Lake Trip

Several months ago, the youth in our church held a fundraiser to help raise money to send them off on their various camps and activities over the summer.  It was a huge success.  They auctioned off service projects, and anyone else who wanted to get involved and donate something to auction off could.  Then everybody bid on stuff. 

We ended up bidding on and winning a boat trip to a nearby lake with some friends of ours. 

It took several months to coordinate our efforts, but the wait was worth it.

After taking Christopher up to a lake with my dad to paddle around in a little boat, I didn't think he'd do too well on this trip, and I was really worried he'd freak out about having to wear a life jacket (sorry- personal floatation device) and so I debated staying home with him, but they talked me into going and I was so glad I did.

I am happy to report that Christopher wore the life jacket with very little complaint. (much to my surprise.) 

Anyway, it was a way fun trip. 

We started off with some water skiing.  Nick's friend Dayton got us started off right, and apparently it was his first time ever making it up.  He'd been trying for some time, so apparently it was a BIG DEAL.

Next up was Nick, who got up on his very second try ever.  So that was pretty cool.

John was third and last to strap on the skis but despite his years of experience, wasn't able to get up once.  I thought it was pretty funny watching him throw a temper tantrum in the water because he was so mad at himself.  He knows what to do, coached Nick even, but instead of following his own advice, kept trying to help the boat by leaning forward too much.  He tired himself out and decided he'd try again later. (hint- later didn't happen)

After water skiing, they attached some tubes to the back of the boat and the kids all took turns being pulled behind the boat.

The shocker came when Christopher wanted a turn.  They have a big tube that seats at least three, and so we plopped Christopher down on Zach's lap and took them for a ride.

I think he liked it. 

He didn't ask to go again, but he didn't seem too freaked out by the ordeal, so that is total success in my book. I seriously was a pretty proud mama.  Nick and Maddie are always up for a new adventure, and Zach can still be pretty timid, so I was proud of him for this too, but after I had to be talked into bringing Christopher along, watching him actually enjoy himself was a happy surprise.

We all had a really great day and we all had so much fun, but unfortunately our fun came to a grinding halt (literally) when we ignored some warning signs, and ran the boat over some rocks.

Although our experienced boat driver had been there many times before, we aren't sure why this time was different, maybe the water was too shallow this year, but we crippled the boat on a reef.   The boat itself was fine, but the propeller was badly mangled.  We were stuck at the far end of the lake, and had a few miles to go to get back to the car. 

Enter the Sassy Lady.    Luckily just around the bend there were some people out enjoying the lake and offered to help tow us. ( we had only asked if they could take a couple of us to find the Sheriff, so the Sheriff could come rescue us)  But they went above and beyond and towed us themselves.  They towed us for close to an hour, then wouldn't accept any payment or gas money or anything for their efforts. 

Good Samaritans do exist. 

  

Other than that mishap, it was nearly a pretty perfect day.  (Well, the other blemish on the perfect day being John didn't get good coverage of sunscreen on his arm, so he ended up with a painful sunburn in the shape of a large duck.)

Home Sweet Home

I love the way my house smells when I come home.

But I have to be gone a week or more to notice it.  Unless I have a candle burning, or someone forgot to flush, or there is a rotting diaper in the kitchen trash, I usually don't notice how my house smells when I get back from running daily errands.

But when I get back from a trip, there is a lovely scent awaiting me as I walk in the door.  Fruity and floral, my house seems to welcome me home and I am happy to be there.

( of course that only lasts for about a minute, and then I am standing outside unpacking the car, at night, after the sun has gone down, and yet I can still feel it's oppressive heat, like standing in front of an open oven, and I am already missing the cool summer nights I'd been enjoying for the last month or so...)

At the zoo

I have a friend who is never content to sit still and do nothing.  She usually has something planned for the day.  I'm the opposite, I like to do stuff, it's just the initiating, and planning, and getting going part that I have seem to have trouble with.   So when she called up the other day and wanted to take our little boys to the zoo, I was game. (she has a five year old who is probably Christopher's best friend.)

 I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it's been a couple years since we'd been to the zoo, and the beautiful AZ weather is coming to an end, and we were just going for the first time.

