Hula Hoop Competition

Jeremy thought he could take on the girls at church in a hula hoop contest!

Off to School!

Well, Andrew's is officially in school! He's a kindergartner at Anthem K-8 school. He has been a little leery of starting school, but he woke up Monday morning ready to go! He was dressed by the time I got out of the shower. Normally, I would have to wake him up at that time. Thanks to Grandma Gail, he had some cool new clothes (and shoes, underwear, socks, hat, etc.) for his first day.

He loves his new Bakugan hat!

Jeremy came home from work so we could take Andrew to McDonald's for breakfast and then walk him to class. Here he is at the front of the school.

Here's his classroom! He knows his teacher (Mrs. Conrey) so I don't think he was nervous for class.

We found his seat, snapped a quick picture and bailed before any tears could be shed (by me, of course. Andrew and Jeremy wouldn't cry).

Jeremy and I headed back to work and our son went through his first day of school and everything was great! Andrew seemed to enjoy his first day, but he was TIRED Monday night. He did fine getting on the school bus and getting to his babysitter's house after school.

I was off Tuesday so I took him to the bus stop and got to see him with the kids from the babysitter's house. He is such a big boy now. It's funny to see him interact with the older kids (like he is just one of them) and he had so much confidence hopping on the bus and taking off for day 2 of school. I sure don't have to worry about that boy. As soon as he is confident in what he's doing, he's on his own. He wouldn't even turn around for a picture next to the bus (he was embarrassed that I even asked him to do that). I'm the embarrassing mom now, I guess.

Now I have Tuesdays and Thursdays at home by myself. I ended up cleaning the entire house Tuesday and now I have today to do my own thing! It's crazy, but Andrew was ready to go to school and I was ready for him to go to school!

Peter Piper Pizza

For the last fun Thursday of the summer, Andrew and I headed to Peter Piper Pizza on Ellsworth and Baseline for some pizza and fun! We had some car problems and didn't get there until about 2pm. We were starving! We scarfed our pizza and then had fun playing games, trying to win tickets. Actually, Andrew played all the games. He's old enough now to really do a good job and he actually got a lot of tickets.

All 184 tickets were won by himself! He was so excited that he got that much.

What did he get with all those tickets??? A couple plastic space ships/jets, a couple pieces of candy, and vampire teeth. Yeah, that cost me about $7 in tokens.

Here he is sliding ("flying") with the new space ships.

And here he is with his vampire teeth in the play tunnel.

Camping

A couple weekends ago we packed up our camping gear and got out of the heat! We headed up to the Rim with some of Jeremy's co-workers. I was a little nervous because thunderstorms were in the forecast all weekend. The last 2 times I have gone camping, it's rained on us! Once we had just set up and the rain was so bad we decided to pack everything back up and leave. The second time, it rained in the evening and we toughed it out, but it continued raining over night and we woke up completely soaked - air mattresses, sleeping bags, clothes, everything. It was horrible.

I anticipated a bad time if rain was going to be involved so I tried to be pro-active about things. I folded all the seats down in the vehicle (and left it empty in case we had to make a dash for it in the middle of the night). If that didn't work, we got the keys from Kristi and Steve for their cabin up in Heber.

We didn't leave the Valley until about 5:30 on Friday and got up to Bear Canyon Lake around 8:00 or 8:30. It looked like it rained a little just before we got there, but the weather was nice! It wasn't freezing cold, but it was a little chilly in a short sleeved shirt.

We set up and hung out with everyone around the campfire that night. It was fun to finally be able to relax!

Saturday, we went down to the lake to fish. We found a nice spot and hung out all afternoon. I don't fish so I was just sitting there enjoying the lake, trees, shade, somewhat quietness, etc. Jeremy forgot his fishing pole so he was using Andrew's while Andrew was trying to catch crawdads with the other kids. Jeremy cast the line and then asked me to hold it while he did something else and wouldn't you know it, but the line tugged and I had a decent sized trout. No one else caught anything that day (except the kids and their crawdads). How funny huh?!

Jeremy and I took our sweet time packing up our stuff on Sunday. Neither of us were in a big hurry to get back. We finally got out of there about noon, but didn't head back. The three of us went down to Woods Canyon Lake to see if Andrew could fish. Again, we found a nice spot and hung out, waiting for the fish to bite. We didn't catch any fish, but we enjoyed the bald eagles flying around and swooping in to catch fish in the water. I wished I had my camera to take a little video of them. It was cool!

A thunderstorm rolled in that caused us to finally decide to head back to the car and get home. We ate in Christopher Creek on the way back and it was still raining and cloudy. I think the weather was teasing us for what we were going back to; hot and sunny.

At least we had a small tasted of nice weather. I don't think we'll see weather like that again until Wisconsin in August. I can't wait!!!!

