It's been WAY too long since I blogged anything.... we all know WHY!.... and it's initials are f.b.

On New Years day we decided to go on a "hike" up the San Tan mountains (hill). The kids were SO excited about it and could not wait to go! We packed lunches and water & drove to a trail near the San Tan mountains. It was so fun being out in nature with the family. W

e even had good talks about things that are hard to do... we can DO hard things! When we got to the top of our little hill, we ate lunch. The kids emptied their bags and to our surprise we found 3 harmonicas and a guitar along with some other little toys... so, we had a mountain-top family band! It was cool looking out over the town of Queen Creek.

Then, on the way back to the suburban, we decided to look for a "treasure chest" (geocaching box) that was nearby. This one was called Blinging Billie, so we HAD to! The GPS took us off the trail and the girls split up from the boys when we had to cross under barbed wire! Finally the boys found the treasure and we made it back to the suburban just at sunset. It was beautiful, fun & a great way to start out the new year!!

We Made it Through Summer!!

...well almost. And I am so grateful for those who made this possible. A

special thanks to:

The Swimming Pool

The Apache Junction Library

and....

PlayDoh

I don't think we could have made it without you!

Happy 4th of July!

Ryan was still at girls camp that morning, but I trekked down to the park at 7:30am with my 4 kids for a patriotic picnic breakfast and parade. We had decorated a bike, a scooter, and a stroller for the parade. The kids loved it! But on the way home, they decided they had had enough... The boys went on ahead so I couldn't see them - scary... Billie was crying uncontrollably in my arms and Maren decided she couldn't walk anymore because she was too hot. (I realized that if we were pioneers, she would have been left behind for the wolves) I seriously felt desperate & SWORE that Ryan would never leave me for girls camp or any other encampment EVER AGAIN!! I found myself saying, "HAPPY FREAKIN' FOURTH OF JULY!!!" Finally I got home, fed the baby, comforted the 2-yr old, and got everyone a drink and a potty break!!! Next we had a dip in the pool to cool off. Later that night, Ryan finally came home!! The Dodges, Canovas, and Fullers came over and we had a BBQ, water fun for kids, and a little guitar hero for the adults. My kids were not the least bit impressed with the fireworks that night. (Come on! They're FIREWORKS for crying out loud! BIG COLORFUL EXPLOSIONS in the SKY!) Do my kids have thrill issues or what??

Here are some cute pics of the kids that day, courtesy of Nicole Dodge (her camera is awesome!)

A Monster-ific Day at the Museum

Grandma and Grandpa Allred treated me and my kids to a day at the Arizona Museum for Youth. They had a special Monster Exhibit!!! Hello! Boys.... Monsters..... they Looooved it!! Kade and Mack wore these scary monster hands & scared Maren. But Maren liked wearing the gross costumes while putting on their own Monster Movie! Billie looked cool in the black light room... we were all glowing. We drew pictures of monsters, played with monster puppets and monster costumes, read monster books and enjoyed the several displays of monster art throughout the exhibit. It was pretty cool. (One of the funniest things that happened was when we were walking through the art room & Kade picked up a marker and drew on a white board a monster with one eye and six arms and crazy hair.... then without a word wrote M-O-M on the bottom!) What a little turkey! That's Kade's quiet sense of humor! In the Kid Room (I don't remember the cool name that had for it, but it's a play room for kids age 0-4) is where Maren had the most fun. She is a little mom and felt right at "home" in the just-her-size kitchen/home area. She put on her little apron and started collecting and preparing food for many friends. She could have stayed there for hours! I wish I had more pictures. She's so cute! Thanks Mom and Dad for the good time and the memories!!!