Catch-up

This post is long overdue...but I have a ton of posts that I need to catch up - so this seemed like an excellent place to start. In August, the kids and I took a trip to Utah to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Stewart. It was Benson's first time on an airplane and he was very excited!

Alayna was so excited to go swimming even though it was overcast, windy, and the pool was freezing...which is a far cry from our AZ swimming conditions.

We went to an Orem Owlz game.


Kali did some intense swirly fingernail painting.

Baking cookies with Grandma.

This is how Grandma rolls...

We loved mini-golfing.

Benson watched for a minute and then dove right in - he loved it...he had to do every hole by himself!



Kali and Preston convinced Alayna and I to challenge them in the bumper boats...it was a bad idea - they totally ganged up on us and soaked us to the bone. We were completely helpless against their attacks. We barely got them wet...not fair!

Not a dry spot on either of us!
Thanks again for a fun week Kali, Preston, Juli, Grandma and Grandpa!! We love you and miss living by you!

Zoo-tastic

We went to the zoo this last Saturday. It has started to cool off a bit, but it is still over 100 degrees. Alayna really did enjoy the zoo despite the scowl on her face. Benson on the other hand...loved the zoo. Every time we stopped to watch some animals he would hold on to the rail because he didn't want to leave.

There was a pond with hundreds of turtles in it...and they were all covered in moss.

The kids loved petting the goats - they could have done it all day.

This was a monkey walk-through (I can't remember what it is called)...you get to walk on a trail in an open monkey area. The kids loved having the monkeys so close and running right over our heads.

The highlight - was the splash pad at the zoo.

Life is a Pool Party...

Yup that is right....just about everyday we spend an hour or so at the pool - and we love every minute!!

We never forget our bug hat...Benson is faithful about getting the bugs out for us girls - what a man!



My little man - taking care of the bugs...it makes him feel real big!



Lounging around...

My little swimmer - Alayna loves to swim. She is fearless and wants to do it all - she has learned a lot in swimming lessons this year and loves to show off and practice in the pool.



The last 4 days we were so lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa Brown come to visit us. We had so much fun with them here and they spoiled us like crazy. Living far away from family makes us feel so lucky whenever somebody comes to visit us...but when they leave we mope around all day long! Grandma took all our great pool pictures (my camera battery was dead and my memory card was full when I went to take out my camera this last weekend). Thanks for coming Grandma and Grandpa - we love you so much and are so glad you came!!

Entertaining!

Well, then next four posts should be in reverse order, but oh well. We were so excited to have Tifani, Josh, Madeline, Moira, and Preston come to see us...we were later joined by Grandma, Grandpa, and Kali! We loved having everyone come visit us...it was too hot to do most things, but we braved the heat and went swimming every day - which I didn't take pictures of. Everything else I did take picture documentation. : )

Aunt Kali entertained all the kids with youtube videos...she has them singing all kinds of crazy, annoying songs!

They were all completely fixated.

We took a river boat cruise around Saguaro Lake at sunset time.



The scenery was beautiful and the wind was refreshing.

I love the outlines of the saguaro cacti - on the mountain.

Benson rejecting Kali...

But Kali eventually won!

We LOVE Bahama Bucks...best shave ice ever!

Birthday Girl!

We had a blast celebrating Madeline's birthday. Grandma, Grandpa, and Kali flew in just for the occasion. We did a tour at the chocolate factory.

We got to sample these white-chocolate covered pretzels as they were coming off...delicious!

Pretzel all in at once...

Birthday Girl!

Alayna and Madeline got to make a chocolate pizza. It was such a cute idea - they loved it and it actually tasted really good.

They each got a tray with chocolate in it (crust) then you had lots of toppings to put on and then you could squeeze white cheese (white chocolate on it).

Alayna got a little carried away with the "cheese".


Moira definitely enjoyed her chocolate covered pretzel!


We love DQ cake!!

Madeline had an awesome birthday with us! We are always up for a party!

Little Fish are having Fun!

When Tifani and Preston were here...we went to the aquarium. It was a nice escape from the heat! We loved having Preston here with us - and the kids loved him too! Uncle Pressie was real excited to have all the nieces and nephew all to himself!


They had this silly 7 minute Sponge Bob movie -we must have watched 3 or 4 times.

Next we wanted to see if we could find a splash pad we had heard about that was close...we found it, but didn't have any swimming suits. You can't deny the kids a little cooling off time in the AZ heat.