Anna and Todd

Anna asked me to take pictures of her and Todd today.

Knock knock!

I wuv you widdow brudder.

 This is Anna Body Language for "don't take any more pictures of me, please."

Rolls But No Pizza

The kids and I had a nice picnic at the park this morning.

(Don't tell them that the cool picnickers a few yards away brought pizza instead of fruit and granola bars.)

Todd decided that the gentle incline would be a great place to practice his budding rolling skills.

He also quickly concluded that he did not like being face-down in scritchy-scratchy grass.

Conference with Pink/Blue Grandma

We watched the Sunday sessions of General Conference at Pink* Grandma's home today.

Daniel liked bouncing on Grandma's trampoline.

Poppy thought Todd's rocker made a fine tunnel.

Anna decided to give that a try, too, but soon had second thoughts.

*One of my children recently asked why we call her Pink Grandma, since she usually wears blue.  The answer is that when Joy was a toddler she liked looking at photos of her grandparents, and the photos showed my mom wearing a red sweater and Phillip's mom wearing a pink one, so Joy started calling them Red Grandma and Pink Grandma, respectively.  A few months ago, she suggested we started calling Phillip's mom Blue Grandma instead, but it hasn't really stuck.

Daffodils and Zombies

We joined Papa and Red Grandma in the cabin to watch General Conference today.

In addition to watching the uplifting messages from a modern prophet and apostles . . .

. . . we went (chocolate) leprechaun hunting . . .

. . . had a paper airplane throwing contest . . .

. . . read stories . . .

. . . admired the lovely spring daffodils . . .

. . . and cheered Papa on as he labored to keep virtual zombies out of his virtual yard.

It's all enough to tire a Papa out.

Life's a Playground

We met up with some friends at the park today.

It was relaxing to get out in the fresh air . . .

. . . but who really needs a jungle gym when there are plenty of things to climb on at home?

Our Future Scientist (or Leprechaun Hunter)

I attended an awards assembly at Joy's school this morning.

Joy received her first grade classroom's award for science.

Her teacher later told me that she thought the science award was perfect for Joy, because she is always dreaming up fantastic inventions.  Earlier this month, she made a "leprechaun trap" out of big Legos, and brought it to school for sharing time.  She's very creative and imaginative.  Take a bow, Joyful.

Farewell, Painted Desert

This morning it was time to air out the sleeping bags and pack up the tent.

It was a chilly morning, so Joy borrowed Daddy's coat.

Joshua Tree often looks pretty bleak to me . . .

. . . so it was fun to see little spots of color here and there, when I remembered to look closely.

Some of the flowers are really vibrant and beautiful.

Other colorful plants are pretty in a "don't you dare touch me" sort of way.

I think Phillip's favorite sight in the park was this customized pack mule of a motorcycle some British riders were using to tour the country.

Catch you later, Joshua Tree.  It's been fun!