Howe Two: March In Pictures

End of February and most of March, in pictures (OK and a few comments)......

Adrienne is growing like a weed. She wore these pants to the library and I couldn't believe how short they suddenly were! They were full length pants in the fall!

Snow day meant play day. The girls modeled their Collins Orthodontics stocking caps before going outside. Also on this day: Facetime with cousin James, lots of face painting, canvas painting....basically mess (and memory) making.

Yet another dress up day at school. Vocabulary day. Meet Colorful and Dark. I will never tire of laughing at this photo!

Matt and I flew off to Scottsdale March 1-5. I tagged along on a conference trip, and Grammy and Grandad so kindly came to wrangle the girls. We had a lovely trip. First, we started by enjoying a delicious dinner at Capital Grille with Uncle Kent and Aunt Diana.

On Thursday we spent the morning hiking Tom's Thumb. Gorgeous weather, beautiful scenery.

My hiking guide

The love cactus

Matt going off-trail

Lunch was outdoors and included margaritas and tableside-made guac. No complaints.

After shopping and a nap we headed out to Old Scottsdale for a really delicious meal at Citizen Public House. Matt had this crazy enormous ham shank. Photo-worthy.

The Creamistry is where all my dreams come true. Pick your cream base, flavor, and mix-ins, and they make your ice cream from scratch in a flash. Thanks to this dry ice nitrogen wizardry.

Premium cream plus chocolate plus Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I die.

Don't mind me, I'm just eating a homemade ice cream sandwich at the Baked Bear with 1 cookie and 1 brownie around the ice cream. (out of order pic from our first night)

More out of order pics--back at the Tom's Thumb hike.

Fashion Square

Dinner time craft cocktails are my jam

On Friday, Matt actually had to go to the conference, so I went to the spa. I stayed there the ENTIRE day. Started with a fun workout class (their version of Cross fit), snack, loooong massage, laying around on these fabulous chairs, sauna, reading/cocktails/lunch/napping in my robe at the rooftop pool. I did not want to leave. Ever.

When Matt was done we met at another pool for more lounging.

While Matt was doing some work Saturday morning, Aunt Diana came to take me to breakfast and shopping. It was a lovely morning. Also, pancake flights are genius.

Saturday afternoon we geared up for another hike (after a not-pictured lunch at In and Out Burger--our second of the trip!). Matt said this would be maybe 6 miles, max (Tom's Thumb was 5). About 5 miles in, he discovers he miscalculated and we actually had to do 9.6 miles to get back. This was all fine and dandy except for the fact that we were not in hiking boots, just running shoes, and the trail was so rocky. My feet were killing me. Oh, and we ran out of water at mile 6. Don't try this at home!

My rewards for that hike: guacamole flight (bacon, pomegranate, and lobster--all wonderful) and two margaritas (one at a time, of course). Oh and the not pictured warm, homemade churros. This was a wonderful food trip!

Back to reality. Came home from a dinner out with friends one night to this note from Jillian. Guess they didn't think the "babysitter" (Dad!) could handle it?

The girls play school all the time. Jillian is always the teacher, Adrienne the student. On this particular day, "Mia" took a test. She only got 3 right, and the teacher decided this was "fine".

Matt actually had to go back to Scottsdale for a super fast trip on the 12th. So, the girls and I practiced our philosophy that serves us well when he's gone--"What Would Dad Do?" This means we do things I'd normally not allow. Like ordering whipped cream AND powdered sugar AND syrup on pancakes. Oh and we shop...or in this case try on some online purchases that arrived in the mail. Athleta Girl might get me in trouble.

Every now and then I decide the girls' rooms are just so disastrous that I need to intervene. Drastically. Which means that while they are at school I frantically whip through their rooms/bathrooms and sift trash from what is actually a usable toy. It leaves me shaking my head for days. These girls are MESSY!

Our new bedtime book--Bedtime Stories for Rebel Girls. Fun little blurbs about 100 women across history--some well known and some not. When Matt was gone we took this picture of the woman we read about who was an Italian cyclist who set crazy speed records riding a 40 lb bike. We knew our cycle loving guy would appreciate that!

Adrienne and I fieldtripping to the Planetarium.

Making Leprechaun traps in preparation for St Patty's day.

No leprechaun was captured, but he left a note and some Lucky Charms for breakfast.

Adrienne and I fieldtripped again this last week--this time to Quarry Hill. Things started out rosy in this pic below, but about an hour after this was taken I was in the bathroom barfing repeatedly and dealing with a horrid headache. Turns out I had my first migraine, and needed a shot for pain, some nausea meds, and finally 2 liters of fluids at the infusion center. What a day.

Adrienne was so excited to write her first story. "Mom, it's the first time I ever wrote the whole story all by myself and I never gaved up!" I love that this 5 page story required about 75 staples to hold it together.

Jillian is currently writing a paper for school about the person she admires most. She brought home the rough draft to proudly show me that her subject is me. Made me cry.

This weekend, Matt is working. The girls and I hit the library yesterday morning, then tried out a delicious new pizza place downtown. We decided to surprise Matt with his very favorite dessert--frosted sugar cookies. Lots of sprinkles were sacrificed for this project!