

Barnes and Noble

The kids and I walked to Barnes and Noble yesterday. I read the new Princess in Black book to Sabrina twice, (she wanted me to read it again).

Marie-Anne

P.S. Can you tell Sabrina loves her overalls? She has two pairs and she is wearing one in almost every post lately.

Family walks

Lately we have been going on walks together, after Frank gets home. It is a fun relaxing way to squeeze in some family time and some exercise.

Sometimes the kids bring their scooters, but most of the time they walk too.

Marie-Anne

Gametime for Sabrina and Mom

While Alex was playing at his friend's house, Sabrina and I played board games.

Marie-Anne

Whitney Mesa Park

I took the kids to Whitney Mesa Park. They had a great time even though we had the park to ourselves.

Marie-Anne

Praying Mantis

Sabrina has wanted to find a praying mantis for a long time. She learned about them from Wild Kratts.

Mean mom told her that since we don't know how to take care of it we wouldn't keep it as a pet.

Marie-Anne

Outreach at Paradise Park

We joined Pastor Jones' Church at Paradise Park for an outreach and a concert. Frank had spent most of the day helping them with evangelizing.

Since we got there early the kids got to play with their friends at the playground for a long time while I chatted with some ladies.

For the concert we left the playground, but they didn't leave the fun. Sabrina brought her soccer ball so the kids played with/fought over it. And they went from tree to tree "planting seeds".

Marie-Anne

picnic Sabrina style

One thing Sabrina really loves is for us to eat snacks in the backyard and just talk or for me to listen as she tells stories she makes up.

Marie-Anne

Grapevine Springs Park a.k.a. Awesome Park

Yippee! It is cool enough we can start doing outdoor things again. Of course, our cool isn't exactly what anybody else would think of as cool...

I took the kids to Grapevine Springs Park for a fun afternoon. This is the park that the kids have nicknamed "Awesome Park". Needless to say, they really enjoyed our time there.

Marie-Anne

Frank's birthday

The day before Frank's b-day we took him out to eat at the place of his choice. On his actual b-day he got his gifts. I had a gag gift in mind, but ended up getting something he can use.

Frank is such a wonderful husband and father. We are truly blessed to have him. He is my best friend even after all these years. I love him so so very much!

Marie-Anne

Getting dirty at the library

We signed the kids up for a class on container gardening at the library. we thought it was a class for kids, but they were the only kids. They were bored during the slideshow, though I learned a few things.

 

However, the hands-on portion was great fun for everyone. The kids got to mix the soil and they are taking good care of the plants they planted themselves. The timing of this class was great too because it was right before we started our square foot garden.

Marie-Anne

Barnes and Noble

We still occasionally go to browse at Barnes and Noble. The kids really like doing this.

Marie-Anne

Petland

The kids tried to talk me into getting a bird for Frank's b-day. Didn't happen.

Marie-Anne

Green Valley Park

Frank and I took the kids to a nearby park that we have only been to once.

This park has some interesting challenges. The kids were able to test their physical abilities in multiple ways. Alex made it all the way across several times. Sabrina tried the first bar then got scared and swung herself back to the platform.

Frank watched the kids while I walked the trail around the park.

Marie-Anne

Even more pool fun

Once again Ms. Sharon invited us to her pool and once again the kids had a great time.

Marie-Anne

Boulder City Library- Lego Club

Once a month Boulder City Library has a Lego Club. We were first invited by some friends who live in Boulder City, but we continue to make the short trip because the kids love it so much.

We got there early so the children could play at the park next to the library. It was a park challenge and I am sure we will make time to go back next time we go.

The theme this time was mazes. The children had a good time with this challenge. Both kids were very disappointed that they did not win. The group chooses three winners each month to be displayed and win a prize.

Marie-Anne

Pacific Ocean

Sabrina couldn't remember seeing the ocean and neither child had ever seen the Pacific Ocean so we drove and drove and drove to take them. We all have a greater appreciation for Las Vegas traffic- even on bad days it does not begin to compare to L.A.

When we finally got there the kids took off for the water. They were super excited! They had so much fun, we all did.

 

 All too soon it was time to start the long journey home. It was a wonderful experience for all of us.

Marie-Anne

Recreation Center Classes

Alex is currently taking a Lego Robotics Class. He is learning a lot and loving the class.

We signed Sabrina up for Martial Arts, but she was the only beginner who was a kid. The class was much too advanced for her, even with the instructor giving her a lot of one-on-one attention. So after the first few classes we stopped taking her.

One of the things I really like about the recreation centers is that the kids get to try a lot of things at a  reasonable price.

Marie-Anne