Downtown adventure

I have lived in suburbia WAY too long and love going downtown. The downtown area has improved quite a bit and it offers some neat things to do. But, I hate driving there and parking, etc. Now with the new Light Rail, I look for things to do downtown since its easy and so fun to ride the Light Rail.

Today, Bella and I tried the new Phoenix Children's Museum and took the Light Rail to get there. It was SO much fun! Granted, it took over an hour just to get there and another 20 minutes to walk from the light rail to the museum but it was worth it. I did not bring a stroller for Bella so the walk to and from was exhausting for both. I carried her part of the way- I am sure that made for quite a sight!

For my AZ friends, the museum is awesome and much more fun than the Mesa museum/Artville. Can't wait to go back! (Suzanne- your kids will love this!). Everything in the museum is hands on and nothing has instructions or rules.



*Painting the house. There are layers and layers of paint- the kids get to just paint over it. This was fun even for me!




*At the play store. SO lifelike and fun!


*Playing customer and cashier.




*Making pizza in the wood burning stove.


*At the bike wash which was Bella's favorite room. Here she is with a passenger she picked up along the way.




Too pooped to stay awake on the ride home.

You know you grew up in Arizona if....

I saw this on my sister's blog and had to borrow the list. As a proud Arizona Native, I agreed with almost everything on the list- except for fishing in the canal (that seems gross). :)

2. Tired to fry an egg on the sidewalk.

3. Spent way too many summer days in a mall.

4. Remember KZZP.

5. Get irritated when people say "yeah, but it's a dry heat."

6. Had a pool in your backyard.

7. Vacationed in San Diego or Rocky Point.

8. Know what it feel like to come out of an icy cold movie theater into 110 degree heat - I miss that feeling!.

9. Know what "tubing" means.

10. Have been "ice blocking."

11. Have a T-shirt that says "I survived the hottest day in Phoenix history" referring to that summer day in 1990 when it got up to 122 degree in the shade.

12. Burnt the bottom of your feet running out to get the mail because you were too lazy to put on shoes.

13. Enjoyed making song requests at Organ Stop Pizza..

14. Did the hokey pokey at Great Skate.

15. Cruised Central, Metro or Mill Avenue..

16. Fished in the canal.

17. Remember Tex Earnhardt and his "No Bull commercials"

18. Thought Flagstaff was REALLY cold.

19. Have a scar on the back of your thighs from the 3rd degree burns sustained from the metal clip your seat belt clicked in to. No protection given from the OP short ,shorts.

20. Thought Bobby McGee's was the coolest restaurant ever.

21. Enjoyed three scoop ice cream cones at Thrifty's.

My stud muffin

Hallelujah! Chet surprised us tonight by coming home looking like this!



He cut 10 inches off and is donating it to Locks of Love. The man has so much hair that he has 5 ponytails to donate. Our kids will never go bald. :)

He looks SO good and I can't stop staring at him. His long hair was something for him but I SO prefer this look. Thanks honey!

Bella and her pink specs!

At Bella's last well visit, her pediatrician mentioned that she didn't do so well on her eye exam and to see an opthamologist. All throughout her appointment, the opthamologist said her vision was great and that maybe she was just tired during her well visit. BUT, things changed once her eyes were dialated. Apparently, she is far sighted but had alrady trained her eyes to strain to be able to see clearly. Once her eyes were dialted, she couldn't "cheat" and her condition was finally noticed. She now sports cute, little pink glasses. She is too young to feel self conscious of them which is great! She loves them and thinks they are the best. The Dr. said that she may grow out of this and that its best that we caught it early so she doesn't form a bad habit of straining.

My only concern is how my 4 yr old (whose head is usually in the clouds) is going to keep track of her glasses at all times and not lose them or sit on them. :)

Always a project

Chet is a project guy. He doesn't watch sports (except for the occasional Vikings or good Cardinals game) nor does he spend time with video games, etc. We joke that he has undiagnosed ADHD (which is probably true) so he always have to have a "project" going- which is fine- everyone has their "thing". His latest project is restoring a 1974 Land Cruiser that will be his car. He has put in SO much time and has a lot of work ahead of him. Let's just say that the car looked like it was found abandoned in the desert! It still looks rough but much better.