My fish!

The Legacy

Andrew, Jeremy, and I were able to take a little "staycation" (that's recession talk for a vacation close to home) to The Legacy Resort in Phoenix a couple weeks ago. Our friends have a time share there and were able to get extra rooms for a very reasonable price.
We weren't able to stay more than one night which was a challenge in itself being that it was a Monday night.
Both Jeremy and I worked Monday so we couldn't get out there until about 6pm (we had to drive separately, too, because Jeremy had to do some work the next day in Phoenix).
I got off of work, picked up Andrew, headed out there and checked in to our room. Jeremy was able to make it there at about 6:30 or 7:00.
We had dinner as a group in Andy and Mindy's casita and it was crazy packed! It was quite shocking to me, honestly, how many people we had crammed in there. I hurried and scarfed my food and headed back to my casita before Jeremy and Andrew. I was able to take off my shoes, lay on the bed and relax for about a half hour before Jeremy and Andrew came back to tell me they were going swimming. Since I was slowly getting out of work-mode and into staycation-mode, I headed down to the pool for the last hour it was open to hang out with the others while Jeremy and Andrew swam.
Andrew's friend Brysen stayed the night with us that night and they slept in until 8am, which was much appreciated for my sleep-deprived self. I woke up refreshed and ready to hang out in the pool all day. Literally, all day since we had to check out at 11am and we were staying to eat dinner with everyone at 7pm. I had no where else to go. =)
Jeremy had woke up super early to golf and then he went and did work stuff and came back around 2:00 or so.
Mindy allowed me to hang out with her in her casita so I didn't have to fry in the pool the whole day. That was nice because she fed us lunch, too. Sweet Mindy!!!
We headed back to the pool until about 6pm then got ready for dinner at Margaret and Willie's casita. The food was great again - of course!!! This time there were the desserts from the previous night, as well as new desserts (my favorites - brownies and some strawberry thing that Mindy makes). If you know me, you know I live for the dessert portion of the meal so I was in heaven.
Then it was time to head back home (only 45 minutes by the way) and get back to reality. It took me a while to get into vacation-mode being in the same state and all, but once I had a good night sleep and some relaxation poolside, I was all set! Really bummed we couldn't do another night with the others, but now we know for next time!

Transformers 2

Look at these cute Transformer boys! We saw the movie the day after it came out. I liked it. It was really similar to the first one, but with worse language. And that's about it. What did you think?

Swim Lessons

Andrew is in his 2nd year of swim lessons at the YMCA. Last summer he started in Pike class which is a Beginner I level for ages 3-5 years. He did just fine and moved up to Eel class which is a Beginner II level class for ages 3-5 years. He only did those 2 months of lessons and was swimming pretty well for the remainder of the summer.

This year, I wasn't sure if I needed to start him back in Pike or have him start where he ended up; in Eel. I wasn't sure what he has retained over the past year so I decided to start him all over again in Pike so he wouldn't be freaked out if he couldn't remember some stuff from last year. He's been very confident in the water and he is by far more experienced than the other kids in his class. It's too easy for him, but the teacher is doing more advanced stuff with him during class. I'm happy though because he is enjoying it and really showing confidence in the water that he didn't have last summer (even after 2 months of swim lessons). Thursday is his last day in the Pike class and he'll start Eel in July. He's looking forward to it!

He loves swim lessons!

What happens when the boat tips over??

You float. No big deal.

just keep swimming...

just keep swimming...

just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.

don't forget to breathe!

Birthday Party Mania

Well, if you follow me on Twitter, you probably saw my eventful Saturday a couple weeks back. Andrew had 5 friends invite him to their birthday parties all on the same day. The weirdest thing is that the times were completely d0-able! We had his buddy Jade's party from 10-noon, we had a combined birthday for Olivia and Emma from 1:00-3:00, then we went to Camryn's party from 3:30-5:30, and finally we went to Christopher's party from 6:30-9:00. How weird is that? I kept getting invitations thinking that I would have to turn someone or multiple people down because of time conflicts, but it just so happens to have worked out. I thought I'd be exhausted while running around, but I wasn't. It wasn't until the drive home from Mesa at 9:00 pm that the sugar high from all the cake wore off and the exhaustion from being in the sun and swimming pools all day kicked it that it hit me. And I have yet to catch up on my sleep. I can't wait for swim lessons to be over so I can stop setting my alarm on my days off! Yeah - I know, life is rough!

It felt a little like Christmas in June.

Ready to swim at the Anthem water park for birthday #2.

Andrew had fun on the little water slide!

Jeremy, we are only half way done with our birthday party fun!!! You can't be tired yet!

Andrew is taking his turn on Christopher's pinata.

The mad dash for candy!

Yummy!!!

