Of Bikes and Bugs

Allie got to open one present on her actual birthday because she had to wait for her party on Saturday to open the rest of them. She had been asking for a bike for a few months so was elated when she saw her new pink princess bike and helmet. She was pretty excited (at first) but she's still in the learning phase, and gets frustrated when she has trouble riding it. Dan actually ended up exchanging the original bike for a slighter smaller one and that helped her keep those pedals moving!

Drew also got a really small bike that Dan had to assemble, and of course Allie preferred to ride his bike instead of hers...


Drew LOVES to be outside and exploring anything and everything he can see. He is really into checking out bugs right now. He'll get down on his hands and knees and try to grab the bug and check it out (and usually smush it with his big paws). It's so funny to see the difference between girls and boys. Allie gets grossed out and a little nervous around bugs (even little ants), and tries to squish them with a shoe or will run from them. Drew high tails it directly for the bug and tries to get as close as he can to it, and pick it up.

Fun at the Gilbert Splash pad

Our sweet princess turned 4 years old this year. It's amazing how fast they grow up. Allie's birthday was on a Thursday, so she got to take cupcakes that she helped me decorate to preschool. Since it was her birthday, she got to wear a beautiful crown at preschool and be queen for the day. She was the leader for the day and took home the special birthday bag. If you know Allie, this is EXACTLY how she'd go through life if we'd let her - the queen and leader of everyone... She definitely was born with a strong determination and a natural leader drive. A few weeks ago she looked at me and simply said, "I'm glad Heavenly Father sent me to earth first so I can be the leader." I don't know where this kid gets this stuff!

After preschool we met up with some cousins for lunch at Paradise Bakery. Then we visited the pet store and played in the water at the Gilbert Mall splash pad. Allie loves to make new friends EVERYWHERE she goes. She had a blast playing in the water with her cousin Lyndsey, and playing with the other kids there.

Drew's favorite part about the day was cupcakes, mac n cheese, dogs and water. He enjoyed stepping on the water coming out of the ground. But when it started to get too big and splash his face, he'd back off and go find another small one.

Allie & Lyndsey (cousin) at the splash pad.

Our Big Preschooler

Our little peanut started preschool this year! Dan and I can't believe she's old enough to go because she certainly doesn't look big enough! But she is really growing up on us lately... her vocabulary and comprehension is off the charts. She is unbelievably aware of EVERYTHING around her and always has one ear open. Dan thinks he can outsmart her and spells words so she won't know exactly what we're talking about, but she's sounding them out now and cracking the code. And with that creepy Dora cartoon brainwashing her, spanish is out of the question... what's a parent to do???

Allie was SO excited all summer long to finally start preschool with Mrs. Kerri. All her friends started in August, and Allie's school didn't start until the 2nd week in September so the first day of school couldn't come fast enough. She goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and loves every minute of it. Mrs. Kerri is the nicest teacher and makes preschool so much fun for the kids.

We had a meet and greet a week before school started, and she was in awe at all the cool stuff there, and all the things she would be be able to do. She got to make a cute little apron for her to use during the year for art & cooking projects. They got to pick a few iron on stickers to put on their apron, and of course, Allie picked 3 princess stickers to put on hers.

Allie and mom went to her preschool meet and greet before the 1st day of school @ Mrs. Kerri's.

I only had time to take a few quick pictures of Allie on her 1st day of preschool. We didn't want to be late for the 1st day... Allie couldn't wait to wear her new backpack that she got to pick out. She LOVED this one because it was pink and had ALL the princesses on it. Too bad it's almost as big as she is...

She didn't want me to take pictures or any video of her - she just wanted to get going and go to school. Luckily, she humored me for a couple of quick shots.

This is my only shot of Allie and Mrs. Kerri on the 1st day of school. Allie is so tough to get a good picture of. She DOES NOT like to look at the camera, and never has. We have SO many pictures of her looking off the the side, or at the ground, or away from the camera. I got her to look her head in the right direction, but I took it as she was blinking... Oh well, she loved her first day and was so excited to meet all the kids in her class. We love you Al, and are so proud of the wonderful and sweet little girl you are!

