It’s that time again! Scottsdale Moms Blog is hosting Mom’s Night Out on July 31st at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort!
The location and date promise to be the perfect combination for a great night of relaxing, catching up with friends, meeting new ones, winning some prizes and enjoying a glass of wine.
Tickets are going fast so round up your friends and get yours asap! Click here for the details…
As Baylor would say – or Yellowstone to you and me.
Peter is always dying to take a day trip into the park. I am always looking for ways to talk him out of it. We do a lot of driving while in Montana and strapping the kiddo in the car for another long trip seems a little cruel – for her and I as I always am the one trying to entertain, soothe and distract her while in the car. Not to mention I hate car trips – I think they are boring, I get car sick and I never get to drive. Whiney? Maybe. But you drive to San Diego and back in the back seat with a kiddo who is so very over being in the car and let me know how you like it.
Despite all that, I didn’t have a lot to try to talk PW into this year. I can’t ride horses (and neither could he – if he gets to drink and I don’t, then he doesn’t get to ride….) this year and there’s only so much hiking we can do so I gave in and told him to plan the trip. And I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The park was packed, but we were able to get around fairly easily and hit a few of the sites; Norris Geyser, lunch in the woods, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and some wildlife. B had a moment of get-me-out-of-this-car, but once she got to see some elk up close and personal, the rest of the ride was smooth.
Norris Geyser Basin. It looks like the surface of the moon…
It doesn’t look dangerous, but the temperature of the water is boiling
The color of the water was amazing.
Boiling mud
Steam vent
After Norris, we headed to a campsite to have a picnic. As we wrapped up, B got her first look at a permenate porta potty – basically a hole in the ground with a toilet seat. She screamed and refused to use it. Plan b involved finding a smooth log and let her go as nature intended. She decided that peeing in the wilderness was awesome.
Next up was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. I had no idea what to expect and I was totally blown away when I looked over the the little wall to the canyon below.
The color of the water was spectacular
There are like a thousand stairs that take you to the bottom of the falls. I am putting this on the list for next year!
Some bison
Daddy and his girl. And his favorite Beet Seed hat.
The girls
This year was Baylor’s first trip to the Livingston Round Up Rodeo. We go every year and it’s a blast – the childless version can be seen here….But being pregnant and with Ms. B means we had the slightly less rowdy version this year. However fun none the less! B made it all the way to the spectacular fireworks display complete with patriotic music (the sun doesn’t set until after 9pm so the fireworks started around 10pm). Such a trooper!
Getting to sit with the big girls
The Noni
PW in his rodeo finest
Titi, cousin Zoe’s mom
I had a chance to experiment with my camera and the speed setting a little. The results were pretty darn good!
This is my favorite.
Steer wrestling…this guy is a Wranglers model so I felt a picture was necessary.
And this is the funniest part of the whole evening – this is the rodeo clown with 4 dummies strapped to himself that move like puppets -they all do the YMCA. It was hilarious and just a pinch disturbing.
No really, I do. I love the silliness, creativity and pageantry. And in a small town parade, it’s taken to a whole new level – not necessarily a better level than say the Rose Bowl Parade, but a new level just the same.
Poor B had maybe 6 hours of sleep the night before the Livingston 4th of July Parade. She got over an hour of a nap in her bed and then napped the 45 minute drive to the event – I had to wake her up when we got there…which explains why her pigtails are crooked and she looks less than pleased in the first few pictures.
Getting into the spirit
Cousin Zoe!
Cousin Madi. One half of the “big girls” B was chasing around all week
Learning how to pick up candy from the big kids
Noni, Momma and her girl
See? This is why small town parades are the best. Where else are you going to see a plumbing company advertising by putting a toilet on top of a trailer AND making it shoot water like a fountain?!
I hope you are enjoying some fun, family time and cocktails this 4th of July! And thank you to all the service men and women who keep our country safe so that we can celebrate!
Peter and I were talking on my birthday and I asked if when we started dating at 17 if he had ever thought we’d be together at 30. His response was that he knew we’d be together at 30 and beyond. The man has a way with words alright.
Case in point: on our first official date, we went to our high school football game. He told me throughout the game that he heard a song and it made him think of me. I was so smitten and couldn’t wait to hear what it was. As we drove from the game to the dance, he put in a CD and smiled sweetly as Sir Mix-a-Lots I Like Big Butts blasted through the speakers. I couldn’t help but crack up. His sense of humor and willingness to take a HUGE risk just made me like him even more.
October 1999
We spent the next four years after high school living it up at UofA. I have plenty of pictures to prove all the fun we had, however, most of the people in the pictures now have respectable jobs where being dressed as an Olympian from the 80s with a 40 in their hand isn’t quite the image they want out there. And so save myself some time asking them for permission or cropping them out, I have found this picture that is a good indicator of the typical date dash.
Yes, yes my dress is made of plastic wrap. Thank you for noticing. Also please not that it is not see through – 4+ rolls does make for a lovely “anything but clothes” costume.
And on June 24th, 2005, in 110 degree heat, we finally got to say “I Do”.
I’m aware my extra large feet are not my best quality, but those were awesome shoes…
Happy 7th anniversary PW! Can’t wait for 70 more!
Phew, what a weekend! We spent the entire weekend celebrating Baylor and the amazing fact that she is now three years old!
The festivities kicked off with some presents from mom and dad – Dr. Barbie, Hello Kitty everything and pancakes for breakfast. The morning quickly ran into her party for her buddies. PW and I are suckers for backyard shin digs – when we remodeled our house, the phrase “oh, that would be so awesome for a party” came up many, many times. Therefore we spent the last few weeks planning the best splash party any kid without a pool could ever ask for. I started a Pinterest board and had a blast collecting ideas. The best one though was the Kid Car Wash. Peter was pumped for a new hands on project and his creation was amazing. There was also our (ghetto) water slide that consisted of a small pool at the bottom of the swing set slide. Add in some big buckets of water (which turned out to be a hit all on their own), some water balloons and giant squirt guns and we had a hit on our hands!
