1st Grade Spring Easter Party

CJ's first grade class had a Spring Party at school that Laura helped plan.  They made Bunny Hats, played Don't Eat Peep, made Cheetos Eggs, decorated and created Bunnies from Paper Plates, and ate yummy popcorn spring mix (popcorn coated with melted white chocolate sprinkled with m&m's) on the way home CJ said, "Mom, I had the BEST DAY EVER"....Laura counts that as ...a very successful party!

Saturday Hiking - - Fire Canyon/ Silica Dome

The next morning Clay made us pancakes and bacon. Yum, Yum... then off we went on another hiking adventure. This time we tried Fire Canyon/ Silica Dome area. Wow..this was interesting hiking...no trail, just straight down and straight up adventure! We had to find our way down and find our way back up. Clay and CJ went all the way down, Laura, Preston, and Aparri got most of the way down, but then stopped and threw sand rocks for a while. It was a very satisfying hike - seeing what you can do and climb. Laura was a little skeptical - having never hiked something like this before and with kids...but everyone did amazing and LOVED the hike! Well done! I think this was one of our favorites so far!

Friday Night Hiking - - White Domes

Friday night we hit the White Domes area inside Valley of Fire. The kids did an amazing job hiking. We walked through caverns, scaled mountains, hid in caves, and had a blast just exploring the area.  CJ was up in front of the group, leading the way.  Preston was such a sweet brother with Aparri and held her hand and helped her when she got tired.  At the end of the hike, there was a large rock mountain...Laura just stood there and looked at it.. and before she knew what was happening - Clay was on top of it...that man can not keep his feet on the ground!  And before she could stop him, CJ ran forward and was up with Clay, and Preston was 1/2 way up trying to make it...  so what to do?? Laura debated, does she take Aparri and climb up too?  Well, Preston started calling for help, and that made the decision for her.  She grabbed Aparri's hand and up they went too.  Clay came down and helped them all up, but Yep...the whole Ward family eventually made it to the top of the mountain.. Laura never in a million years would have thought they would have done it and here they were...The kids loved scaling the rock mountain and getting to the top- NO FEAR! Up down and all around - I think we sufficiently wore out the kids for the night!! PS...we stopped by Burger King on the way camping...and CJ would not part with his crown!!!  KING CJ!

 

Spring Break - Camping Get-A-Way

We finished spring break off with a Friday Night Get-A-Way to Valley of fire.  We got there Friday early afternoon - the sign said that the camping spots were all FULL, disheartened, we didn't know what to do..but we decided to take a drive around the camping area," just in case."  Well, we must be living right, because we got a spot!! Not just any spot...the LAST and ONLY spot!!  It turned out perfect..right across from the restroom and right next to a huge rock that the kids loved to climb and that blocked the wind!!! After we quickly claimed our spot, we got camp set up and then headed off on a few hikes -   When we got tired and hungry, we headed back to camp where we roasted hot dogs for dinner and had SMORES of course!  We were a little nervous about how the night would go and how many potty runs we would have to make...but wouldn't you know it - we went to bed and not a single stir from the kids til morning!!! Holy Cow...that is better than home, we should go camping every night!