Summer Snippets

This summer we've been doing some of this: 

Lots of this: 

Enjoying cold treats: 

Reading: 

Discovering: 

And lots of indoor activities trying to stay sane in this insane heat. 

He's STILL in his 30's!

I told Eric that this was our "still in our 30's" bday year.  I'm liking "I'm not 40 yet" as an appropriate answer for my age.

We sent Eric off to work with something cool for his office: a Frank Lloyd Wright clock.  Oh, and a flat of diet coke.  Happy Birthday to you!

After a nice dinner, but before cake, it was time for PRESENTS!!  And what, I ask you, says "happy birthday" more than an (empty) propane tank?  Or some cool radio odds and ends?

Actually it was the GoPro.  He was so excited, and totally surprised.

Tonto Natural Bridge

After wishing Eric a "Happy Birthday", the kids and I headed up to Tonto Natural Bridge.  Without the birthday boy, he had to work.  Maybe next time Eric-sorry.

When we got up to the parking lot, we saw this very large family of javelins-really cool, but they make me nervous this close.  Those are real tusks people.

The first view area was okay, but not super impressive.  And I was wondering if this had been worth our long drive.

But by the time we made it to the bottom, to the cavern level, I was floored by its beauty, and size!

The kids loved hiking through "Golom's cave", and it was so neat to explore this HUGE travertine bridge.

Eme was perhaps a little too enthusiastic to explore the cave, because before we knew it, we popped out the other side.

I think when we come back next time, we'll explore inside the cave a bit more-but it was pretty awe-inspiring!

After some lunch and a rest, it was time to hike back out.  What came down, must go back up.  We picked the right sides to go down and come back up, had we reversed them, it would have been a much more difficult hike.

We are definitely coming back with Eric next time-so much fun!!

Montezuma's Castle and Ft Verde

With school out, my determination to see more of our state (with or without Eric), and amazing weather, we headed up to Montezuma's Castle.  We invited some cousins (because that makes everything more fun!), and hit the road.

Fun fact, Montezuma has never been here.  Nor is this cliff dwelling a castle.  But it is super cool nonetheless. 

Another cool fact: this was one of the very first national parks. Thank you Pres Teddy Roosevelt!!

We spent a good two hours here, and it was so much fun :)

Fort Verde is only 10 minutes away from Montezuma's, so we headed over there for lunch and more exploring.

With overcast skies and temps in the 80's, this was a perfect day trip!

Made even better by being able to get dressed up in period costumes...

and hold guns (dummy).

End of the year projects

This year's end of year projects included (but were not limited to): 

Maddie: a desert animal report with a representation of said animal, and a "desert animal museum" for all of 1st grade.  I love this girl, and I love her enthusiasm.  But three weeks before the end of the year and this momma has no energy left to help make a "clay quail with feathers made from felt and all painted". Please, I don't have that kind of energy at the beginning of the year!  So we opted for a super awesome colored pencil drawing of a quail in it's habitat.  Plus, I came to the museum :)

Eme: had her family picnic following a "in-house field trip"-a play was put on at the school by a local theater group, just for 3rd grade.

Davin: decided to try his had at school politics.  They opened up a new council position this year: historian.  Really, they could not have picked a better fit for this boy.  He came up with his campaign slogans "bringing history to life", and threw in some dinos for good measure.  We made stickers, posters, flyers, and he did dum dums flagged with his logo and slogan for the after school schmooze day.  He wrote his own speech (with only minor help from us), and delivered it so clearly and confidently.  He may not have won, but he's thrilled to be able to be on student council next year (anyone who got to campaign automatically gets a seat on council).  We are so proud of how this kid is extending himself!  Plus we had his end of year band concert.

Aidan: One last concert!! Plus finals, finals, and more finals.  But we survived them all, and he did fairly well.

Lake time!

After our first kayaking adventure, and subsequent kayak replacements, we knew we wanted to get the kids out onto the water.  We picked a beautiful Saturday, loaded up the kids and our gear, and headed to the lake.  They loved it! And again, I wondered why we hadn't done this before?

It was a beautiful day, not too hot, just a slight breeze.  Aidan did great on the kayak, and the others loved the water and shoreline.

Eric had Aidan practice safety skills in Nana's pool to get him ready for his upcoming high adventure.

Nana has since requested no more boats in her pool.  

The boys hit the lake again the next weekend, and went further and longer.  They had a great time.  Two weekends later, and Eric and I were finally back on the lake ourselves.

kayaking dates are always fun, even if they do start REALLY early in the morning.

Easter Weekend (or General Conference Weekend)

It's always a wonderful thing when General Conference is over Easter weekend.  The only downside, is it's also Maddie's bday weekend, and the kids still want their egg hunt.

So we hunt for eggs in between sessions.

Eric had a little too much fun hiding Aidan's eggs that the boy almost gave up looking for those last two eggs.