Sunday afternoon was the family get together which consisted of actual family and also our close friends who we consider family. It was so nice to catch up with all of them, eat Baylor’s favorite food – quesadillas and open presents. All in all, it was amazing and totally exhausting – everything a birthday should be!
Pancakes and Dr.Barbie
Either craftyness is contagious, or PW’s been holding out on me. I showed him this free printable website and he nixed it as being too much work – then surprised us with this Saturday morning!
The Amazing Kid Car Wash – complete with bubble machine. Even the parents were considering a run.
Splash down!
Serious squirt guns.
When buckets become fun…
It’s official when the candles are blown out.
Momma and her girl.
Ready to blow out the candles, again.
Finally a picture of the three of us!
Eating her cake in her new “doll” high chair. Thankfully Grandma thought ahead and bought a sturdy one!
Bear was so tired, his butt didn’t make it all the way into bed.
The table behind our couch needed a little…something. Some change. Some summer. Something new. So I splurged on some good Pottery Barn candles and grabbed their catalog too to steal some decorating ideas. A few cheapy sea shells and voila! Instant summer decorating! Check out Scottsdale Moms Blog today to see the results!
We made a quick trip to Tucson this weekend and had a ball. Normally I am opposed to overnight trips – they’re just too much work. Packing up the kiddo’s stuff, bedding and “just in case” supplies is a pain in itself, but I have to find someone to check in on the BearMeister, pack myself and PW…it’s just a lot of work for 24 hours. Not to mention that this weekend we had stuff scheduled on both Saturday and Sunday so we were litterally zipping in and out of town. But to my big surprise, it all went very smooth and was a ton of fun!
We arrived with enough time before dinner to walk around campus. It was so much fun to see The Phi, Peter’s fraternity house (which is currently being occupied by another fraternity and caused PW to hold back a few swear words), buildings that we each attended classes in, our favorite resturants, our respective dorms…the list goes on. It was amazing to think back and realized how much life has changed in the last *cough* eight years since we graduated. The campus has changed so much, yet all the amazing memories are still there. It’s even more fun that PW and I were there together so it wasn’t me showing him, but rather getting to tell each other our favorite memories. At one point Baylor sighed and asked when we were going back to the “HO-teeeellll”. Apparently memory lane was not as exciting for her.
Ah The Phi. I lived in the window right above the “Alpha Phi”
Next we were off to dinner with the family I babysat for while at UofA. It’s scary to think that Madi is now graduating high school and headed off to college herself! Amazing how she’s grown and I haven’t aged a day…to say that it’s wonderful to catch up with the L family is an understatement. They are truly amazing people and even when we haven’t seen each other in years, it’s like we just talked yesterday. Dinner was at one of our collective favorites: Rosa’s. I had forgotten how amazing the refried beans are and I said a little prayer of thanks that the morning sickness has passed so I could enjoy every stinking last bite of my enchilada and tacos!
After dinner it was the UofA baseball game – PW’s reason for planning the trip. The team has moved off campus to Hi Corbett Field which turned out to be awesome. The stadium was packed, they served beer and there was a jump house, what more could you ask for? Oh yeah, a win! We got that too.
Pretty sunset
We had to teach Baylor not to cheer for the other team. She broke out her signature “dirty look” instead.
PW and BW
The Super Moon! The camera phone didn’t do it justice.
We headed back to the “ho-teelll” after it was looking promising that the Cats would pull off the win. We were impressed with The Lodge on the Desert. It was close to the hotel and campus, full remodeled and a nice price. Bay was excited to try out her new Pea Pod sleep tent and it went swimmingly. If you have any traveling to do with a toddler soon (especially one that sleeps in a crib but has out grown a pack and play) then I highly recommend the tent. It has an air mattress, is one piece that folds flat and doubles as a play area. It was perfect way to divide a room for her and us so we could do crazy stuff like brush our teeth and watch TV without waking her up!
We’re already talking about another slightly longer trip later this summer to one of the resorts. Sure there are two world famous resort just down the street, but there’s something about getting out of town, visiting places you haven’t been to in years and a long drive that make a trip even better.
Like most Phoenicians do, I dread summer time in Arizona all winter long. I hate the thought of the air conditioner running non stop only cooling the house to 81 degrees and yet getting a $400 electricity bill. I loath having to cool the car down after leaving the grocery store to avoid giving Bay and myself third degree seat belt burns. I despise watching my lovely garden wither and die despite numerous shade devices, water and love.
But last weekend, it hit me…I kind of do love summer. Yes the heat is horrible, especially in August and September when you know the cool weather is so close, but there are some great parts about summer around here:
~the smell of Water Babies sunscreen and chlorine
~tan skin and swimming
~blueberries, strawberries, watermelon and summer salads
~getting into the great restaurants because everyone else has skipped town
~summer vacation: Montana! San Diego! Flagstaff!
~Arnold Palmers
~this summer I’ll have to do without delicious margaritas, but a girl can dream
~Baylor’s birthday, my birthday (hello 3-0!) and our anniversary (what’s the 7th anniversary gift? sunscreen?)
~4th of July fireworks, patriotic music and bbq
~baseball
~coming up with ridiculous ways to enjoy being outside sans pool – like rigging a hose to the top of the slide and putting a wading pool at the bottom under an umbrella and a mister
Sure all these things exist year round, but there’s something so right about enjoying them in 110 degrees that makes them even better than any other time of year. Maybe it’s the heat that has warped my brain, but at least I am enjoying the results.
The Goon Room 