Howl Like A Cub Scout

Ben earned his Wolf badge. The Cub Master lets the scouts give their "best (animal rank) sound" into the microphone once they get the award. For some reason, the scouts think it is hilarious to do something wimpy and lame like a meow. Well, Matt and I do not appreciate this type of humor so we had Ben practice a few good wolf howls before the pack meeting. But when his time to shine came, he was torn: should he please his parents or give into peer pressure? Let's just say he was a hit with the under 10 crowd--we were not impressed.

Preparing for a career with the USPS

Noah's so called spring soccer season starts in March. It's not consistently warm in March. In fact, most of the time, the weather is rotten--windy, rainy and/or snowy.  The games are flat out cold and miserable to watch and they are rarely canceled due to bad weather.

It was lucky that the snow was mostly on the sidelines at this game. It was really cold and the ball was extra heavy from absorbing all the water. The worst part was when the kids were getting hit with the ball. I can only imagine how painful it was to have get slammed with a soaking wet ball when your body is cold. At least the crowd offered a sympathetic groan every time a kid took one for the team.

Sometimes, if we're lucky, we can park right next to the field so we can watch from the warmth of the car.

Thank heavens the game they played in the pouring rain had convenient parking. It was inconvenient that I had to keep rolling down the window to wipe the rain off so that I could see.

After Noah was cold and soaking wet. You wouldn't know it from his expression, but they won the game.

I think there were only a couple of games that the weather was warm enough to actually enjoy the game. I can't figure out the logic in starting the season so early but at least Noah doesn't complain. That's how I know he likes soccer, because neither rain nor sleet or snow will stop him from playing.

Signs of the Times

School is out in just over a week. I am sort of looking forward to having the boys home all day. My biggest problem with summer is that 3 boys = lots of fighting. This is a bad sign: 

 (Did you catch my double meaning there?) That was from my least likely to resort to violence child. I think it was in response to this note Zack put on his door: 

Yes those are bombs accompanying the skull and crossbones. I am in for a long summer.

St. George is lovely this time of year

More from our Spring break trip to St. George. 

We took the kids letterboxing and failed at our first location. It was super pretty though. 

Searching for the impossible to find small metal pole with a white stripe. 

The next spot was really fun. We walked through sand,

climbed up the rocks,

and found the container. 

Finishing it off with some fun in the sand: 

Easter

Easter baskets:

 Easter egg hunt: 

Family pictures:

My favorite picture of the day:

Back in the Saddle

I can't remember the last time I rode a bike. Back in the day, I rode my bike regularly. It was my primary mode of transport the first summer I worked in Jackson Hole. But even after all the miles I put on that bike, I still consider myself a recreational rider. I like a leisurely pace, low hills and lots of space. I can go long distance, but I'm not going to set any speed records getting there. I enjoy biking, I'm just not hard-core. 

I married into a family of bike enthusiasts.  If they weren't so nice, I'd be intimidated.  I've made a fool of myself before (Moab) and set the bar pretty low when it comes to my biking skills. There is a fun little ride in St. George called the Green Valley Loop, aka, the Whoop-de-dos.  It was the first mountain bike ride for Noah. He has the Francis biker gene. I am seeing many more biking trips in his future.

 

When we finished, Noah immediately wanted to do it again.

 As for me, I didn't crash and I had fun. Thank heavens for less difficult routes and family members telling me which path to take. Now that Zack's on a two wheeler, we'll probably be putting a few more miles on the bikes. I'm looking forward to it.

Early Easter Eggs-travagana

With a title like that you may want to proceed with caution, there is no telling where this will go.

I am going to guess that we've been Easter egg hunting since 2002. It's a big deal and my kids look forward to it almost as much as Christmas. For the boys, I basically buy three of everything.  I write down the prizes, put the slips of paper in Easter eggs color coded for each kid and they find them. It's a no risk situation. And yet the boys worry. They open each egg and claim their prize like it's a major victory. I love it. It won't be as much fun when they get old and jaded. 

The Francis boys did take a little gamble this year and found grand prize eggs. I was worried that Zack wouldn't be ready for the disappointment, but Noah switched prizes and everyone was happy. Noah is a good kid.

Like I said, we've been doing this awhile and one of the best parts is setting out and arranging all the stuff. This year the kids took on the displaying responsibilities. Noah did our family prizes (on the left) and we discovered a hidden talent.

It takes awhile to get through all the grand kids. There are nine (Shaylee & Brock are not pictured) and 10 prizes per kid. We might need to modify that soon, it is kind of long.

 Grandpa couldn't stay awake. He did have pneumonia, so I suppose he was allowed. 

The adult hunt is a whole different story. There are good prizes and there are great prizes. There are even grand prizes. We can't be bothered to actually hunt for the eggs. Instead, you draw an egg out of a bag, read the number and wait for Mom to reveal your fate. Will it be Brush-ups or the Smash-box makeup set? Reece's peanut butter cups or a tri-pod flashlight? It's heart pounding excitement. I probably look forward to it as much as Christmas too.