This was voted the most elaborate cake of the day. Randi made a Bakugan cake - that's a Bakugan opening up (made out of rice krispy treat and covered in fondant frosting).

Nevada

It's been awhile since I've posted. You are so due for some updates, I know... Sorry!


Let's start off with our adventure to beautiful Elko, NV. We offered to help our friends, Dallas and Kayla, move their belongings back to Nevada. We were supposed to leave on a Thursday afternoon and drive all night (12-14) hours from Queen Creek, AZ to Spring Creek, NV. That plan did not happen as the realization sunk in that driving that long after a long day/week of packing and working was not the brightest idea. So, we left at 3:00 am on Friday morning.


I woke up with knots in my stomach and I assumed it was from lack of sleep. I am NOT a morning person and I don't even consider 3:00 am 'morning' it's still 'night' to me. I also figured I was a little anxious about the long drive ahead of us.


I was wrong on both accounts. I had some sort of bug that chose to attack this very day and affect the entire drive (which ended up being a 15 hour trip due to stopping so much). I was sick all over AZ and NV from Surprise to Alamo. Then it was gone, but my nauseousness didn't end until the following morning. Not a fun drive, I tell ya. I had to bail on Kayla and the three kids in the van to sleep in the truck Jeremy was driving because I could lay down in there. I felt so bad!


Anyway, Elko is a beautiful city and we really enjoyed our trip there! The weather was cold and rainy (which we loved - a nice change from AZ).

Andrew loved feeding the ducks. There were a TON of them!
Notice Kayla and I are not in this picture. We were huddling in the background snapping a couple pictures saying, "hurry and give them all the bread - lets get out of here!" (It was COLD)
We drove up to Lamoille (sp?) to see snow. It was nice and warm up there, but there was still snow on the ground. Crazy, huh? Here's Andrew and Mackenzie.

Me and Andrew by this beautiful running creek.

The Dalmacio family really enjoyed the scenery - that's for sure!

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to Utah. It was Dallas and Kayla's anniversary and her mom bought us rooms at a hotel so we could see that area. We wanted to find a nice restaurant to eat at, but the kids were crazy and the adults were cranky from the car ride so we ended up at Denny's. It was fun just the same.

The next day we shopped at The Gateway before we had to head over to the airport and say our goodbyes. It was sad to leave, but we really look forward to going back to Nevada to visit.

Jeremy found a sign that they should post here in AZ to remind him to not sleep while driving.
At the Gateway. Shops galore! It was fun!

Andrew is always obsessed with these contraptions. It's the gears and pulleys and whatnot that the balls roll around in. He'll watch it all afternoon if you let him.
Andrew and Mackenzie made new friends in Old Navy. They are just the kind of friends for them, they just smile and never argue with them.

This picture is for Kimball. He's in Salt Lake now probably riding his bike somewhere. =)

JEEPERS

Today was the 2nd week of our summer fun Thursday for Andrew and I. We went to an indoor amusement park in Mesa called Jeepers. It was fun! Andrew ventured on to most of the rides by himself, but I joined him on a few. Here's the monkey barrel ride that he loved to spin. I still have a slight headache from getting dizzy on it... Another spinning ride that Andrew went on by himself. He was a little bummed the worker didn't spin him faster. I told him to tell them to spin him faster next time, but he didn't.
They have a big indoor play area and this is a slide that is made out of tubes so the tubes spin as he slides down. He loved it!
Andrew was a little timid on the bumper cars because I couldn't go with him (it was a one-seater), but after his 2nd time on it, he was more comfortable and said it was his favorite ride.
Andrew rode the roller coaster about 8 times. All it does is go forward really fast and then backwards really fast. There are little hills and dips it goes on, but it just goes in a wide circle. He really loved it though.

Let Me Badger You For A Minute

I received a text message from Jeremy yesterday that said he just came across 3 badgers in the middle of nowhere (Eloy, AZ). I thought that was pretty weird, I didn't think they lived out here, but they do. I googled it.

Anyway, if you don't already know, my dad grew up in Wisconsin and my mom vacationed in Wisconsin every summer since about 1956 and she eventually ended up moving there and marrying my dad. They are big University of Wisconsin (Madison) fans (aka Badger fans). So, I texted my dad to let him know thinking he'd get a kick out of it. He called me later to ask if Jeremy meant badgers as in the animal or as in some football players or students from the University.

Now, on another note, my parents have passed on the badger craziness to Andrew. They once got him pumped up for his soccer game by listening to the U of W marching band all the way from Gilbert to Queen Creek. In fact, when asked what his favorite animal is in preschool, Andrew responded, "the badger." Enough said.

Well, when I told Andrew that daddy saw 3 badgers out in the field Andrew said, "Were they like marching around?" Hahaha! He thought daddy came across the marching band out in the middle of nowhere! Too funny!