Valentines Week

Alex was pretty excited about Valentines Day this year, mostly because of Preschool I think.  We made up some fun Valentines the week before and passed them out to her teachers at church.  I had made enough to give to her 2 primary teachers, but she insisted on making one for the Primary president, all the councilors, the pianist etc, etc.  It was very cute and I was proud of her.

 Valentines week also happened to be the week that Kate, Archie and Annie came for a visit!

 The kids had a blast, it was as though they never left.  After 7 days of Archie time I felt like I hadn't seen Alex at all!  She would wake up and spend the entire day running around playing with Archie until bedtime.  The girls doted over Annie, who was quite a bit more independent and did not like being treated like a baby, unless it meant being pushed around the house in the doll stroller.

 Kate and I organized our week so we could fit in all the fun things and we almost got them all done, plus a few unplanned activities! There was a glow-stick dance party, a few girls night's out, hair cuts, Ikea, The Dinosaur Museum and Cafe Rio TWICE!

 Mostly it was fun to just sit and talk, or watch ridiculous reality TV together- and Downton Abby.  The kids played really well and it was fun watching them dig their fossils out of blocks of clay on the kitchen floor.  They were so meticulous.

 Heidi had a bit of a hard time.  She wasn't quite big enough to keep up with all the "big" kids adventures, but Annie wasn't quite big enough to keep up with her- so she did a lot of hanging out with Mom and Kate, picking on Annie and bugging the bigger kids.

In fact she was drawn like a magnet to Kate and would choose her 9 times out of 10 when she wanted to snuggle, go to the bathroom, or get an knee kissed.  Annie choose me as her snuggle buddy of choice once or twice so I took solace in that.

 On their last day here we celebrated Kate's late birthday with Tres Leche's cake.  It was a hit.

 Grandma got all the little girls matching shirts, which only added to the confusion as they were all called by each other's names the entire time anyway.

 We played pin the tale on the donkey and the kids decorated the house.  I told Alex that the next day Archie would be leaving and she said "No way Jose, I'm making him stay forever."  It was also sweet to hear Archie tell Alex how much he would miss her and that he wished she could come to Arizona.  They really are best friends.

It was sad to think it would be months before we saw these guys again, and then after that maybe a year!  But deep down I know that it's only a matter of time until we get back together and I'm pretty sure we will always be able to pick up right where we left off.