The Big "30"

Dan reached quite a milestone last month... 30 years old. He officially became an old man on August 18th. All in all, he was a pretty good sport about the whole thing - taking all the jokes and teasing about turning 30. Luckily, I have a little longer to still say I'm in my 20's :-)


Dan's been my best friend since he was 19 years old. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect husband, best friend and wonderful father of our children. I love him so much and am excited to celebrate more milestones and create wonderful memories with him for years to come....


He took his birthday off and we had a fun, yet relaxing, day as a family. We started a new tradition this year - and he got to pick all of his favorite things to eat for the day. For breakfast, we went to Dunkin Donuts and had some delicious donuts and lemonade. We did a little shopping at the mall and played with the kids. We had a pre-lunch snack of Crazy Bread from Little Caesars (this guy is easy to please). For lunch it was pasta, and rice & grilled chicken with vegetables for dinner. His family came down for dinner and dessert. He's not a big dessert fan, but I wanted to have something that we could sing "Happy Birthday" and eat. Since I couldn't stick candles in a huge bowl of air-popped popcorn, I thought a big cookie from Paradise Bakery would be the next best thing. He's a big fan of their normal size cookies so went to town on the big boy.

Hey - save some for us...

Dan & Allie licking the frosting. That was Allie's favorite part.
Here's some frosting for you Papa... enjoy!
Dan likes to harass and tease his dad any time he gets a chance - but Papa's a good sport.
It was a great day from start to finish. Dan's parents and sister& brother-in-law (Sarah & Gavin) both got Dan very thoughtful gifts. Thanks guys for coming to his little "celebration"!

Summer Weekends Away

Dan's parents have a beautiful home in Flagstaff for part of the year and we've gone up there a couple of times already, hence all the recent pictures. Its a gorgeous house sitting on a hill overlooking a golf course, surrounded by pines of course. It always makes for a great weekend and its been so nice of Grammy and Papa to host us.

Drew's love for the water goes beyond the pool... turns out he loves the rain even more. It started raining pretty hard when we were driving back from dinner and as soon as he got unbuckled he high-tailed outside. My first instinct was to grab him and bring him inside, but he looked so cute stomping around in the puddles, and trying to catch the rain I let him enjoy it.

Drew and Dan enjoying the rain.
Flagstaff has really grown on us, its so beautiful and you can't beat the weather. Here are some of the views from the top of the hill by Grammy and Papa's house.
This is a dry lake. It's pretty cool.

We had a family picnic on the golf course right behind the house and the weather was gorgeous! The kids loved to be outside and Allie was in heaven - there was an entire field of beautiful flowers just waiting to be picked... Drew loved to tag right along behind her. Of course - being the boy he is, he did not want his shoes on. He wanted to stomp, smush, and crush anything he could with his bare feet.
Allie and Dan taking a pretend "siesta" after our picnic lunch.
Our two kids are so sweet and so much fun. We are so lucky to be their parents and to get the opportunity to watch these two amazing kids grow up.

Allie loves to pick flowers - especially pink ones, but everywhere we go, she always asks if she can pick some flowers. She's always disappointed the next day when they are completely wilted and dead. So her solution is ... pick more flowers.

Dan and Allie smiling for me at the Mountain Oasis restaurant. Dan found a local restaurant downtown that sounded pretty good, so we decided to check it out. Our kids did pretty good, but the restaurant was small and quiet... so we provided plenty of entertainment. We decided we should probably stick to noisier restaurants like Texas Roadhouse until they get a little older...
Drew & I at the restaurant.

"That Truck Playing Music" & the Grand Canyon Deer Farm

Our trips to Flagstaff are never complete without a trip to Fox Glen Park. After a couple hours of wearing out their dad and mom, the kids perked up when they heard creepy music right as we were packing up... the ice cream man. Allie and Drew had never seen one before so they were so curious yet very cautious.


