Party at Grandpa & Grandma's!

On our anniversary, Justin and I bought tickets to go see the musical Wicked. I have really wanted to see this musical, so I was really excited to go. I asked my mom and stepdad to watch the kids overnight so we could have a nice date night together. The kids were SO excited. My parents live in Anthem, so it's like a getaway for the kids, and Grandma and Grandpa always spoil them rotten!

As soon as we got there, the girls wanted to paint in Grandma's studio. My mom is an artist, so one whole room in her house serves as her studio. They had a blast painting.

Then they went to dinner at Culvers. The kids got corndogs, fries, and milkshakes--which is WAY better than anything mom makes at home. :-) Afterwards, the girls conned Grandma and Grandpa into buying them Webkinz, and Connor got a couple of volumes of Naruto manga. Apparently, Tatum's Webkinz, Zippy, wasn't very good-natured, because he's attacking Grandpa in this picture.

The girls always love to take bubble baths in Grandma's big tub. They made milkshakes for Grandpa and made him "drink" them. Ewww....

And then they wound down by watching Sponge Bob, which has recently become one of their favorite shows. We don't have cable at home, so whenever they get to veg out and watch TV, it's always a good thing to them. The next day they went to see Ice Age 3 and we all met for lunch. When we finally got them home, they were WIPED OUT! They slept the entire ride home and even went to bed early.

We had a great time at Wicked and the kids had a great time at Grandpa & Grandma's. Everyone was happy... right, Mom? :-)

Roosevelt Vacation

In all the craziness that has accompanied our moving adventure, I totally forgot to post pictures from our Roosevelt vacation. Every year we spend a week at Roosevelt Lake with Justin's family. The kids have a great time with their aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. Of course this year, I completely forgot my camera, so it is only thanks to Justin's sister Jennifer that we have any pictures at all! Thanks, Jenn! :-)

Here's Justin on the wakeboard. This is the first year that he and his brother Jonathan didn't hurt themselves on the first day. :-) Of course, they didn't actually go skiing until the 3rd or 4th day anyway, so that helped.

All 3 of the kids loved Grandpa's new canoe. Rylee was super scared to go, and spent most of the first day trying to concoct ways to get out of a canoe ride. Once Justin convinced her to give it a try, she loved it. She paddled out halfway across the lake with Justin.

And there's always "King of the Mountain" on the inner tubes. Not sure who won this round. Although it looks like Connor is winning, he actually spent a lot of time falling off the tube.

But I think the best part of this year's trip was the huge storm we had. We lost our power, and we had thunder, lightning, and pouring rain. We all huddled under the carport and made s'mores by flashlight. Connor, Justin, Jaylen, Rachel, and Janell's friend, "Toast," all played guitars and sang. It was a lot of fun, and definitely a memory that will make this year and Roosevelt stand out. Thanks for a great time, Grandma & Grandpa!

SOLD!

We sold the house! Yeah! After 2 months on the market, the house finally sold. We got a full price offer with a super clean contract. AMAZING! And the great thing is that the buyers have a little boy who LOVES the playhouse. I'm so glad that worked out. I was pretty bummed thinking that our cute little playhouse was probably going end up used a storage area.

So I guess I'd better start house hunting. First I've got to find a rental, and then we play the waiting game. The house we REALLY want goes up for auction in September. Keep your fingers crossed for us...

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

So Justin went to hike Humphrey's Peak this weekend, and the girls are spending the night with a friend who has cable so they can watch "The Princess Protection Program" on Disney Channel. Since it was just Connor and me tonight, I figured I'd give in to the begging and take him to see Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. And let me just say, I am REALLY glad I didn't take the girls to this one!

First of all, yes, I probably should have screened this first, but I figured that Connor was a pretty responsible kid and not a natural rule-breaker, so I figured he was old enough to handle this one. Although after seeing, I wasn't sure I should have let him, we had a long discussion on some of the more "adult" parts of the movie. If you are thinking about taking young kids to see this one, I say DEFINITELY preview it first. It's rated PG-13 for good reason.

All in all, we had a good time together. Connor really liked the movie, and I tolerated the noise and mindless violence in order to get to some of the really good scenes. If you are a Transformers fan, Optimus Prime kicks butt in this one! And my other favorite Autobot, Bumblebee, had some pretty intense scenes, too. The story was a little crazy and disjointed, but the special effects were amazing.

So out of 5 stars, I give it about 3 1/2 stars and Connor gives it 5 stars. Take that for what it's worth...

Arizona Museum of Natural History

So it's summer in AZ, and that means we have to stay inside during the day. Couple that with keeping the house clean for realtor showings, and you've got a recipe for disaster. I decided to get the kids out and visit the Arizona Museum of Natural History. We had just seen Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, so the kids were really in the mood to hit the museum anyway. Rylee was at a friend's house today, so it was just Tatum, Connor, and me.



We love Dinosaur Hall. If you've never been to this museum, you really have to go. They have an awesome palentology exhibit, complete with anamatronic dinosaurs. My kids really loved this T-Rex fossil because it reminded them of "Rexie" from the Night at the Museum movies. And yes, I forgot my camera again, so the camera phone pictures will have to do.


We also loved the Lost Dutchman/Arizona Southwest exhibit. We got to see lots of Hohokam indian artifacts. Connor learned about the Hohokam indians this year in school, so he's our resident expert. He can tell you anything about them, and served as our tour guide. Next we moved on to the Lost Dutchman's mine--and learned a lot about the Lost Dutchman. That exhibit really scared Tatum because it was a dark mine shaft replica that you walk through. Then we panned for gold in the courtyard. It was a lot of fun, and the kids got to take home a little baggie of gold that they found.

And then we looked at the mammoths and early mammals. This is actually an American Lion fossil. We didn't even realize that a lion used to roam the Americas. It was such a fun adventure. We rounded out our afternoon with a trip to Soccer Shack and lunch at Sauce. What a fun little field trip--and no fighting, which makes it a great day in my book!

Moving and Mother's Day

Quick post... Yes, the house is up for sale. I'm going nuts. I can't believe how hard it is to keep the house clean with 3 little gremlins that mess it up faster than you can turn around and say, "Whew! It's finally clean!" We are hoping to get into a slightly bigger house in the kids' school boundaries by summer. Keep your fingers crossed.

No other big events going on. We had a great Mother's Day at the Mesa Country Club with Justin's family. I got to snap a few quick pictures, but here's my favorite of the girls! Enjoy! I promise to keep up with our activities here once things slow down! (Ha! Whenever that is...)

Golden Scholar Night

Connor is really a good kid. Not to say he doesn't have his moments--you know the ones where I feel like everything I've tried to teach him has gone in one ear and gotten lost somewhere in there. But overall, I couldn't be prouder of the kid. He recently had Academic Night for his school and was awarded the Golden Scholar award. All three of his best friends were Golden Scholars as well. This means that they have achieved straight A's in every subject all year long. Connor's was especially noteable, because his math and language classes are Advanced Placement classes, which means they are weighted. He could have scored B's in those subjects and still achieved Golden Scholar because those classes are so difficult--and yet, he still got A's in every subject all year long. And to have three best friends who also achieved the same award--what a bunch of nerds! (LOL) I mean, he's just a really good kid with good values and great taste in friends, and we're super proud of him. Nice job, son!Tyler, Connor, Nathon, and Alex at Academic Night.