Family Staycation

Philip and Merrick came into town and my parent's decided to treat us to a resort in Scottsdale, AZ. We stayed at The Westin Kierland Spa and Resort. It was a gorgeous hotel with a delicious buffet breakfast.

We spent most of our time outside mixed with a little bit of relaxing in the rooms for naps/bedtime. 

We all had fun playing in the pool, going down the slide and floating in the lazy river.

These three have so much fun playing together. I love that my kids are close with their cousins.

I didn't get a lot of pictures. Sam had to work so he didn't get to spend a lot of time at the resort and I didn't want to leave the kids to fetch the camera. I was able to snap these shots on the morning we got to go to the pool with daddy.

Grant loved the splash pad, particularly laying down in the middle of it.

It was a fun weekend but not super relaxing juggling the kiddos without my partner in crime. Oh, the things we endure for our sweet little ones.

Monsoon Storms

The kids have been enjoying monsoon season and have had several chances to play in the rain. We haven't had a drop of rain in months so it's been pretty exciting.

Usually, monsoon storms are fast and furious--a lot of rain comes down in a very short period of time. They also seem to occur in the evening.

On this day, it rained off and on for most of the late morning and into the afternoon. The kids had a blast playing outside, making mud pies and getting filthy.

It's funny how your perspective changes. When we lived in Philly, I used to dread rainy days. They always made me feel melancholy--especially when there were several rainy days in a row. Now, three rainy days in a row is cause for celebration!

Independence Day 2014

On the morning of the 4th, we drove to my parent's house to spend the weekend. As soon as we arrived, the kids were begging to swim. It was pretty stormy the night before and there were still a lot of clouds so it wasn't as hot as a typical Arizona morning.

Grant loves the pool. He's usually pretty calm and relaxed. When we brought him in wrapped in his towel, I thought he was going to fall right to sleep.

Abby and Myrta.

Clara loves to jump in. She makes us all a little nervous because she doesn't always pay attention to where she's jumping.

I love this picture of Abby. Can't you just feel the fun?

We spent to afternoon hanging out, BBQed for dinner and then went out for frozen yogurt. We came back and put Grant to bed and my parent's graciously stayed home with him so we could take the girls to watch the fireworks.

There was music playing while we waited for the fireworks to start and the girls were getting their groove on.

Do you like Abby's patriotic outfit? She came up with it all by herself. Clara spilled juice on herself at dinner and I forgot to pack her an extra outfit so she just went in jammies.

It was a really great show. It was a lot of fun watching with the girls. Clara has never seen fireworks and Abby's never really heard them.

Clara was asleep almost immediately when we got in the car. It was a late night for them but totally worth it!

Gender Reveal

My dad asked me the other day if I was taking a hiatus from blogging. I guess the answer is yes, though the hiatus wasn't intentional. We've had a lot going on the past few weeks but now we're settling into a new routine in a new house. I'll have to count Instagram for my journaling purposes.

We had hand/foot/mouth disease at our house a few weeks ago and so when it came time for my ultrasound, we didn't want to leave the kids with a sitter. Sam had already planned an extra-long lunch but instead of coming with me, he stayed home with the kids.

My appointment went really fast, like I was leaving about the time my appointment was supposed to begin--a rare occurrence for a doctor's appointment.

We decided that I would put confetti in balloons and pop them to show the gender. Putting confetti in balloons is more challenging that I anticipated so the results weren't exactly what I had envisioned. 

Plus, I only really caught the end because the camera wasn't working how I thought. I really need to buckle down and figure out how to work it!

The girls had fun playing with the confetti.

They are very excited to have a baby sister. They both wanted a girl.

Clara said she would cry if it wasn't a girl after seeing a gender reveal video where a little boy threw a fit when he found out he wasn't getting a baby brother.

We are thrilled to welcome another little girl into our family. The big question is, what color will her hair be?

Preschool Grad

Abby had her preschool graduation this week. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera and all the pictures are on Sam's phone. 

Today was the last day of school and they had a water day.

I dropped Abby off and went home for Grant to have a nap and then we came back early so Clara and Grant could play for a while. Grant was more into the water than the girls. Clara was true to form and was too wimpy. She barely got wet before she informed me it was too cold. 

I can't even believe Abby is going to be starting kindergarten in the fall. I'm sad for her to go but I think it's going to be good for her. She's always more pleasant on the days she has school.

Casa Grande Ruins

We figured that we'd better visit our town's namesake before we move. (I didn't tell you we were moving, blogging world. Well, we are.)

The Casa Grande ruins (actually located in Coolidge, AZ, not Casa Grande, AZ--go figure) are the remains of an ancient Native American city. What we learned is  that nobody really knows what this structure, "the big house" was used for and nobody really knows what happened to the people who lived in this city. There are lots of theories, which are interesting but not particularly educational.

The girls enjoyed exploring the different rooms scattered around the grounds and they were really good during the movie. It was a pleasant morning spending time together as a family.

Another One Bites the Dust

Abby lost another tooth, though this one didn't come about too quickly...

The tooth was wiggly for a while, but she refused to wiggle it. Since the first lost tooth included blood, she was very nervous about losing another one. Sam was starting to worry the new tooth was going to come in in the wrong place. We tried bribery, scare tactics and begging. Finally, Sam took her to his office without really talking about it, sat her in the chair and just quickly pulled it out. Then, he took her to the dollar store to pick out a prize.

When this girl puts her mind to something (or to not doing something), it's hard to get her to budge. She does seem more prepared and ready to wiggle the next lose tooth that comes along.