The joy of spray parks

"Oh, waaaaater, where aaaaare you?"

Madelyn demonstrating her talent for riding stone animals

"What the heck is Olivia doing?!"

You gotta have clean feet

In Phoenix we have many different spray parks. If you are unfamiliar with the term, it's a padded area with sprinklers that spray out of the ground or other amusing things. We can't really play at the park in June, July, August, and September so we go to the spray parks. They even have one at the zoo. Who cares about the animals (most won't come out when it's super hot anyway) when you have the chance to get wet.

How Cute Are These Kids!

I thought I would just take a minute to confirm how cute I think my kids are. Considering I really do try to be fairly humble, that statement makes me so contrite! But, it's nice to take a moment to forget about everything they do that drives me crazy and just think about their sweet smiling faces.

Eli LOVES walking

I have not been surprised that Eli took an early interest in walking. He has 3 exciting older siblings to chase! He loves to push his little walker toy around the house, and he will walk all by himself between Justin and I. Crawling is still his "go-to" method of moving, but it won't be long until walking becomes number 1!

This video is about 3 weeks old, I'll try to get a new one of him walking all by himself too.

Tool Man!

Our house has been turned upside down due to our unforseen kitchen remodel. Mr. Eli is taking advantage of the situation and playing with things he shouldn't. He loves tools. His dad is in trouble!

First Day of School

The summer heat still prevails, but at least school is back in session! Mady and Chan are in 1st and 3rd grade respectively, and they're both loving it so far. They both do great in school. Chandler is really good about getting his work done without me asking him to, and Madelyn is pretty good too. Once again I requested the most difficult teachers for them. They are smart kids, so they definitely need to be challenged.
It's so cliche, but I can't believe how big they're getting. I was out with just them the other day, and it is SO much easier to just take them places. With Libby and Eli, the process is so much more complicated-not in terms of intelligence, it just takes a mental toll!

New Haircut

I had to do something! I was so tired of my hair. It had been long for 7 years, so I decided to get it cut. I have to fix it everyday, but that's ok. I love long hair, but what good is it if it's always in a ponytail?!

The cutest baby ever!

One evening when we were sitting outside I took this picture of Eli. Justin had just stepped away from him, and Eli was waving to everyone on the porch.
I can't believe how big he's getting.

This video was taken a few minutes after the waving picture. Olivia had taken Eli's tractor, so Justin put him on the yellow bike.

Hanging out in Wichita

The trip from Stillwater to Wichita only took 2 hours. That was a respite from our marathon drives the week before.
We really enjoyed the weather in Wichita. In the evenings, it was cool outside, and we could hang out in the front yard and let the kids play.

Justin and his dad hanging out on the front porch

You can't really see, but Justin is sitting on a skateboard. Eli LOVED riding on the rolling toys.

Chandler had a great time playing on his new cousin Cole's Ripstick

Madelyn and Destiny had more fun playing inside, and turned the baby's playpen into a car.

Long Lost Friend

Olivia and Andrew (she is 5 months older than he is)

After McDonald's we went back to our hotel room and let the kids run wild-they didn't need any prompting from us either!

Chandler couldn't hear the tv with all the kids being so rambunctious, so he got up and stood next to it. I think Jack liked him, because he became Chandler's little shadow.

Eli just crawled around and tried to avoid being trampled by the masses. He also happily let Sara hold him.

When we were in Stillwater, I finally got to get together with one of my best friend's from high school, Sara. She has two little boys who I had never met in person. Fortunately, we have talked through email, and I read her blog, so we weren't completely in the dark about each other's lives.
Her boys are 4 1/2 and 2, and they got along great with my kids. There was no hitting, kicking, or screaming involved!
It was raining so we couldn't go do anything outside, which is unfortunate because there is very little to do inside in Stillwater. We ended up playing mini-golf and then eating lunch at McDonald's (because they have an indoor play place-is everyone following?) It was fine because the kids could play and the adults could talk.
I had such a good time hanging out with Sara. I hope we can get together again soon!
*My camera battery was dying, so I didn't get the best pictures. At least I got some!

Riding the horse

Chandler, Madelyn, and Olivia were so excited to ride the horse at my dad and Susan's house. They would have kept riding all afternoon. It was really hot and humid, so each kid only got one turn. They will have to ride more next time!Chandler went first

Madelyn was the most excited to ride the horse. She had been talking about it for weeks!

At first Olivia didn't want to get on the horse

After a little coaxing from her Pawpaw and Susan, she got on again

"What do you mean I have to get off the horse!" After all her pouting, she didn't want to stop riding

Howdy Y'all!

Libby in her "hiking boots"-that's what she calls them

When do we get to ride the horse?!

