~Day 212: Back to school photo bombers

 

It was 'Meet the Teacher' day at school.  It was fun to meet all three teachers for the upcoming school year.  We stopped for a picture under the school mascot plaque thingy.  During our photo shoot, our friend Linda surprised us!  So fun!

Linda is Ian and Conner's mom.  Ian and Ashton are best friends.

Hard to believe our kids are getting so big.  Ashton will be in 5th, Brookie in 2nd, and Beans in 1st.  They can't wait to start school on Monday... I can't wait either.

~Day 211: Posers

The kids were given a large binder full of Pokemon cards.  They are set up for a long time, I think.  I wanted to get a picture for today's post, and of course they had to strike a pose. Over.

And over.

Again.

 

And again.

Again.  

Love my goofy kids.

~Day 210: Tooth #1 Gone.... Finally!!

She has been waiting sooooo long for this moment!  We had to coax her and bribe her to let me help it out.. it was pretty loose and you could see the new one coming in behind it.  It was making the baby tooth crooked.  

Nick bribed her with a quarter.  That didn't work.  Then I told her I would get her a shake if she let me pull it out.  She did.  It was a stubborn little thing...I couldn't get a hold of it.  I felt bad.  Then she actually grabbed it and pulled it out herself.  She was so happy and surprised!  Now hopefully the tooth fairy won't miss the house tonight.  Brookie's tooth was missed just last week...I think the tooth fairy slept through her duties.  Let's hope she doesn't do that tonight.

~Day 209: Personalized Art

Brookie told me she wanted to give me something.  This is one of two letters she made.  Stamp and all.

This is me... with my hair blowing in the wind she said.

 

This is also me. I love the big heart earrings.  BrookLynn is always doing cute stuff like this.  I love to see her artwork. 

~Day 208: Goofy Girls

 

Goofy Girls.  I think they had EVERY single pony, petshop, and house all set up as their little town today.  I tried to take a picture of them with serious faces, but they insisted on giving a goofy face. Love their personalities.

I was watching "Saving Mr. Banks" today.  I was on my bed, and I had two little girls who wanted to watch with me.  BrookLynn thought it was a very exciting movie.  I think she slept through half of it.  And Cailee is just a ham...She was waiting for the real "Mary Poppins" to come on.  Since it didn't, she just played ponies all over my bed... and stopped for a picture.  The goofs.

~Day 207: Back to School Shopping Hell

Spent a small fortune on back to school stuff today.  I HATE shopping most of the time.  Everyone else in the state was out shopping today, too. I told Ashton I was going to have to sell him when we got home to make up for what we spent today.  I asked him how much he thought he was worth.  He said we could probably get $20 for him.  $15 for Brookie and $10 for Beans.  Haha.  that doesn't even scratch the surface of what their stuff cost.  I would never sell my kids anyway :)

The kids did not need new clothes for the school year, and I was not going to replenish their wardrobe just because that is the 'thing to do' in a lot of places.  I instead gave the kids the choice of buying one new piece of clothing to start the year, or buy a book. (you know my love of books.)  Two out of the three chose books.

Brookie chose a more 'fun' book with many small ponies.  She and Cailee are going through Petshop/Pony phase.  She was very excited.

Cailee wanted to get a new dress.  She is going through a phase where she likes to wear dresses and skirts.  B went through this same phase when she was Cailee's age.  It's fun.  This is the dress she chose after looking through many, many dresses. She is a picky little girl.

 

Ashton chose a book-- no surprise there.  The surprise was the book he ended up choosing.  He is interested in symbols and different culture beliefs.  He was very excited to begin his research.

 

I had to throw this one in... Cailee was quiet in her room for a long time.  I sent the girls to their rooms to clean before the were allowed to go play.  This is the vision that met us when we checked on her.  She was putting on tights (in 105 degree weather) and trying on all her shoes and wearing her hat.  Maybe I should let her dress me...

~Day 206: Sleeping Babes, Part... 5??

When the night gets closer to midnight and I don't have a picture for the day, I usually end up taking one of my sleeping kids. 

I haven't gone back through the blog to see exactly how many times I have taken their sleeping pictures, but it's been a few, I do believe. 

I still love how Ashton has to sleep with a mound of pillows.  I love how Brookie can usually be found 

sleeping with a book nearby. 

