July Staycation

We took a 'staycation' a couple weekends ago. We used one of those Living Social deals (my sis-in-law gave us the heads up-thanks Shay!) and headed to a resort called the Arizona Grand.  It is a very nice hotel with a large water park.  

We spent about 2 hours at the water park and after 5 times around the lazy river we realized our kids are a little young to really enjoy a water park.  However, they loved the lazy river since it was right up their alley.  Later we had pizza, watched a movie, the older girls and I went swimming at the pool near our room, then we headed to bed.  

The next morning we ate a great breakfast (including an omelet bar where David took copious notes as always).  Afterward David took the older girls swimming while Anna napped then we headed out.  It was a quick trip but also so much fun.  We definitely want to make this a tradition every summer.  

Utah Trip Part 2-with Daddy

After a week apart we were MORE than ready to see daddy.  It was a very happy reunion when we met up in at my parent's 2nd home in Hurricane for the 4th of July weekend. 

The first day we headed to a local family fun center where we played all morning.  Our kids had never done anything like this so it was very exciting.  Bumper boats, mini golf, go-carts, arcade and kiddie carts.

Natalie had a hard time steering her car so David had to help.  Cyrena went around and around independently.  

You can tell by her face that she loved doing this with her dad.

We went to see The Little Mermaid at the Tuacahn theater.  Cyrena loves going to plays so this was fun for her.  It's a large outdoor amphitheater and it doesn't start until dusk--8:45!  We didn't make it home until midnight. 

My parents home is close to "Grandpa's Fishing Hole"  We didn't catch anything.  But we sure had fun. I don't remember the last time I've gone fishing.  David and I had a lot of laughs at my casting abilities.  I finally got it though.  Cyrena got really good at it also.  There were some older men and women there who shared some live bait with us and also let Cyrena reel in one of the fish they caught.

Grandpa has an ipod touch--fancy! :)  We don't have anything like that so Cyrena was a bit obsessed. Grandpa and Cyrena worked together to pass several levels of Angry Birds.

The girls lived in this pool in the yard

Check out those thighs!

 On the 4th we rented a wave runner and headed to one of the reservoirs that's about 5 minutes from my parents house.   I hadn't been on one in years and it was SO fun.   Everyone had a great time.  It was nice and calm and not too crowded.  The girls loved every minute of it and they each got several rides.  At the end I took both of them with me and we had some crazy girl time with lots of screaming!!

Building sand castles with plastic cups and spoons...that's how we roll.

Grandma was nice enough to hold and shade Anna so I could have fun

Take a bite, you know you want to

That night we BBQ'd and had a small fireworks show (the $10 pack from Wal-mart)

Natalie got burned by the sparklers-ouch.  She also discovered these light-up singing Belle shoes at grandma's and she was done for.  She rarely took them off.

One of the teeny-tiny fireworks in the pack

The girl loves to light the fireworks, she did a great job!

We came home exhausted and penniless but we are so grateful for the awesome memories we made!  Thanks to my parents for their generosity and for all the good times with family!

My dad also took some great pictures.  He'll be sending me a cd soon so I'll post some more.

Utah Trip part 1-without daddy

We returned last week from our big Utah trip.  It was an adventure and oh so much fun!  We got to spend tons of time with family which was our ultimate goal.  The Utah County part of the trip was minus David which was sad for us but we carried on!  We played in the hot tub, went to a movie, had family night at Chik-fil-A, went to the nearby brand-new splash park a couple of times, met and bonded with Baby Vivienne, stayed up way too late, enjoyed a rainstorm and played and played and played.

The girls had a lot of outside time with grandpa; walking the property, picking and smelling flowers, mowing the lawn, shooting hoops, etc. 

We spied this HUGE butterfly.  I've never seen anything like it.  My dad and I were mesmerized and I took several pictures.  It was loving the lilac bush so it was a willing subject.  

We went in the hot tub a few times.  We turned the temperature down so it was the perfect bathwater temperature.  Here the girls are with cousins Elise and Jacob and they had just turned on the huge volcano that comes up the middle.  

One morning I happened upon another HUGE animal.  This squirrel was so big it almost looked like a jack rabbit.  He was also willing to pose for several pictures.  We saw him on a few occasions; I guess he finds plenty of things to eat on my parents property.  

Another hot tub night with cousins Ty and Isabelle

One night cousin Elise did a princess party with the granddaughters.  They painted nails, put on pretty jewelry, curled their hair, and put on some lip gloss.  Natalie was in heaven. 

Natalie, Isabelle, Naomi, and Elise

Cyrena refused to participate in the princess party.  Instead she played 2 on 2 with cousins Ty, Luke and Jacob.  She held her own pretty well and learned all about 'fouls and defense' from Ty.