This is the hat she chose to wear

Pretty in pink

No that's not the horse, that's one of my dad's very large dogs

When we went to my dad's house, he and his fiancee Susan bought cowboy boots for the kids. They were so excited! You must understand that I grew up in Oklahoma, and never once in my 20 years there, did I ever wear cowboy boots. They kept asking me if I would like any, but I just didn't think I would ever wear them.

Swimming at Nana's

Olivia soaring to her daddy

My mom sitting outside at the pool.

I was surprised to learn that my mom's apartment had a pool. I was actually a little surprised that SHE knew there was one. My mom is not much of an outdoors person, and I can personally not remember her swimming in my lifetime. My mom, the rule follower/enforcer that she is, had to come down to the pool too because she was the resident. Even though we were only out for about 30 minutes, the kids had a great time.

Science Museum Oklahoma

On one of our days in Oklahoma City we went to Science Museum Oklahoma. Justin and I couldn't remember the last time we had been there, and we thought the kids would enjoy it.

Chandler on the chair that spins when you hold the wheel

Madelyn the monkey, rock climbing in her flip flops

Elijah crawling in the baby area

Justin pushing Olivia on the swing (nice bag babe!)

Me and Eli-he does really well in his carrier. We got a lot of looks though, guess they don't use such "new fangled contraptions" in Oklahoma :)

More 4th of July Pics

Almost everyone is looking at the camera

Nana and her girls

Libby was napping right up until the minute we had to leave. She had a pretty white dress to wear, but it wasn't worth the fight! I have to pick my battles.

Playing tag

The grand finale
It was actually a really nice fireworks display.

4th of July

Ahhhhh!!!! Put me down!!!!

My boys

Me and the baby man

One of the few pictures of Justin and me together (one of us usually has the camera)

Stop squeezing me!

We got to spend 4th of July in Oklahoma this year. I think this was the first time in 7 years that we got to do that. We were with my mom. During the day we went to the mall. Justin, Mady, and CJ went to see Kung Fu Panda. My mom, Libby, Eli, and I just went shopping.
That evening we went and watched fireworks in Bethany. Tons of people lined the road, but we managed to get a great parking spot. The kids, for the most part, enjoyed the fireworks. Madelyn was the only one who seemed scared. She might have just been tired. Eli had no problem at all, which surprised me. He just quietly watched everything going on around him, like large explosions in the sky and bright lights were commonplace.
It was a very nice 4th of July. Even the mosquito bites were minimal!

You want me to swim where?

A view of the whole little lake

It had a diving board too (Chandler probably made Mady go first!)

Cleaning off the lake scum

We took a trip to Oklahoma and Kansas for two weeks at the beginning of July this year. It's about 1000 miles from Arizona so we made it a two day drive.
On the second day we stopped in Santa Rosa, NM for lunch. We passed a park and thought we would get out there to eat and let the kids play. Once we were at the park, we saw a big waterslide in the distance. Justin drove over to get a closer look, and we realized that the slide went into this little lake. Santa Rosa is known for the "Blue Hole" which is like 80 something feet deep, and only scuba divers can use it. This little lake was right around the corner, and the water was really clear too.
We pull up to the lake and Chandler the city boy says, "We're supposed to swim in there?!" Justin and I looked at each other and decided that it would be fun. When I was a kid I loved water. Anything having to do with water would have made me excited. I would have been BEGGING my parents to let me out of the car. My kids were a little more tentative. They did end up enjoying themselves, but Chandler was on the lookout for things that might get him the whole time!

Last Swim Meet of the Season

Mady's group lining up for their races

Chandler is smiling because he's done

Showing off her ribbon

Madelyn and Chandler's last swim meet of the season went really well. We have the givens: sweat dripped down my back the whole time, parking was a nightmare, it lasted a long time, and Eli and Libby got bored. Put all that aside because Mady and CJ did great!
It was the butterfly meet, a stroke that I have found awkward as long as I can remember. Chandler doesn't quite get it either, and that is why he wasn't on a relay team. But, Madelyn is really good! She doesn't look like a fish fighting for a breath when she is doing the stroke, she actually looks they way you are supposed to look.
Chandler placed second, which surprised him and I both. Madelyn placed third in the individual. But for the first time in the season, she was on a relay. Her place was B-4, meaning she was actually the 5th fastest on the team. When it was finally her turn to swim, her team was in last. She swam so well, that she won it for them. She got her team a first place ribbon.
I am so proud of how Chandler and Madelyn swam through out the season. They didn't always want to go to practice or the meets, but they always did. They worked so hard and they are so much better than when the year started! I'm not sure I'll be able to convince Chandler to do it again next year, but I bet Madelyn will do it. The Lord knows I'm tired of sitting out in the sun everyday.