President's Day and onward!

Another busy week!

We started with a fun president's day--we went hiking in Zion (the River walk trail, as the others we'd hoped to try were deemed too muddy). It drizzled a bit on the hike/walk, but it was beautiful--just cold enough to feel bracing, not so cold enough that we froze. Andrew complained constantly. At one point, I told him he had to say something positive. He hesitated a minute, then said, "I guess this isn't the worst thing ever."

Beautiful misty day at Zion national park. #riverwalk #templeofsinawava #zion

A post shared by Rosalyn Eves (@rosalyn.eves) on Feb 20, 2017 at 3:13pm PST

(Sorry about all the Instagram posts, btw--I haven't downloaded the photos from my phone yet, and this is faster!)

Midweek was busy with school stuff. Andrew and Evelyn had Tae Kwon Do and a celebration of five years as a studio. I had a skype visit with a school in Illinois that I almost missed--I'd gotten the day wrong in my head and it wasn't until the librarian called me that I realized my mistake! Whoops. I think it went okay though. It's been so fun talking to kids who have actually read my book and ask smart questions about it.

Kids at school asked her why the princesses had lightsabers. Her answer? Because princesses don't have to be damsels in distress waiting for a heroic prince to save them. #parentingwin #feminist

A post shared by Rosalyn Eves (@rosalyn.eves) on Feb 22, 2017 at 3:26pm PST

This weekend we went back up to Provo--we had tickets to the matinee of Matilda! Before the matinee, we met up with Sarah and gang and had lunch at Crown Burger. Oliver was especially excited about the ice cream.

Evelyn and I took trax up to downtown for the matinee--but we got on the wrong train and when we got off to change trains, we discovered it was faster to walk than wait for the right train, so we did. We got there just in time--and had to get new tickets from the desk since we'd accidentally left ours in Cedar and didn't realize it until we were already in Provo. Luckily, when I called the ticket office they said they could just replace it. (But I spent 20 minutes in a panic, thinking we'd driven all that way for nothing). The play was great--fun music, great choreography, and the little girl who played Matilda was outstanding.

While we were gone, the boys went swimming at the pool where Jake is a lifeguard and got there just after Jake had rescued a little girl from the pool. I think they had fun.

Ice cream for lunch. #crownburger

A post shared by Rosalyn Eves (@rosalyn.eves) on Feb 25, 2017 at 11:39am PST

This week promises to be a full one too, but we're lucky for so many things right now, so we won't complain.

February round-up

I apologize for the long gap between posts! I've been traveling the past two Sundays when I usually post: I was at a library conference in California the first weekend, and last weekend we went up north for my parents' missionary farewell, which was bitter-sweet. I'm thrilled for them to get to do something they've wanted to do for so long, and I know it's the right choice for them, but I already miss them!

Some other highlights from the month (esp. the past week):

Me, at my conference with some writer friends.

 Andrew won the school spelling bee and a Kindle fire.

 Brothers playing devices at grandma's house. (Sadly, this is the only picture I got of the weekend we spent with my family.)

 As has become our tradition, we put together non-candy Valentines. Every year I think it's a great idea, and every year I vow that next year we'll go the path of least resistance and buy them in the store--and then I change my mind. This year actually went well, since even Oliver is getting big enough to help.

 Enjoying some mild February weather at the park.

This past week was the district spelling bee--here's all the winners from the district schools. I think I was almost as nervous as Andrew was.

Andrew's extensive reading stood him in good stead--after four rounds with no kids getting out, the judges switched to bonus words (which none of the kids had studied) and almost all the kids were out in two rounds. Andrew and this cute Korean girl from his school were the last two left! Andrew spelled preceding and duplicate correctly to win an ipad mini! (His sister was very jealous and tried to tell me that he had too many devices and I should give one to her. Which, yes--a kindle fire and an ipad mini in less than two weeks is a lot of stuff to win! But he earned them both).

I wish you could have seen his face when he won. He was so thrilled!

This weekend has been quieter--I had to go up to Provo on Friday for a panel at another conference (this spring is going to be crazy while I get ready for the book release, but things should calm down after that), and I got back late Friday night. Saturday morning, Dan was a judge for the state lego league, and then we just hung out at home. We're hoping to do something more exciting tomorrow--but you'll have to stay posted next week to see if we do!