Natalie and Isabelle had SO much fun together.  They never really referred to each other by name, just as 'friend'.  "Mom, I can't find my friend"  "Oh, there's my friend!"  They were adorable and always holding hands. Isn't Isabelle gorgeous??

One morning I headed up to Salt Lake to visit with David's grandparents.  It's always wonderful to see them.  They always have fun toys set out for the kids and they make sure to send us away with bags of treats (and Dove bars of course!).

 

 

 This is baby Vivienne, my brother Chad's youngest.  This was our first time meeting her.  She's adorable and a wonderful baby. It was very fun to finally get to meet her. 

Natalie watching grandma get her vitamins and supplements ready for the week.  I found it amusing so I had to take a picture. 

Father's Day and half birthdays

A lot of celebrating has been going on around here.  We've had Father's Day, Anna's half birthday, Cyrena's half birthday and our 9th anniversary.  Whew!

Father's Day started out with the annual dogpile, followed by a requested breakfast

This dad sure loves his girls and they love him LOTS.  He is so so good to them.

Anna is now halfway through her first year of life.  It's very bittersweet because I love watching her grow and change, but it is definitely going by too quickly.  

Anna's favorite things:

*any dangling toy...especially rings and including mom's curls

*pureed squash 

*oatmeal

*her sippy cup and any cup of water that we drink out of

*tangling her fingers in her sisters' hair

*her blankie

Anna's 6 month stats:

weight- 19 lbs

height- 27 inches

head- 17 inches

And this little girl turned 5 1/2 today.  She's pretty darn excited.  I had ordered piano books for her and saved them for today.  She was very happy!  I can't believe she goes to kindergarten in just over a month.

Up North We Go

Last weekend our amazing realtor whom we love offered us the use of her cabin up north.  It was so generous of her and we politely accepted. :)  It was great to be among the large pines and for it to actually be chilly in the morning and evening.  We still didn't need pants or jackets though.  The cabin was AMAZING and we really relaxed, it was wonderful. 

Checking out her sliver

The girls had a blast and got along very well

In the main room there were two very comfortable recliners where David and I spent most of our free time.

We headed out for a morning walk and within 50 feet Natalie tripped and scraped both knees, both palms and both forearms.  Luckily we have a first aid kit in the car for these occasions. 

After our walk, we had a Cheez-its and strawberries picnic in the loft while we watched a movie and Anna napped.  Can anyone guess what movie it is?  (hint: it's about a brown-haired princess who loves to read and a figurine of her is on the floor next to Natalie).  Behind where I'm taking a picture is a really comfy futon that the girls slept on.

We went on a picnic for lunch at a local park.  There were several elderly motorcycle gangs there and their conversations were funny to listen to.  By the way, this little girl is heading down the road of daddy-worship...

That afternoon David, Cyrena and I played our favorite card game...Skip bo Jr.  You have got to check it out!  We play it a few times a week and it's perfect for Cyrena's age.  She got it for her birthday from Grandma Barb.  Again, we broke out the Cheez-its and added some chocolate to the mix.  Cyrena had yet to be initiated into the 'eat candy while you play games' routine....she was pretty darn happy about it!

That night we drove 25 miles further north to Snowflake to see some of our favorite friends- the Ordyna's!!  On the way in, we stopped to check out the Snowflake temple.  It is gorgeous and sits on a large hill overlooking a beautiful valley.  It looked busy; it's always great to see a busy temple.

It was wonderful to see the Ordyna's.  We hadn't seen their kids in almost 4 years!  It was fun for us all to reconnect.  Cyrena and Jarom were born just weeks apart and they picked right back off where they left off when they were 18 months!

David and Jake have always enjoyed each other's company.  They worked for the same company for a few years when we first moved to Arizona.  We call him the gentle giant, we're big fans!

Alyssa has always been a role model for me.  So many times, when I'm having a hard time with something, I ask myself, "what would Alyssa do?"  I'm not kidding, I really do!!  She's the mother of 5 great kids, and look she even gave me a break and held my chubalub! 

We had a great weekend.  Thankfully time went slowly so we got to enjoy every single minute.

David's favorite quote of the weekend (recorded for journaling purposes):

As we were walking into the park for a picnic, some people had started BBQing.  

Natalie:  "Wuss that fells, dad?  Cokgogs?"

translated:  "what's that smell dad?  Hot Dogs?"

She says "wuss that fells?" very often, especially near the meat department in the grocery store.  She's got quite the sense of smell I guess.  And it really really makes us laugh.