Bella loves the car and loves "helping" daddy. Julia, on the other hand, is not thrilled with it and is patiently waiting for the end result.

*Chet sandblasting the inside.



*Bella & Julia trying out the new seats.


*Chet always seems to take the best pictures of Julia. I love this one.

Bella's first day of preschool!

Bella started preschool this week! We weren't planning on starting until the fall (Julia only went to one year of prek before K and it worked out great). I like having more time to do the "kid" stuff before committing to weekly school. But, we are researching schools for next year and wanted to try this one out before signing up for next year. Its called "Apples to Zebras" and its through the Chandler Parks/Rec program. I have heard wonderful things about it (even from my teacher friends) and its much less expensive than most programs. Its only 2 days/week for 2 hrs but for her its everything!

She LOVES school so far and barely had the patience to sit still for my picture taking (obvious in the one decent picture I am posting). On the 2nd day of school, she said goodbye to me as we entered the building. I still had to walk her into the classroom but she was way ahead of me at that point!

She is the youngest in the class (its for 4-5 yr olds) but the teachers say she is doing well and seems to listen/behave accordingly. I miss her terribly during those few hours but am so happy for her.

Happy birthday ShuShu!

(Shushu is the name that Julia bestowed upon my sister Suzanne when she couldn't pronounce her name.)

Happy birthday! Hope you have a great day! We love and miss you tons.

*This picture of Suzanne was taken when she was chosen to model for a fitness wear catalog. The pictures were amazing! How does one look SO good with 3 kids under 5??

Christmas hits and misses

For our first Christmas together, Chet bought me an apron. Yes, an apron. I didn't cook much so it was an odd gift or a very tacky hint. When I opened the box, I even looked under the apron thinking there must be a surprise with it. Nope- just the apron. In his defense, he meant well (no hidden agenda) and he had no clue what to buy me. He even asked his fellow friends and dad of their opinion but no one was brave enough to pull him aside and warn him of the possible ramifications. There were no hurt feelings or tears, just a good laugh and 10 years of endless teasing.

Well, this year, for our 10th Christmas together he bought me........ a vacuum! And I LOVE it! He bought me (us) the Roomba- the robot vacuum cleaner. It was a complete suprise since we were supposed to stick to a $30 budget for each other. I always thought the Roombas were neat but thought they were too $ and probably too good to be true. I call it my new baby. Our downstairs is all wood flooring (light wood) so it shows every crumb and hair from 2 kids and 2 dogs. I couldn't stand seeing the dirt every day but also hated dragging the vacuum out every day (so I didn't). :) The Roomba is programmed to run every night, then it docks itself and charges for the next night. Perfect! I have not vaccumed downstairs once since the Roomba appeared and the floors are super clean every day.



I joke that the Roomba is lonely and needs a friend- the Scooba which mops the floors! Then life would be perfect for me since I hate mopping even more than daily vacumming.

Thanks honey! You are now even with this gift! :)

Full house!

My sister, Pat and their 3 kids (Braden 4, Elise 2, and Will 10 months) along with my parents were at our house last week for a week full of fun, noise and lots of laughing! We played hard- we hit the zoo, many parks, and many shopping trips! Suzanne and Pat live in Hailey, Idaho so we took advantage of every moment to be outdoors. They are also far from any regular mall so they also supported our local retailers! :)

The kids all get along SO well- even being cramped in one house and being way off any normal schedule, they rarely fought. With a lot of help from Super Grandma who always made sure all the kids were happy, the beds were made, and the kids were bathed (couldn't do it without you Bobo!), their visit could have lasted a lot longer- we are all sad to see them go. :(
Don't worry- we don't make Grandma do all those things- she likes being busy and always helping. We tell her to relax and sit down but I guess that's only for old people!

Braden and Julia play really well together, Bella floats between the older ones and Elise, and little Will is content being coddled as the baby. Soon, he will have a playmate of his very own!

Thanks again for making the long drive to AZ- come back soon!