I'm not sure what he thought of the actual animals themselves, but he seemed to have fun.  Plus, he got a big popcicle out of the deal, so that was a highlight.

Ren Fest

(Arizona Rennaisance Festival) My kids beg to go to this every year. It had been a couple of years, so I broke down and took the older three. The first thing they absolutely had to do was the pirate catapult. Zach was afraid of it a couple years ago, and refused to do it, so he could not go another minute without rectifying that situation. He didn't try any flips, but I could tell he was at his max just being brave enough to jump that high. Madison of course was the gymnast and had her flip perfected by the time it was over. Bless his heart, Nick tried. And tried. And tried. He's a little, shall we say, un-coordinated? (but he does get an A for effort Ü) Then we hit a couple of shows- the sword swallower was at the same time both intriguing and disgusting. The actually sword swallowing I an handle, it was the 5 inch drill bit into the nose I couldn't. We ate some treats including icees and sub-par pasties (if you live in the Phoenix area, {go here} for really good pasties- or better yet, call me and we can do lunch and/or double date- John loves it too). Amazingly enough, I managed to get out of there without purchasing some overpriced item that my kids suddenly discovered they needed, yet would forget about in less than 2 weeks, despite every effort on their part to convince me otherwise. (I speak from experience- "A flower wreath for your hair for only $20- what's wrong with the one hanging on your coat rack at home? Why didn't you just bring that one? Oh? you forgot all about it's existence? hmmm." ) But by the end of the day, we had all had fun. Nick learned the art of people watching (we're working on being observant of the world around him- and there's no more entertaining place than to just sit back and watch the world go by) Maddie got her usual picture taken with the resident fairy, and the kids got to do all sorts of activities. All-in-all a fun filled day.

Finally!

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that "fall has officially arrived."

I know what you are thinking - "But Kirsten, it is November, for Heaven's sakes! That's practically winter!"

Yeah well tell that to whoever decided that the weather needed to be in the 90's last week. Cooler one week, hot the next. Over, and over, and over again for like the last month.

However, this morning after Maddie left for school in her usual t-shirt and shorts, she came running back in the house 2 minutes later. "I need a jacket! It's freaking cold out there!"

I wondered what her definition of cold was so I checked weather.com. 48 degrees.

And yeah, around these parts, that's freaking cold!

(Yay!)

A decade

I can't believe I totally forgot.

Yesterday was our ten year anniversary of moving to Arizona.

Ten years ago, we picked up our lives and moved away from our families and everything we've ever known (in my case at least) and moved down here to Arizona.


It was a difficult decision, but basically our choices were John having a good job down here, And be able to buy a home (back then the housing market was really good) Or stay there, be unemployed, and rent from my dad.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't that much of a choice. But it was still hard.

Nick wasn't yet 4, and Maddie couldn't even crawl.

And despite the few months where I think my brains are literally frying in my head, Arizona has been very good to us.

Who knows how long we will stay here, but if it's forever, that's okay too.

Yay for Punxsutawney Phil!

Growing up in Utah, I used to pray the groundhog would not see his shadow and that spring would come early. By the time February rolls around, I am really sick of winter.

For obvious reasons I've changed my tune.

Yesterday Madison came home and announced we "HAVE TO" have 6 more weeks of winter, and spring is not coming early this year.

"Have to? We GET to!"

It's cool enough that we can wear sweaters and socks, comfort foods like soups and stews and hot cocoa are the perfect antidote to a chilly day, and yet there is no snow to shovel, no car windshields to scrape, no slushy puddles to step in. Besides, it's the perfect time of year to say "Go outside and play!"

It just doesn't get any better than that. As far as I'm concerned, that groundhog can stay in his hole for the next six months.

September

I hate September.

I think I've officially decided that September is worse than July in Arizona. At least in July you expect the heat. You expect the blow dryer set on high heat that greets you as you step out your door. You expect to burn your hands on your steering wheel. You expect to do all your grocery shopping trips between the hours of 8 pm and 7 am. You expect your kids to go through 47 boxes of Popsicles each and every week. You expect these things.

September is a different story. The idyllic September in my brain conjures stories of cooler weather, leaves changing colors, sweaters, and hot soup.

