HOT DATE!

 

This picture marked the beginning of our hot date Saturday Night. We parked at the top of a parking garage by The Grove, it had a great 360 view of the City lights in LA. WE wandered through an outdoor mall that had restaraunts, water fountains and various boths seling things outside the major stores. It was packed with people and we walked and talked and people watched. Then we stopped for a chai (to keep me awake for the late night)

The beginning of Birthday number 4

Last Saturday we celebrated Arwyn's 4th birthday and aunt Jessica's (Josiah's sister) 29th birthday together since we had all the sibs together. Arwyn requested a vanilla princess cake, so i made the cake the night before and Jessica requested that they decorate it together, so Arwyn mixed the different colors of icing and Jessica put it on, and they decorated it princess style. I couldn't find a cinderella (Arwyn's favorite princess) cake topper so i found a small rubber one in the toy section at walmart. It worked well. Uncle Joel made yummy hamburgers and we had watermelon and salad. It was fun celebrating together, and this marked the beginning of birthday celebrations. Sunday of course was daddy's day, but monday Arwyn got to share a hot fudge sunday that The Red Robin staff brought to her after singing happy birthday. We were having dinner with some friends and they snuck in that she was having a birthday tommorrow. Tuesday was actually her birthday and we started the day sleeping in! (much to Daddy and mommy's delight) and then made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Daddy found some free movies here in Sant Ana and Arwyn chose American GIrl: Kit Kitridge over Horton and Charlottes Web (which are actually two of there favorite movies). They made it through the whole movie ("they" is the key word). Then Arwyn wanted togo to CHili's. We let her pick whatever she wanted for lunch and she picked a blue freeze drink, and she nibbled on some of our things too. The chili's staff came and sang happy birthday as well, and she buried her head in my shoulder at first, then braved and relished it with sheepish delight. They gave her a HUGE brownie mountian, that she gladly shared with us. Then we drove home while the sugar crashes took place. We spent the afternoon swimming and recieving birthday phone calls from grandparents and aunt Jessica, having so much fun that we didn't document it with the camera. We did get one clip of them swimming with our video camera, which I will try to post, or rather get Josiah to post if we can figure it out. They had so much sugar yesterday that I held off on the chocolate cupcakes that Arwyn requested till today. I will post some pics of those this evening. The birthday festivities have pretty much come to a close, except the day after we get back in to Sac we are driving to Vallejo to go to Magic Mountain for her birthday gift. What a week!

 

 

 

 

Big Boy!

So cute! When I get home I want to scan a pic of Josiah near this age on the potty, and compare how similiar they are. He is doing so well with his potty training!

The Last of The Home Place

 

 

 

 

Another thing Arizona never fails with is Beautiful sunsets! I just couldn't not post all my fav pics of the last few days in AZ, thanks for indulging me:)

The Home Place part 4

 

Life is Exciting...

 

A boy and his stick...

 

Finding more hammocks...

 

The Home Place part 3

Profile of 8 1/2 months

 

Sprinklers at The Home Place

 

 

 

The Home Place part 2

On the way to Aunt Kristi's house...

 

Reading with Daddy...

 

Running through the desert, looking for rattlesnakes:)

 

pearing at a belly...

 

Month Long road trip:stop four

 

In the rural parts of Arizona is a place called Sunizona... Where now, Great Grandma and Grandpa Lind (Josiah's mom's parents) live in a place called the The Home Place.

 

 

 

Out in the country we don't wear seatbelts, what fun that is!

Month long Road trip: Tuscon part two

It is so fun to see our little girl become a big girl. She will be 4 in a few days! She has discovered what her daddy wishes everyone know about Arizona. If you have never lived there you hear Arizona and you think desert,cactus, and triple digit weather. Which is all true. But its not always excruciating hot, not once in our time in Catalina, just outside of Tucson, was it very hot. Instead we enjoyed 70 to 80's, breezes, humming birds, bunnies, hammocks in the shade beneath beautiful vines on the porch, butterflies, beautiful purple and blue shaded mountain views all around. The greatest part is that every time you walk into a building they have AC blasting, its so refreshing. The bottom photos were an effort to get a belly profile, didnt reallly turn out that way, but more will come.

 

 

 

 

The Brook

 

We had a picnic by this brook/stream (we couldn't decide which it was, or if there is a difference), and after lunch the kids headed up the stream in there chones, they climbed over rocks, in thigh high pools of water, and up little waterfalls. Finally we tested this water that they were in and it was FREEZING!

 

Mt. Lemmon

 
 


Photographs by Josiah Watters

Month long road trip: stop three, Tucson

So over a week ago we got into Tucson where Nana and Papa live. They have this wonderful porch with shady vines and a nice hammock. Malachi found it right away. Arwyn found me in the house and said "mommy come look at Chi Chi!", I came out on the porch and couldn't see him, till I noticed a little lump in the hammock, he was folded up nicely in it. He stayed there for 45 minutes, just soaking in the breeze, hiding out in the hammock. Now I have to fight him for it!

 

There are lots of fun places to hide in Nana's house:)

 

We went on a drive to Mt. Lemmon and took a little hike. Nothing beats sticks and rocks and bugs...and cliffs!

 
 


That was all before Josiah and I left for Minneapolis for conference last Tuesday. we just arrived home last night, Happy to se eour kiddos. While we were gone Nana started teaching Malachi to potty train. Yeah! less work for me! I am so grateful, there are some really cute pictures of him in his big boy underwear and going potty, but they will have to be posted much later in August, cause now Nana is on her way to Peru and wasn't able to pass the pics off... they will be coming...


P.S. Arwyn is finally sleeping at night with big girl underwear, no Diaper!