A Couple of Especially Hot Days and 16 Years!

Weekly Happenings: Our week started off with a bang…on Sunday night, our AC stopped working. Paul was able to take a couple of days off work to install a window AC in our room (so that we would at least have one cool room to all sleep in since the AC company couldn’t send someone out until Tuesday) and be here for when the repairman showed up (I always feel better when he’s here for that type of thing). The compressor stopped working, so we opted to replace the entire outside unit (since that was not much more than replacing just the compressor). While waiting for the repairman to be able to come, we spent a lot of time in other air conditioned areas. The middle of the week was pretty typical and we ended the week with a much more preferable event: our 16th wedding anniversary. We exchanged gifts (I got a new purse and Paul got a new ball cap and a beard-grooming kit), went out for dinner, and then let the kids run around at the local outdoor mall playground.

The Weekly Weather: Warm and sunny…not too humid, which has been nice.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been busy with work but has enjoyed having his evenings back to be able to relax and hang out more with the family.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I’ve been keeping the kids happily entertained. 🙂

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He enjoyed getting to go meet his first grade teacher. He’s excited that his teacher likes superheroes just like him, and is looking forward to seeing his school friends again.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: Just about everything, haha. She keeps us on her toes with her ever-increasing reach and wins us over with her sweet little phrases (“there you go”, “thank you”, “hi”, “awww”, and the like).

This Week in Pictures:

 

This is the result of about two minutes with the book box. I was surprised when she lifted the entire thing (after she’d emptied it about halfway) to bring to me. That’s how it ended up on the floor. She is definitely a determined child.
We were waiting for Paul to run a quick errand when this pigeon just randomly landed on our car. Joseph got a kick out of it (he loves a specific set of books that feature a pigeon).
This was our set up for Monday night (Abigail had already napped in our room on Monday afternoon). Thank goodness our room is so big!
Waking up from one last nap session in Mom and Dad’s room on Tuesday afternoon. The AC repairman was able to replace the outdoor unit about an hour after I took this picture, so both kids were able to be back in their own rooms that night.
Pushing Minnie in her stroller.
Busy builder.
She loves these things!
Anniversary flowers and my new purse.
Paul showing off his beard. I think it looks really good on him.
Family shot! Abigail really liked seeing herself (and I think she might have been saying “hi” to everyone else).
This is where 16 years of marriage has taken us. It’s been a wild and rough ride at times, but it’s also been amazing.

Bonus Video: Abigail dancing to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse exit song (and saying “bye” to the characters)

Post-vacation Recovery

Weekly Happenings: We’ve pretty much been in recovery mode since we got home from vacation. Vacation as a child and vacation as a parent are TOTALLY different, haha. We spent most of the week just lazing around the house (well, Paul had to go to work). We had a few play dates to fill up the time, which were fun.

The Weekly Weather: warm, humid, and pollen everywhere, haha. We did have a couple of good rainstorms come through, which greened everything up nicely.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s officially done with school! I’m so, so proud of all the hard work he put into it. Not only did he complete his degree while working full-time, but he maintained excellent grades while doing so. Not to mention still finding time to maintain the house, yards, and spending time with me and the kids.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: My main task seems to have been working on getting the kids back on our time zone, haha. I did get to go to my monthly book club meeting, which was a nice break. One funny thing that happened: one morning, I noticed a burrowed hole (about an inch in diameter) in the larger of my two succulent pots. I brushed the dirt back into the hole and told myself I would watch it to see if the hole reappeared. It didn’t, so I figured whatever had made it had moved on. A couple days later, I noticed more loose soil in the same pot (easy to notice since my succulent pots have a layer of gravel on top). I went to brush it away and noticed a section of it…undulate. At that point, I got Paul (because, well, it could be friend or foe, haha). He discovered one of the huge toads that have been living in our yard in there. That thing was about the size of my fist! Paul gave it a temporary home in our larger planter until it could move back into the yard somewhere.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been enjoying soaking in the last few bits of summer. He goes back to school in a little over a week. He’s excited to meet his new teacher and see all his school friends again.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s been up to (and into) everything! She loves to give hugs (and even says, “awwww”, when she does so), has added more words to her vocabulary, and seems to have even added a couple phrases. Once, she said, “I go ni-ni” (I go night-night) and she says “Der-oo-go” (there you go) on a daily basis. She also has a very clear “no” (haha). It’s crazy to think that she’ll be two in just a few months!

