Summertime

Summer is here!  Cate and Timmy finished school for the summer and we are in the middle of a few weeks with not much on the agenda.

The month of May was a little bit crazy.  There were Mother's Day programs at school for C&T's classes and a graduation for Cate.

Tim took the kids to Des Moines for Tulip Time, but a May snowstorm changed those plans a bit!  Cate and Timmy were thrilled to play in the snow, though.  Mimi came to visit and before everyone returned from Des Moines, we decided to check out the town of Jerome, Arizona.  It is near Sedona, up in the montains.

 
 It was a very pretty little town with a few winding streets, lots of shops and artists and a few wineries.  We settled into one of those after lunch  after I bought a few prints in one of the shops.  We did a wine tasting and the scene below was our view.  It was not really a place for kids, so I was glad to have the chance to do it on our own.

 At the end of the month, Tim had to work in San Diego, so we were able to go the weekend before and take the kids to the beach for the first time.

They loved the sand and the water and we almost had the whole beach to ourselves the weekend before Memorial Day.

Everyone in Phoenix escapes the summer heat in San Diego and now I can see why.  The weather was perfect and the nights were cool.

We spent two days in Sea World (mostly to justify the cost of the tickets) and I was really sad not to have one more full day at the beach.

I also had a list of places that I wanted to try out in search of the perfect fish taco but our days at Sea World didn't really allow for that.

We reluctantly left on Monday afternoon and have returned to our summer schedule of sleeping late, swimming in our pool and going to swimming lessons in the late afternoon.

We seem to have two butterflies living in our back yard.  I have never before noticed a particular butterfly (or two) who continue to come back to the same place like these yellow and black monarchs do.

We were swimming over the weekend and I think that this butterfly really needed a drink.  He kept circling the pool and looking for puddles, so Cate dumped a bucket of water on the deck and our little friend landed for a minute to take a drink (I think?).

Neither Cate nor Timmy are big car sleepers (even on the three day drive from Chicago when we moved), but the heat and swimming seem to be taking their toll on Timmy and he has nodded off more than a few times in the last few weeks.  We are enjoying these slow weeks before we get ready for Cate's 5th birthday and our trip to Chicago!

The Big Events and the Everyday

Just like February, March flew by in flash.  We did a lot of our regular, everyday stuff and there were a few highlights too.

We worked on some sight words with play doh after rest time (thank you, Pinterest for helping me to come up with an emergency, exciting, learning activity when I am desperate in the afternoon).

Cate and Timmy snuggled and watched PBS in the morning before school.  They always remind me of an old, married couple first thing in the morning when their faces are still puffy and they are sleepy.

Cate had to bring an umbrella for "weather week" at school, so both kids got a new, Disney umbrella.  They played with them and went for walks in the "rain" (no rain at all) for about a week.

Timmy continued his love for all things chocolate.  I think this was at one of our new favorite places, Zoe's Kitchen.  He went crazy for their chocolate cake.

Timmy also seriously upped his coloring ante this month.  He really does color quite a bit, and is generally pretty focused and serious about it.  I dated the picture above and stuck it in his little file (also Pinterest inspired) because he was so precise with the race car.

There was carnival at a church just a few minutes from our house, so we braved the hot afternoon to ride a few rides with our buddy, Norah.  They loved the burlap sack slide and the giant swings.

In March, we also helped to organize our first block party and rented our first bounce house.  It was fun to get to know some of our neighbors better before everyone is locked inside for the heat of the summer.  We vowed to do it again for Halloween (which seems to be a desert coming out of the heat party), so hopefully we can be organized enough to make that happen.  We'll see.

Cate and Timmy had their regular dentist appointments.  At their last visit, there was a lot of crying, freaking out and complaining.  I think I did a better job this time of threatening  preparing them, so all was smooth and easy.  They got good reports (against all odds, especially for Timmy who squirms so much when I brush his teeth that I often just give up), so it was a successful visit.

At the very end of the month, of course, was Easter.  Mimi, Pop and Jenn came to spend the long weekend with us.  We went for a LONG hike on Saturday and went to church at noon on Sunday after both Easter baskets had been found.  We did Disney themed baskets this year, with new sunglasses, notebooks and flip flops to celebrate our impending first trip to Disney World in the fall.

After we took everyone to the airport on Monday, the four of us went to our first ever Arizona Diamondbacks game.  It was so much fun to watch Cate and Timmy's expressions when they first saw how big the ball field was, or when the dome started to open.  It was a really nice night to sit out at a game and the great thing about having a 3&4 year old is that you can go to a baseball game, eat a bunch of junk food and leave in the 4th inning because they need to get to bed.  Works for me!

February 2013

 February has been a busy month at our house.

We spent some time getting ready for Valentine's Day...also known (at our house) as "hearting".

We did hearts, cards, stickers and coloring.  And lots and lots of gluing.

We visited the Arizona Science Center with our friend from college, Jon, and his family.  The kids panned for gold and dug for dinosaur bones.  I'm not sure what the connection is between the two, but panning for gold seems to be a common attraction at Arizona museums and events.

We had a few really warm days to ride our bikes, but mostly, February was cool and sunny.  Just right in my opinion.  

We hiked with C&T and the dog on a cloudy Saturday and then, to make Timmy happy, picked up pizza on the way home because we were all starving.

Timmy's new obsession, as evidenced by his scratched up body, is tree climbing.  He will suddenly jump off of his bike (while it is still moving) if he sees a good climbing tree.

 Cate had to bring an umbrella to school last week for the letter "U" week.  I didn't have anything fun for her to bring, so both kids got a new, Disney umbrella.  Then they insisted on taking several walks with the umbrellas...even though there was not a drop of rain.

Our most recent news is that Tim got their new swing set put together last weekend, so we are hoping that they will get a lot of use out of it before the weather gets too hot!