 

 And Cailee can always be found with many, MANY stuffed animals taking up most of her bed.

They always look so peaceful when they sleep.  I love to sit and watch them sometimes.

~Day 205: Bunco 7!!

Bunco at Shanna's house!  Love Bunco night!  Always laugh so much.  Much needed.

~Day 204: Poor B.

She caught daddy's cold.  I feel bad for her.  I hate how she seems to cough more at night when she should be resting. Hope it passes soon.

~Day 203: Ick.

 

I had to drive into the north end of Phoenix today. Took me almost an hour to get home.

 I'm not used to this kind of traffic.

.

Or this kind of heat.  Been here three years now and I can't get used to the heat being over 110. I'll quit rubbing in our fabulous weather the rest of the year if we can get rid of these numbers...

~Day 202: Worn out kiddo

The kids were supposed to pick up their rooms before dinner tonight.  This is how we found BrookLynn after a few minutes.  It looks like she was starting to organize her toys, but it was just too much, I guess.  She's had a cold for a few days and playing hard has taken its toll on her.  Poor thing is just worn out.

~Day 201: Sunday Selfie

Somehow we all ended up on my bed today.  I love moments like this.

~Day 200: Five Hours of Science Fun

Today I surprised the monkeys with a trip to the science center.  It had been awhile since we had gone, so it was time.  We started out by seeing the IMAX 3D Penguin feature.  It was cute, but I could have seen it without the 3D.

Here they are sitting in front of my favorite 'toy.'  It's the dancing dust trees.  I could sit and watch this the whole time we are there.  You have four choices of music and the 'trees' dance differently to every one.  It's fascinating to watch.

In the same area there is an air table thingy where you can watch the plastic balls blow up in the air.  The kids stayed here for quite awhile.  Their favorite was to get the balls to 'juggle' in the air--where they would get two balls in the air at once using one air stream.  I love to watch them explore and learn how things work.

 

In the 'Forces of Nature' section, you can build a structure and then watch as it falls down when you simulate an earthquake.  My 'house' is on the left... and falling down first.  Hers is the tall one on the right.  Her face says it all I think.  She was quite pleased with herself when mine fell down first...

We found a small area we hadn't been to before.  There was a section dedicated to flight.  We could make paper airplanes and then launch them into the air with some kind of contraption that had moving wheels in it to capture your paper plane and push it into the air.  All three kids really enjoyed that.  On the way out, Ashton saw the flight simulator.  He did pretty good.  Until he tried to help Cailee.  Her plane ended up upside down in a field. 

 

 

After our five hours of fun, Cailee asked if we could go by the airport to watch the planes take off and land.  Every time we drive by it, she asks.  So we went around the airport for a bit.  We made it to the top of the parking garage.  The kids were too short to see over the wall, but they could see plenty through the little window.  The other two kids got bored and went back into the car, but Cailee wanted to stay and watch more planes.  She had a huge smile on her face as she ran back to the car.  I love the little things that entertain her.

It was a very long day, but it was a fun day.  I think the kids had fun.  Now I'm going to bed.

~Day 199: One Little Monkey.....

....jumping on the bed.  The shelf fell off and bonked Brookie's head.  Cailee got lucky there wasn't any blood. No more monkeys allowed on mom's bed. (You sang it, didn't you?)

They have been told over and over again not to jump on our bed. Child #3 didn't listen and jumped up and grabbed hold if the shelf we have above our bed. Brookie was sitting below it, and it fell on top of her head. We were lucky a corner didn't cut open her head. We were also lucky the screws didn't rip huge holes in our wall.  

The joy of having children. 

Really. They are a joy. Especially when big sister reads to little sister because little sister was banned to her room for disobeying. 

~Day 198: Listen to your mother....-in-law.

13 years. Broke my no-ticket streak.  Mother-in-law called it. Last year.  Listen to your mothers. It's cheaper that way. 

~Day 197: Lego Beans

Cailee Beans loves to play Lego Marvel Superheroes. It's funny to watch her get into the game. She is content to just drive the cars around the towns. It's pretty cute to watch. 

~Day 196: Their Own Schedules

I think the kids are happy to be home in their own beds. Ashton looks relaxed with his four pillows, pile of blankets and book in hand. Love that my kids like to read so much. 

