BeagleFest and Glorious Mud

We did not go to the Ostrich Festival yesterday.  It was cloudy, drizzly and chilly for most of the day.  We went to the mall in the morning and Spencer complained about being cold as we walked from the car to Macy's.  We just didn't feel like paying a lot of money to go be miserable in a park with 2 kids.  Apparently they had the worst attendance in like 20 years because everyone felt the same as us.  That's 4 years in a row that we have planned on going and then didn't go.  Next year is the year.  I just know it.

 

The storm completely moved out of here by last night and today was lovely.  Which was perfect because we had big plans to attend BeagleFest today.

 

The morning was still cool so the boys got another unexpected chance to wear their beagle sweaters.

 

Spencer was all for the face painting.

 

Elliott, not so much.  We didn't force him.

 

They had a professional photographer with a backdrop taking pictures for $5.  You got a print, but nothing digital, so this is a picture of our picture.  It's hanging on the refrigerator. 

There were 400 beagles in attendance last year.  We got there early today and left pretty early so I don't know the final number, but we saw lots and lots of beagles.  It was awesome.

We had Ginger signed up to compete in the "longest white tip on the tail" contest, but they were running incredibly behind on the schedule and Elliott was getting really, really cranky.  Ginger wasn't going to win anyway- she has a really long white tip, but we saw a few other beagles with longer ones- so we decided it wasn't worth it to stay.

Elliott went down for a much needed nap once we got home.  While he slept Michael was out pulling weeds and doing yard work, Spencer was playing in the backyard and I was doing random stuff in the house.  Once Elliott was up the boys got in their swim suits and we put fresh water in the water tables. 

 

Michael had mowed the grass and then raked all of the clippings into a pile.  Spencer was having a great time jumping over the pile. 

 

Then he decided that the slide was dirty and needed to be cleaned. 

 

 

Cleaning the slide turned into making a water slide. 

 

 

Then Elliott crawled over (he does not like the feel of grass on his knees) so see what was going on.

 

And then they played in the mud for a good hour.

 

 

Every childhood should include memories of mud puddles in the backyard.

 

They had a gloriously messy time. 

 

They got a good scrubbing in the tub when they were done and the suits went straight into the washing machine.  Then we took them out for dinner.

 

Spencer is on spring break for the next couple of weeks.  I think this was a great start to what should be a busy break. 

 

Tomorrow he has an appointment with the orthodontist.  They are taking new pictures and x-rays so we can see how much progress he has made with his palate expander and mask.  We're also supposed to get a call from Lowe's telling us if they have a big refrigerator box for us.  We have big plans to turn it into a box house.  On Wednesday we go to the allergy doctor and Spencer's having allergy testing done again.  We're looking at starting allergy shots in the next 6 months and this testing will determine what to include in those shots.  Next week we're going to the Phoenix Children's museum.  He's also going to spend the week in Tucson with both sets of grandparents the week before Easter.  I also have a few arts and crafts projects in mind and a couple of trips to various story times.  It's not Cancun, but at least our spring break won't end in a trip to jail and/or alcohol poisoning.