Not in Arizona. By the time September rolls around and the temperature is still expected to hit 108 degrees (I checked- that is the forecast for today and that is taking into account the scattered thunderstorms) you start to worry that the summer will NEVER end.

I will never again take my kids to the park, despite the fact that Initer points out every single slide we drive past, I will never be able to send my kids out in the yard to play, they will continue to ride their scooters and tricycles through my house because they are stir crazy and I have given up, stepping outside barefoot means I will forever burn my feet, going for walks outside will never again be synonymous with "pleasant" or "enjoyable", my kids will continue to come home red faced and sweaty from school each day, and standing over a hot stove in my kitchen will forever sound like torture.

I know that winter has never failed to show it's lovely head before, but I gotta say, by the time September rolls around, I start to worry that this will be the year of the never ending summer.

Oh, Moe!

You know you live in a desert when....

When it actually does rain (and when it rains, it pours!) you have to locate and figure out how to use the windshield wiper controls on a car you've driven almost every day for over four years...

When you finally figure out that your almost-three-year-old's repeated exclamations of "Oh, moe!" (Oh, no!) from the back seat of the car are directly related to every movement of said windshield wipers...

Swish, swish "Oh, moe!"....Swish, swish "Oh, moe!"...Swish, swish "Oh, moe!..."

Renaissance Festival

About every 5 years or so, we break down and take the kids to the Renaissance Festival. In fact, it had been so long, that all of my kids asked "Have we ever been here before as a family?"

We all had a good time, with the possible exception of Christopher. I think he was ready to go home an hour after we got there. Zach was ready to go home after three. Madison and Nick could have stayed all day. In fact, on the way home Madison was asking "Can we come back next year, and the next, and the next, and the next?"

Madison found a fairy she needed to have her picture taken with-

While the younger two played on a slide,
the two older kids enjoyed the "bungee jumping" thing they had. It took Madison about halfway into the experience to really enjoy it. Her expressions for the first few moments were of sheer terror, but was able to enjoy it enough that she spent the rest of the day begging to go again.
We found a "kid friendly" show (anyone who has been before knows not everything there is PG rated) and John took the older three to see a pirate show while Christopher and I went and got fries. Then everyone else joined us for lunch and Madison confiscated my icee before getting one of her own.
A wandering "elf" entertained the kids with magic tricks for a few moments while we ate.
We ended the day by checking out some shops, and taking in a jousting tournament. There was so much more to see, but Zach and Christopher were so completely done we left early, but not before stopping off for some chocolate covered raspberries. (priorities)

Tombstone

A few weeks ago John and I decided that we are going to put off going to Europe for a year or two. We have come to the decision that this is where we need to be for the time being. Christopher's behavior yesterday pretty much cemented that for us. He was pretty naughty. He just wanted to run around, and screamed when we wouldn't let him.

Other than Christopher's behavior, Tombstone is interesting at best. The kids thought it was fun. I'm not so sure it was worth the three hour drive each way, but we crossed something else off our Arizona List. It was really touristy, and felt a bit like a convention of sorts for cowboys, or a permanent western renaissance festival. (If that makes any sense)

Our first stop was Boothill Graveyard. The kids were shocked at all the different grave markers- several of them where "unknown" but many of them had a name, date, and sometimes even how they died. Many of them died from being shot, murdered, hung, or stabbed. The main street of town is closed to cars, but if you want to ride your horse in, feel free. They had hitchin' posts everywhere. Madison loved all the horses. I'm not sure where she gets it from but she begged and begged for a pink cowgirl hat. She didn't get it. I wasn't gonna spend $15 on a plastic hat. Once we made it into town, we found a place to eat, which wasn't hard cause people stand on every street corner handing out pamphlets to their restaurant or their gun fight show. We did see one of those. Not the "official" OK corral one. This one was more of a comedy type. Zach was so impressed with it though he came home a drew a picture so he could take it to school and show his teacher. We also walked through a little museum/tour thing which mostly focused on death in Tombstone. The ghost of Doc Holiday was the tour guide and while Nick, Maddie, and I thought it was pretty interesting, I think it scared Zach pretty good. John took the older three on a stage coach ride, which I guess was an authentic stage coach. That's pretty neat. I was happy to walk around with Christopher until he fell asleep. One of my personal little highlights happened when I was walking with Christopher. I little kid (8 or so?) wearing a hat and gun holster tipped his hat at me as we passed on the sidewalk. I thought it was pretty stinking cute. I heard his older brother laugh at him as he passed. Well at least now we can say "been there, done that" and I don't feel I ever need to go back. The kids enjoyed themselves and we had a good time with our kids, and that was the whole point of the outing, so I'd still call the trip a success.

second thoughts

The next time I come up with a "good idea" way past the hour when my brain turns off for the day, I need to remember just to hit the "save now" button rather than the "publish post" button so I can decide whether or not it really is a good idea before I go public.

