Couple's Night In...

MOMS Club wanted to have a couples poker night but needed a location.  After checking with Marc to make sure he was up for fun evening in, the planning was on.  I decided to bust out the photo backdrop and create a fun photo booth.  I went all out with food, decorations, and even busted out the poker table we've owned for years and never used!  The last couple left at around 1 am.  It was a beyond fun night in with friends.

Phoenix Symphony....

Ava had a field trip to the Phoenix Symphony.  She desperately wanted me to chaperone.  The only thing was the field trip fell on Marc's 40th birthday.  He insisted I sign up (there was a chance I wouldn't even be picked) and if picked... I would obviously go.  It wasn't an entire day field trip so that was at least good.  Neither Ava nor I had been to the Phx Symphony before so we looked forward to it once it was announced I got a chaperone spot.  The musicians were great.  The gentleman explaining about the music, musicians, and instruments being used was very entertaining and kept the kids engaged the entire time we were there.  I was on the fence about this field trip, but I'll admit it was definitely worth while.

Ava Turns 11...

Happy Birthday to our newly 11 year old Ava.  This child requested all things red velvet, strawberry, and chocolate.  She was very excited to see a new bike along with some other spoiling when she opened her gifts.  She's so very different than Liliana (as are all our children!).  She loves sparkle, glitter, and all things girly.  She has become quite the little helper around the house when she wants to be.  She is loved by all her siblings.  She's our gamer.  If you want to play a board game... she's the one to ask!  As girly as she is, she can still hang strong with the boys!  She's doing wonderfully in school and is quite the social butterfly!  She was extremely grateful at day's end for her special day!

Disney On Ice...

Marc and I decided to take Rosalia and Maia to a Disney On Ice show.  Like all the other Disney On Ice shows, the girls LOVED it.

One Acts...

Diving into Drama Club this year, Liliana decided to audition for the Senior One Acts.  Basically, seniors all competed for a One Act spot where they would cast, instruct, and direct their chosen actors/actresses in front of an audience.  Not everyone was casted in a One Act.  Liliana was cast in a dysfunctional family skit.  She played a twin daughter that didn't want to help set up for the family coming over for dinner.  I'm a little biased but she did a fabulous job.  

Rosalia's Robot...

Rosalia had to complete a stem project for school.  The project required her to make a robot using household items.  Help from home was discouraged.  You all know I have no issues being hands off for the sake of learning.  Rosalia did a fabulous job.  I did help with the hot glue gun here and there but otherwise, this was ALL Rosalia.

Mirror Maze and Laser Rooms...

The new aquarium in Scottsdale added a mirror maze and laser game to their facility.  Serena and I took the kids to check it out.  Way too much money later, the kids had a blast but we left certain we won't ever go back.  Even with the discounted pricing it was way too pricey in our opinions.  The mirror maze is a 1 day fee but it takes less than 10 minutes to complete.  For the older kids, they do give new challenges to go through again but I have no clue why they charge for all day access.  It's not necessary!  The laser rooms were neat.  They have 3 levels (easy, medium, and hard) but they also have a kid level.  The kid level allows younger kids to run and break the lasers in the room.  The 3 levels are for older kids that avoid the lasers.  1 ticket per kid causes tickets to disappear in no time.  40 tickets split amongst the 8 kids gave each of them 5 turns which took a whole 15 minutes to complete!  It was fun but definitely a place to spend a good amount of money in a short amount of time!

Annie With Friends...

Over winter break, I discovered the Mesa Performing Arts Center was going to have Annie showing in January.  These performances are always fun with friends, so I called up Trish.  She was very excited for the invite and hoped not only Liliana and Ava wanted to go but Dillon as well.  Trish has 2 sons (they are Ava and Dillon's age).  Mesa Performing Arts Center offers reasonable priced tickets to a wide variety of events.  Annie is a well loved musical.  It was not surprising at all to see the theater pretty full.  We scored tickets in the lower level on the incline.  As you can see from the pictures, they were really nice seats.

Video Game Bonding With Papa...

Old school video games call to us older folks.  NES with preloaded games make for hours of video gaming fun!

Garrison On The Hunt...

To celebrate Garrison's birthday Marc took him out hunting.  He had such a fun time that when he heard us talking about going out today for Dove and Quail, he begged to tag along.  We didn't see much out today so we let Garrison practice shooting at a couple targets.