Dan still can't refuse a gumball-ice cream combo so got the Spiderman posicle, Allie chose a neapolitan ice cream sandwich and we got a Powderpuff Girl popsicle with gumball eyes too. They were so sticky and messy after it, but they LOVED it!!! Allie trying Dan's Spiderman treat.
Drew insisted on holding the popsicle sticks himself. Never a good idea for an 18 month old to do it by himself, but he is pretty determined and independent. He was so messy by the end. It was running down his hands, arms, face, shirt - and dripping all over his shoes.





On Friday morning we went to the Deer Farm in Williams. The kids both adore animals so had a blast getting to see them up close. Of course, Drew did not want anything to do with the stroller. He wanted to walk around all by himself and showed absolutely no fear. He did not want either of us to guide him or help him back onto the path, he just wanted to explore all by himself. Funny, I can't peel him off of me when I try to drop him off at the gym's child center with movies, toys and kids but give him a smelly pig, a camel and a wallaby and he's willing to move in. Allie was a little more cautious about the animals so ended up in Drew's stroller and enjoyed them from a slight distance. Her favorite animal was the talking parrot that was right by the entrance.

Our family at the Grand Canyon Deer Farm. Dan, Drew (18 mos), Allie (almost 4), Jana
Drew wanted to touch this pig so bad. He was trying to wiggle his little hand into the fence, and then he tried to climb up it to touch him over the top.
You can go into the free roam area where there are a ton of deer walking about. We happened to come into the farm before they fed the deer. So when we entered the free roam area with our tiny cup with their food in it, they attacked us. They were trying to eat anything they could get a hold of- Allie's hair ribbons, Drew's velcro shoes, the tags on the strollers, Drew's pant leg, etc.

Dan grabbed the food cup and tried leading them away from us, and I quickly moved the kids in the strollers away from the aggressive deer pack. Our hero!

Drew loved being so close the all the animals. He LOVES animals.
Drew wanted to pet the camel.
This was one of their favorite things to see. A cage full of pigeons. They would fly wildly around their cage, and the kids would intently watch them. When they'd get too close to the mesh fence, it would startle Allie and she'd take a few steps backwards. It would just make Drew laugh.
Allie started the day with a cute bun and hair ribbon. This is what it looked like after the deer aggressively tried to eat it...
This is Dan letting me know what he thinks about llamas. For whatever reason, he has an intense hatred towards these animals. He did a few more poses to let me know how he felt about them... We had a "friend" that followed us around the entire time. He didn't want anything from us, he'd just walk along with us.
Again, Drew loving to touch and pet the deer.
Allie got brave and tried to feed them with Dan. But as soon as the deer started eating out of her hand, she screamed and dropped the food all over the ground and climbed into the stroller. She thought it was gross.
They loved to drive the tractor in front of the deer farm.
Drew's turn...

Our Weekend Getaway - Part II

We were so lucky to be able to stay at the Gainey house at the Hyatt hotel in Scottsdale. The event coordinator at Insight (Dan's work) was able to swing this for us. The casitas where we usually stay were being renovated, so Hyatt offered her this place for us to stay instead. Of course, she took it! It is actually a 2600 sq ft house on the edge of the property. The Gainey House sign - near the private drive.
This whole thing is the Gainey House. In a word... excessive.

Come in...
The Family Room. The couches were so comfy.
The Game room. We played a couple of rounds of pool. We quickly learned that BreAnn is actually a pool shark!!! She was smoking everyone!
All the bathrooms had sinks like this. They were really shallow square ones. You can't appreciate how long they are. It was hard for the kids to wash their hands in the running water. We'd let them splash in the water that accumulated in the sink.
The huge kitchen. The fridge and cupboards were stocked with food and drinks (all complimentary). I brought food for us too, so we had an abundance of food!

The Master bedroom. The pillows and bed was so nice and soft.
One side of the Master bathroom. The shower was Drew's favorite place to play. He could push the door open and he'd go in the shower and make noises. It had a really cool echo. Then he'd open the door, come out and shut it again. And then do it all over again, and again, and again. This was also his bedroom. We put his pack-n-play right next to the shower. Maybe that's how he discovered the cool echo.
Drew checking out the balcony on the roof.
BreAnn, Dan, and Allie hanging out on the roof balcony.
This was our view of the lake and the beach pool. The huge slide is inside that clock tower.