~Day 195: Home at Last

We spent the night at my cousin Roni's house. Our kids played so well together. I was sad to break them up. It was great to see her and her cute family. I loved talking with her and wish I had more time there today. 

We were planning on going through Zion's National Park, but we were so tired we just wanted to get home as soon as possible. So we changed routes to go through Vegas. We went through the Virgin River Gorge to get there. I love driving through here because of the deep canyons you drive through. 

We finally arrived home in Gilbert today around 6:30 pm. Looooong trip home. The coolness that greeted us at home was only 95 degrees inside our house. Disgusting. 

Our 12 day trip was so much fun! We had every day packed with fun to make the most of the time we had with our families. It was great spending time with them and we were sad to leave, but it is wonderful to be home and sleep in our own beds. We are already talking about next year.... 

~Day 194: First Day Headed Home

Today we left grandma Jocelyn and grandpa Mike's house in Idaho to drive back to Arizona. Grandma Connie and Grandpa Len came to say goodbye too. I tried to get a serious picture, but it never worked out just right. When I looked at what I did get, I realized that serious is not how this family is all the time. This shows some of the personality we love. 

Grandma had just gotten done tickling B and the kids were being goofy.

The kids have had such a wonderful time this week, but we can tell they are missing their own beds. Time to head home. 

World Cup soccer was on before we left. We stayed to watch the first half then took off. Glad we didn't stay to watch the whole thing since Argentina lost to Germany. Sad thing. Oh well....

We stopped in SLC on the way down to meet my parents because we had to get a few forgotten items from when we stayed there earlier in the week. It was hot outside so we stood in the shade for a picture. Lovely splotchy picture it is too.  Good to see my parents one last time before leaving. 

We made it just outside Cedar City tonight. My cousin Roni and her family were gracious enough to let us overtake their house for a night. Our kids first met YEARS ago when they were probably too young to remember. And some of our kids were not even heard of. 

But they made fast friends tonight and are excited to pick up tomorrow where they left off today. I am very excited to see Roni again tonight after so many years since the last time we connected. 

Tomorrow we start up our travels again. Hope to make it home with everyone still in one piece. And sane. Been a fabulous trip, but looking forward to our own home. 

 

~Day 193: Last Reunion Day

Last day in Aberdeen. We grabbed a picture with grandma and grandpa Wallace before we left. Very special great grandparents for our kiddos. Grateful we were able to spend time with them. 

Grandma Wallace gave each of her grand kids one of her teacups she had collected. She had each grandchild draw a number and then they were able to go choose which set they wanted. 

Nick chose this set that has the 50th anniversary on it. This belonged to Frank Wallace's parents. This was their set on their 50th anniversary. Very special. 

Activities in the morning for the little ones. The piñata was first. Bruce became Cailee's best friend as he got the piñata set up. 

Everyone was patient and calm and having fun, until....

Someone hit it just right. If one piece of candy fell out.... This was the scene that happened. Every child converged together on that piece of candy. 

Next activity was "Minute to Win It." Several activities were created by Marie and Cynthia. The kids had so much fun! (Even some adults got into it) Here is Brookie making Londyn into a mummy. 

Ashton was trying to stack the cups before Jacey could. The wind kept knocking them over.... Maybe it was the wind. 

Ashton also was able to try to stack dice on the end of a stick he held in his mouth. He got it at last. 

Kira created a scavenger hunt for the kids. They had a lot of fun trying too locate each clue. 

The hunt ended at the family drug store, Wallace Drug. They were each treated to ice cream after they found the last clue. 

More water activities today. We went to the dock to play in the water and wait our turn in one of the boats. 

Brookie was brave again and knee-boarded by herself. 

Ashton was brave again too! So proud of my kids!

I was able to ride the tube with both Cailee and Brookie. It was great fun with the kids today. 

Brookie jumped off the platform all by herself. AshLynn had to tell me Brookie had jumped already. This is her second jump... After that she went off it a lot!

Brave girl!

Cailee had to give baby Boss one last hug and kiss. This morning she made me follow the baby around so she could love on him. He really is a sweet baby. 

Brookie had to take selfies on the way home to grandma Jocelyn's house.... Her smile just about says it all about our trip. The kids have had such a good time. Makes me happy and I can't wait to hear about their memories. 

I was sad to leave today. Makes it hard when the family is so great, and we all live so far away from each other. Hopefully we will see them again soon.