Don tried to bribe Macie with a unicorn helmet and some nutritional shakes if she would swim in a race. It was a tough sell and in the end, she was not swayed. Maybe one day the promise of this unicorn helmet will be enough to nudge her back in the waters of victory.

 Spring Break was the week of March 14th. We had some great adventures. We went to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. It was warmer than I had anticipated and less shady than I remembered. So wearing black jeans was not the best idea I have ever had. The kids did an outstanding job hiking. It was a long hike for little kids. Heck it was a long hike for me! Two funny things happened. First off, we noticed that kids are not exactly welcomed guests at this place. They should be, but there are far too many grumpy senior citizens there who don't want their tranquil nature walk disturbed by unpredictable little people. We had been walking awhile in the heat and sun and the kids came across a Gazebo to rest their weary feet. They all sat down and were taking a break. And along comes a gaggle of ahem, seasoned citizens, with their crotchety tour guide, who promptly informs us that we would need to give up our seats because essentially there were more important people coming down the trail who needed to rest. I thought little children and older people were about equal in their physical capabilities. Kids might have more energy, but they have to exert a lot more of it to travel very far. Their legs are a third the size of a grown adult! Oh well. It was rudely amusing. Then, not too much later, we were walking down a path when I noticed the stares of another crotchety senior citizen , mouth gaping over, tapping her 2 friends on the shoulder to turn around and look at the crime of 2 women with 6 children in tow. I thought this was hilarious. This woman was blatantly disgusted. And here I am, always thinking that I have somehow failed for not having 5 children at my age! And this woman thought I was crazy! I took it as a compliment. She thinks I have TOO many children! Ha! The kids were blissfully unaware of the rude adults. And really, we had a splendid day together. And the best news of all was it just so happened to be free ice cream at Dairy Queen day so I got a free ice cream cone.

 this has nothing to do with Spring Break, but I love this drawing Chloe did.

 And Macie always wants to sit on these red balls and make me take a picture.

 On Wednesday evening we drove down to St. David to visit Don's parents. And Macie received the best news of her whole life, that very day a batch of kittens had been born. For the next 2 days, the only thing she could do was eat and sleep kittens. The mom cat was pretty nice, she let us take her kittens without too much of a fight, but she got sick of it after a day of it, and by the next morning she had moved the kittens to an undisclosed location. Macie was devastated.

 she named her favorite kitten "Blondie."

 Chloe is now old enough to drive the Pro Hauler herself. She spent a lot of her time driving it around the farm, feeling like a grown up.

 Oscar loved being outside and was his typical angelic self.

 Friday afternoon we took a short trip down to the dusty Ghost town of Tombstone. Our whole goal was to find some cheap ice cream cones. We failed. Everything closed really early. And the only places open, were not selling cheap ice cream. And we couldn't bring ourselves to spend 6 bucks on a single scoop of ice cream so we left empty handed. We found a gas station though and got our ice cream. We bought some Cow Girl hats for the girls, which they have worn for probably a total of 10 minutes.

 Cousin Dylan was visiting too and he bought some baby chics. They were cute too. They softenedf the blow of the missing kittens, but Macie was still disheartened.

 But how cute are they?? We also took the girls quad riding out in the desert and they loved that too.

 Chloe is always coming up with these funny things to play. She created a photo studio for her barbies where you could change out the backdrop, dresses, accessories and props to pose with. I love her imagination.

Let's see if I forgot anything?
March 22nd was voting day in Arizona. I waited in line for 3 hours to vote. Trump still won. Boo. I met a lot of nice people in line. And there were a couple different guys who came around and handed out water and energy bars just to be nice. It really renewed my faith in humanity. Some guys asked me where I was from. He said he thought I had an accent. I think he said an Icelandic accent. That was weird. I must have a weird way of speaking and I don't even realize it.

Chelsey's birthday was 3 days ago. We went and had cake over at my Dad's house. She was not in a great mood, but she was not yelling or screaming, so that is a definite improvement for Chelsey. We played some musical chairs and pin the mustache on Chelsey. She tried to pretend like she was not having any fun, but she can't fool me! I saw a glimmer of a smile at least once.

Oscar knows when we are going to say our bedtime prayers now and he will just rest his head down on the bed. have I mentioned how adorable he is?

On April Fool's Day I was driving Chloe to school and Chloe told me that I looked really bad. And I did, I mean, I can't be offended, it was the truth. My biggest fear is not getting in an accident on the way to school, it's having to get out of the car, if I got in an accident. I mean what would I do? I literally am wearing a bath robe without a tie to close it shut. Anyway, I said, "Oh you are just saying that because it is April Fools!"  And she laughed. a couple minutes later she hops out of the car and says, "Mom you look really pretty today! April fools!" I laughed for a solid minute. She's getting pretty funny.