Happy Spring, Snow and more

SO we decided that we must take advantage of our weekends while we are out here. We hope to do at least 2 fun adventures a month. We started off last weekend with a trip to Soda Lake despite the nasty weather! This place has a neat story as it was once a volcano that turned into a chemical Soda Factory. Now the factory is deep under water and it has become a great place to dive and check out the preserved factory below. It truly amazes me how you can be at the same lake and see so many different landscapes. Check out these mountains and views from each angle of the lake. The girls had a blast exploring and searching for pieces of DEAD things. Apparently Soda Lake is where the coyotes come to enjoy their kill. Hazel had a blast finding pieces of animals everywhere. This place is also a bird sanctuary which was pretty cool! Best part about it...less that 5 minutes from our house.




First day of Spring proved to not be so "Springy" at all! This lil snowstorm on the first day of spring had to be a sick joke. I drove in the pouring snow to Safeway and bought a bulb garden. Most of the flowers are done blooming now and they provided much comfort for me the last two weeks. I cannot wait to plant them! and yes...Matt thinks I am crazy as I come storming home covered in snow with my bulb garden in full bloom :)






Off to the next milestones in Madeline's life! POTTY TRAINING and DENTIST. Let me just go on record here and say this is my LEAST favorite thing about the toddler stage! I do not like to be stuck at home and a for a few days it was necessary as we walked around naked and peed! The magical princess potty did the trick and now we have successfully left the house and managed to keep her pull ups dry! YEAH! We are still working on poo but that will come with time. I am so happy that Madeline is ready and catching on quickly. She is so proud and loves to show everyone her undies! Now if we can only get her to close her legs and stop having to watch while soaking the floor with her stream!



Madeline was a dream at the dentist and made me a little jealous as she opened her mouth and cooperated with the lady! Note: She screams every night and says no teeth brush for me Mommy! She was so good that now she now prefers the dentist over my nightly brushing...ughhh! Maybe it was the purple balloon they gave her when she was done? I need a few tricks up my sleeve!


A very long two weeks of having a sinus infection and two children with cabin fever! The wind was pretty awful so we were stuck in doors after noon each day. It looked pretty outside but unless you were concrete, you were going to blow away with the wind and tumbleweed. We are looking forward to May when the wind dies down and the beautiful mountains are visible every minute of the day, minus sand storms :) Madeline got double pink eye so after the antibiotic had taken its course, this woman was ready for an adventure....


On Saturday we took the kids to SCHEELS, the biggest sporting goods store I have ever seen, in RENO! We set out to go to both Scheels and Cabelas but we spent hours in Scheels and decided we needed a few more hobbies and to come without the kids next time! It was so fun to explore every single sport you could think of and contemplate taking it on real soon. We left without the treasured sleeping bags, tents, rifles, skis, kayak, etc of our dreams but it was very fun dreaming....... They have a ferris wheel in the store(but it was broken and my kids were heart-broken), cafes, fish tanks, interactive games, Starbucks coffee, playland for kids, and the list goes on and on. Several hours later we headed for Sushi and then it was definitely bedtime!

Ali is hoping to be a great shot like her Dad!





Finally, to end a great weekend, Matt cooked guac. burgers on the grill (such a chef) and we ended the night with our first camp fire at our new house under the desert stars. Madeline loved to practice 'death by fire' with her marshmallows and were sure they were poo-ing! Alison enjoyed being patient and getting her marshmallows perfectly brown. We made s'mores, got the kids all sugared up and tucked them into bed!





We really are enjoying the beauty out here and are anxiously anticipating the TRUE arrival of Spring!

Just couldn't resist taking a picture of the many signs like this here in the desert oasis! I am so glad that Meth doesn't have ME! :)