That being said, I shall still try to follow along with the plan, for awhile anyway, mostly because even though it might help me to be a more positive person, it should definitely help me blog more consistently. Last year I averaged about twenty posts a month. I'd like to meet or beat that this year.

So today, one positive thing I did today was spend some good quality time with my little family. We ventured on down to Tombstone AZ. I hope to maybe detail some of the highlights of that trip tomorrow. Or the next day. We'll see.

Change of Heart

Eight years ago we moved from Utah to Arizona. We moved here just at the very end of October, just days before Halloween. I had never lived outside of Utah, or that far away from family. Even in college I was only a 45 minute car ride away from home. By Christmas time I was pretty homesick. To make matters worse it was smack dab in the middle of the Christmas season, my favorite time of year, and it didn't feel like Christmas.

For starters, there was no snow. It was warm outside, for a born and bred Utahn anyway. We were going to be going home for Christmas, so we didn't even bother getting a tree. (This was back in the days when we got real trees) So no family, no snow, and no decorations. It might as well have been September, or March, or something. I was depressed. And to add to my irritation was the fact that I couldn't go anywhere without seeing palm trees all lit up with Christmas lights. What bothered me about this is the way it's done. One single string of lights wrapped around the trunk of the tree. In the dark they look more like telephone poles than trees. It just looked ridiculous in my opinion and annoyed me to no end.

I still miss the snow (only momentarily though) and get all nostalgic when I hear the song White Christmas -"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. Just like the ones I used to know...." I've come to terms with it though, I think that year someone mentioned how the Arizona climate is more like the climate in Bethlehem, and there was no snow that first Christmas, so that makes me feel better. Our house is decorated (except the outside, but that's another subject for another day). Family will be down to see us in a couple weeks, and we are looking forward to that. And mostly I just try to ignore the decorated palm trees. They don't irk me so much anymore. There's just too many of them, and it wastes too much energy getting irritated about it these days. I'm over it.

But I really had a change of heart today. Maddie and I went for our annual mani-pedis and I was looking at my bright red toes with the bejeweled snowflake on the big toenail and I thought to myself -"If we lived in Utah, I would have to wear shoes and socks and snow boots all the time, and there is no way to get away with wearing flip-flops all day to show off my cute toes. There would be no pedicures in December in Utah."

My fingernails match, but I didn't get a good shot of those. Madison couldn't decide on what she wanted, so on her toes she has a wreath and a Christmas tree, and on her thumbs she has a snowflake and a snowman- FYI.

Flat Stanley

It just occurred to me that there are a glaringly lack of visuals in my last few posts. There's some rather disturbing pictures of John's "hair socks" and a picture of some cookies which I had actually already posted once before on my food blog. And, umm, yeah, that's it. So although I have been sick, life still goes on, and while I was sick in bed with the flu, John took the kids out on a little excursion to get some more pictures of Flat Stanley to send to the kids' cousin Joshua in Texas. These are some of the fruits of their labors-

In front of some Saguaro cacti

Even though I was not there, I'd still like to give a little shout out of thanks to the random people who let my family interrupt their golf game,Pose for a picture in their golf cart,Or borrow their fishing pole.

I'm also pretty sure that Joshua is going to be pretty thrilled to get the picture of the HSM3 poster.And the shoes. What almost 9 year old boy wouldn't get excited about a bunch of girly shoes?However I think the "shoes" picture is better than this"dirty, holey socks picture"- I was sick in bed remember? For dinner Flat Stanley got to go to one of our favorite burger places to eat- IN-N-OUTAnd of course what's better after burgers and shakes for dinner? Gelato for dessert!