This Week in Pictures:

“Playing” a game together.
When did he get so tall?!
The toad that had taken up residence in my succulent.
Paul dug a hole in this planter for it to use as a burrow (after he had carefully extracted it from my succulent pot). It stayed there for a bit and then moved on.
She was walking all over the house like this, haha.
She LOVES lift-the-flap books.
A perfect example of one of our lazy summer early evenings. I needed to get dinner made, so I turned on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
It’s been 8 months since I’ve gotten rid of all the nonstick cookware in my house. I enjoy my stainless steel pots, but I LOVE my cast iron.
Park fun.
Joseph found a cool painted rock at the park. He re-hid it so another kid could have the fun of finding it.
I spent most of the time at the park chasing this one around. She was so excited to get out amongst the trees.
My Little Bear always “wants something to put on.”
Paul took some time today to trim our trees.
They needed to be trimmed and he said he was tired of having to duck under them when mowing (and still getting poked even though he ducked). They look so good!

 

 

NOT a Picture-less Post

I’m breaking from my normal format here because this post is essentially going to just be a ton of pictures. We just got back from visiting with family and friends in California. We had fun at some amusement parks, ate out (way too much, haha), and had a grand old time. We’re home now and trying to get back into our routine (especially the baby who decided to get onto California time just in time for us to get back home…). Included are a handful of pictures from right before we left as well. Enjoy! 🙂

Before vacation:

One o’clock church proves that sleep is NOT only for the weak. 🙂
Zoo fun. We sure love our little zoo!
I wonder if that miniature mongoose could smell his popcorn? 😉
Checking out the rocks…er, I mean hippos.
Jaguar sighting!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the picture of sheer determination. Please note that her sleep sack is still fully zipped up, haha.
Sweet baby girl!
A boy and his Squirtle. We missed out on the pay-your-age day for Build-a-Bear (getting there 45 minutes before opening was way too late, apparently), but were able to use a nice coupon they sent everyone (to make up for the fiasco, I assume).

Hotel Shenanigans (we stopped halfway between home and our Californian destination):

Eating a bedtime snack while watching TV. Daddy and Bubba were swimming in the hotel pool.
Discovering the hotel cupboards don’t have safety latches…

Knott’s Berry Farm:

That red speck in the center is Joseph’s hat. 🙂 This is probably one of his favorite rides.
He likes these swings, too.
These trucks were pretty fun.
Just chillin’.
Driving with both steering wheels is the way to go!
Stopping to take a quick picture with his sister.
Munchin’ on snacks while Bubba rides rides.
Abigail got a chance to ride a few rides, too (see her itty-bitty head on the other side of me?).
It was fun to get to meet up with Paul’s brother and his family.
Abigail loved this ride! It went around as well as up and down.
It took some searching (and a tip from an employee), but we found Abigail a Woodstock.

Mini Golf fun (Abigail and I hung out at Grandma’s):

In front of the castle.
I love these goofballs!

Sea World:

Trying to stay cool.
Watching the harbor seals swim around.
Abigail and Joseph loved getting right up next to the glass.
In the polar bear cave.
Sea turtles!
Abigail would shriek with happiness and do really fast knee-bends (her version of jumping) whenever one would swim by.
It was such a great experience getting to see them so close.

Family fun:

My sweet Tara (her husband was married to my sister before she passed away, but she, my brother-in-law, and their children still come visit whenever there’s any family in town, which I love) brought some of her kiddos to visit. Here’s her oldest daughter and her youngest along with Abigail.
Grandma’s backyard is fun to run around in!
Especially when there are cousins!
Grass is fun when there aren’t any fire ants! 😉
Playing is exhausting!

Family fun:

Tasting Grandma’s popsicle.
Trading Pokemon.

Mall fun:

“Driving along in my automobile…”
She doesn’t look excited in this shot, but she did enjoy cruisin’ the mall in this cart.
Showing me his completed LEGO creation that we got him while at the mall (Abigail got a Donald Duck plush to add to her growing collection of Mickey Mouse clubhouse friends).

More fun stuff (we met up with the people Paul lived with for a short time after his mission and they brought stuff for the kids; I love that we are still in contact with these people who were such a blessing in our lives, and I’m so grateful they treat us and our kiddos like family):

Abigail got a backpack (sorry for the “action shot…life with a toddler) that came with a spot to hold a…
…Minnie Mouse!
Joseph got a cool set of Star Wars figures as well as a Star Wars shirt (he had to wait until I washed it before he could wear it).

And last but not least, more family fun before heading home:

Playing with Lincoln Logs like drumsticks.
She was fascinated by the fact that the Lincoln Logs could make sounds, haha.
Snugglin’ with Grandma.
Getting ready to race cars with Uncle Aaron.

Oh…I almost forgot:

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to survive living in Arizona. o.0