Back to School- YIPPEE!!

Okay so call it a "loser-mommy" moment. The girls went back to school over a WEEK ago and I am now finally posting! I have NO idea where the time has gone! Brynn is in All-Day Pre-Kindergarten (yeah, I said ALL DAY!), Greer 1st and Reegan 4th!!!! They are loving it. Brynn has come home very happy, yet tired! Who could blame her! She is a BIG girl now. She takes her lunch, eats in the same cafeteria as her sisters and play on the playground. Needless to say both Brynn and Greer bring home half of the sandbox with them every afternoon! For me it's been quite a transition. It's been 9 years since I have had NO child under foot. I am enjoying the quiet moments but find that I look back at the day (especially when Kevin asks "So what did you do today?") and wonder what did I do? There have been some projects that I have looked forward to like cleaning out toys, clothes, closets! PTO has kept me busy which I am very grateful for. I sometimes wonder if I would have joined if I were still living on Bainbridge. Probably not! I count my blessings. This "journey" living here in AZ, even though it is so far from my comfort zone of family and friends, has truly been a blessing.

Brynn's classroom!
Brynn was asked to make an apple on the Back-to-School day for her cubbie
Brynn's cubbie
Greer's class/desk
Reegan has the most amazing teacher! She is super young..... a recent ASU grad, slash track star that all of the kids love! She even has a tattoo on her leg. Kevin and I are guessing that it has something to do with her running!

The BIG first morning breakfast. If you look close enough you can see that Brynn is still wearing her rocker silver dress-up pants. And NO she was not allowed to wear it to school!


Dropping Brynn off at school on the first day. The Pre-K kids have to be signed in and out each day which goofs up our old drop-of schedule but so far so good.
Brynn's classroom

Brynn is not so happy with me at the moment because I asked her to sit at her desk for a picture. She was more interested in checking out the "kitchen".
Where I drop off and pick up Brynn
Reegan and Brynn after their first day. Who does Reegan look like in this picture? It's moments like this when I reflect on pictures that I have taken that I wonder how in the world has my baby gotten so grown-up!
The cool shades where the kids can gather while they are waiting for their parents to pick them up.
It's been a GOOD first day!

HAPPY BIG 60 !!!

Happy Birthday Gigi! We hope that you had a great day! We miss you and send you birthday hugs and kisses!!

Bartlett Lake

We had an awesome day on Bartlett Lake last weekend. Spent about 8 hours on the water! The girls got to try out the Sea Doo's and knee boarding. Kevin (my trusted soul mate) took me out on the Sea Doo for my first time ever..... Needless to say I was the only casualty..... yes, got dumped and skipped along the water like a rock! Just couldn't hold on after the 3rd SHARP turn!!!! Was much fun, but unfortunately left my beloved sunglasses on the bottom of the lake!!!!! Can't wait to do it again but now know that we need a lot more water, sunscreen and I am buying those crocodile things that keep your glasses around your neck!!!

Flagstaff

We headed up to Flagstaff two weekends ago. The Decker Family invited us to spend a couple nights up at their parents home. We had a great time. The weather was cooler and we even got to enjoy a few rain spells in the afternoons. On the first day we took at 3 mile hike (which I unfortunately have no pictures of) up into the red mountains. It was a great hike...until we lost track of Reegan and Alexis on the way back. They missed the cut-off about 1/3 from the end. No one realized it (and there were 17 of us) until we all packed into the cars to leave and someone asked "Where are Reegan and Alexis?" At first I thought they were kidding..... but no. Needless to say it felt like Kevin and I couldn't run back up the trail fast enough. We pretty much knew where they got off-track. At one point Reegan figured that they were headed in the wrong direction and had the foresight to back-track. We found them a bit shaken, but fine. It was just another life lesson. But one that added a few years onto the parents!
The next day we took off for a 1.5 mile round trip hike underground. With headlamps on we descended about 100 feet underground into the Flagstaff Lava River Cave http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/peaks/lava-river-cave.shtml . It was a lot of fun! On the last day we took the kids into Old Town so that they could put coins on the railroad track. It's a Decker Family tradition.

Greer placing her coins on the track in hopes that they will all get smooshed together in one long row.
Brynn and Daddy waiting for the train.... and waiting....and waiting.....
Greer and Peanut
A train did finally come, but to the kids disappointment it was on the wrong track! It took awhile but we finally were successful. A train came by and flattened their coins. They thought it was pretty cool!

Greer, Alexis and Reegan ready with head lamps that we bought at Home Depot.
Brynn was a bit concerned about what lay ahead but she was such a trooper! She held Kevin's hand the entire way and had a great time. She was probably the only one small enough to actually walk the entire way. The rest of us had to watch our heads and crab-crawl in places.


The "Hole" (entrance).

We dropped about 100 feet where it was about 35-45 degrees. Ice hung on the walls in places. If you turned your head lamps off you were left in complete darkness!
Here we are at the end of our 3/4 mile trek into the lava tube.

The girls had a lot of fun in the tree house in the backyard. They played house like typical "girls" and even figured out how to get dirt and water up there to make mud-pies! They were more fun to make than clean up!

It's Raining....

and I couldn't be happier! All is well!!!!

Fourth of July weekend in Heber, AZ

What an awesome weekend! We headed East about 2 1/2 hours to the small town of Heber (population of 2700 year round residents and 6500+ elevation). Our friends Carolyn and Joe Decker's parents, sisters and brothers all live there. Sooo much cooler and I am happy to say it rained every afternoon! It really was a nice break from the desert heat.
On Friday we went to the town carnival and then on Saturday they shut down the HWY for the parade. Later that night we went to the High School and sat out on the baseball field and witnessed the most amazing firework display we have ever seen. They literally looked like they were falling from the sky right above our heads. One of the highlights for Kevin and I was off-roading on the orange Rhino and sand-rail (if you enlarge the picture of Brynn and Carolyn sitting in the Rhino giving each other a look you can see it)). After we got out of Scottsdale about an hour it felt like we were in Eastern Washington. Not a cactus to be seen, only pine trees.... which Joe insists smell like Strawberry, Vanilla or Chocolate depending on which one you sniff.... I didn't get to experience this sadly, but Kevin says that it actually is true! Can't wait to do it again next year. Thank you Decker Family!!!!!!