Phoenix

In May we went to Phoenix to visit Jon's Dad. We had the privilege of Jon's mom coming with us for the trip. She was so helpful with the boys during the vacation that I think she might have to come with us from now on wherever we go. Shawn was the most excited to spend a lot of time swimming on this vacation. I took him to a public pool the day after we got there and it was closed for the season. Closed? In Phoenix? Where it is always hot? We went the next day and the pool we went to was so cold because they didn't warm it. It was only in the low 80's so we didn't stay too long. We stayed in Vegas on the way home and the kids were so excited for the awesome pool. We checked to make sure it was open when we got there. Changed into swimsuits and went down to see that it was closed. Someone had started bleeding in the pool so it was close for the night to be sanitized. What luck! Who knew it would be so hard to go swimming while on a vacation to Phoenix and Vegas.

I took some ideas from Pinterest to help us get through a 12 hour drive each way. Some included $1 items wrapped up like gifts for the kids to open periodically and another was bringing tin foil for the kids to create things with. Here is Shawn's sword and a tree with roots.

Stopped to check out Hoover Dam

When we arrived I took the boys to a local fun center to get their wiggles out. It was really busy and had a lot of....interesting characters. I chose to carry Evan the whole time. At one point I was trying to get something for Shawn and couldn't do it with one hand so I put Evan down. When I went to pick him back up, he was gone. I mean gone! Not anywhere in the large room we were in. I noticed we were close to the front doors and panicked thinking he ran into the parking lot or was grabbed by someone. I was one of those crazy ladies running around screaming, which freaked Shawn out. That little stinker had run as fast as he could the moment I put him down and had gone into a different room where the arcade was. It was one of the scariest moments of my life as a mom. This is a picture of Shawn doing the bumper cars. He was the exact height limit you had to be so he was barely big enough to hold onto the controls. He held his own though. He was with a group of teenage boys and would ram right into them at full blast.

One of the days we visited the Phoenix Zoo.

The highlight of the zoo was the splash pad.

Shawn's best impression of a flamingo

The petting zoo, which Evan loved and Shawn hated

We decided to check out the Mesa Temple and visitor center. One of the missionaries gave Shawn this little picture of Jesus so he held it up in every photo we took.

We stopped in the exciting town of Wikieup on the drive home.

You have to love Priceline. We got to stay in the 5 star resort in Vegas for $90. The grounds were beautiful. The room was huge and the bathroom was amazing.

The only group photo I took the whole trip

Cutie Pies

One of my neighbors was doing a mini photo shoot at an orchard nearby so I signed the boys up for their 2 year and 5 year pictures. I wasn't feeling well for the couple days before the photo shoot which is when I was planning on going shopping. It got to be the morning of and I paniced trying to figure out what to dress them in. I ended up going the matchy matchy route which is exactly what I didn't want. I was so mad at myself for waiting until the last minute. I really don't love Shawn's outfit, but I do love these pictures.

This one is my absolute favorite!

Neighborhood Water Party

One of our neighbors held an end-of-year water party in her yard. My boys thought it was great and were happily getting as wet as possible. I bought these little squirters for the occasion which are much easier than water guns. I had to stay right with Evan the whole time because all the older kids kept trying to take his from him.

Evan's favorite thing was the water balloons.

Shawn asked me if he could go get a dessert then came back with this giant cup full of cantaloupe and blueberries. Man, my boys love fruit, but I am not complaining.

Cute Boys

Shawn saw kids out selling lemonade one day and begged me every day to do the same. He made his own poster and decided on putting the Eiffel Tower next to him so "people will know that I am selling something".  We decided to sell cookies instead and I put him out there right as all the kids were walking home from school. It worked like a charm. He had about 3 dozen cookies and sold them all within 1/2 hour. He used the money he made to buy a scripture case. Cute kid.  

I told Evan not to pick the strawberries yet. Being the good boy that he is, he listened and just ate them right off the vine instead.



I have mentioned before how much Shawn loves to clean. Not only does he love to clean but he is very efficient. He insists on vacuuming behind and under the couches. Which is fine with me  because I never want to get that detailed. 

Mothers Day Firsts

Shawn gave me his first school-made Mothers' Day gift. He was so excited and told me all about how he painted it purple because he knew I would love that. He was so proud of his little gift and carefully hid it from me. I remember being so excited to make those gifts in school and now here I am receiving those gifts. What a fun mom moment!

Hiking the Y

For date night last week we decided to go out to eat and then hike the Y. The restaurant was so busy because of Mother's Day that we ended up starting the hike later than we wanted. We hoped to be sitting on the Y to watch the sun set, but ended up watching it set as we hiked. It was still beautiful. After we had relaxed at the Y and started our way DOWN the mountain, I decided it was a really fun activity. ;)

This is the only bit of sun that we saw while hiking



Beautiful Views!!

There are 12 switch backs on the hike to the Y. What we didn't realize is that if you go straight
at turn 10 then it takes you to the bottom of the Y. Why oh why did we not know that. The
last switchback was so steep and horrible. Well, now we know.

Finally made it just before it got really dark

Caution: Inappropriate content

Evan turns 2!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet, energetic, smart little guy. We love Evan so much and are so glad he is part of our family. He is talking more and more each day and always refers to himself in the 3rd person. Every morning he calls for me and then says good morning. As soon as he sees Shawn for the first time that day he always says, "Hi Shawn". He loves to be cuddled and held. He insists upon being rocked to sleep and requests which song he wants you to sing to him. He will climb as high as he can and jump from anything possible. We often talk about how we will probably end up in the ER with broken bones with him. His favorite place to be is outside in the dirt. I am not sure if he likes playing or eating the dirt more. He makes the funniest face that make me laugh everyday. Although he can completely exhaust me, I am so happy to be his mommy. He is a joy!

Getting ready for the party



Playing one of Evan's favorite games, London Bridges



Let the presents begin

Look at that face!



And that one



Once he opened a gift, he would take a moment to show everyone

He had plenty of help from all his boy cousins

Sadly, Evan reached a point where the party was too much and he couldn't handle it anymore. He just cried and wouldn't let anyone talk to him. He calmed down after people left and I turned on a Mickey Mouse show for him.

While I was cleaning up I found this little boy eating the leftover whip cream.



The morning of his actual birthday I made him Mickey Mouse pancakes



Blowing out the candles that I had to relight several times because he thought it was so fun.



Then we headed to Chukee-Cheese...




And played SkeeBall, and then SkeeBall, and then SkeeBall

My dad came with us and decided to help Evan roll the ball instead of throwing it overhand.

Went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. One of the workers asked what plans we had today and when I told her it was Evan's birthday she got him a shake for free.

Finished off the day with chasing bubbles