The Greatest Show on Earth?

Thanks to a generous gift from Greg's Mom - we attended the Barnum and Bailey Circus last weekend.

We left Grant sleeping with Laura - and ventured out with just Greg, Emma and I. I didn't want the stress of dealing with an infant at the circus. Plus, what if one of the Tigers got hungry? Grant's chubby thighs would surely beckon to him. And my kids are too expensive to feed to circus Tigers.

Emma and her Grammie Lou! Emma loves to spend time with Grammie and was thrilled to attend the circus together!

Emma was entertained, but did not get quite as excited as I had anticipated for her first circus. I decided that the circus tricks and acts are really best appreciated by adults who can comprehend just how difficult the stunts truly are. I think movies/cartoons kind of warp a child's perspective a bit. Dancing horses? Who cares. My Little Ponies have wings and can fly.

But there were some incredible feats performed at the circus. Greg and I were super impressed.

Emma and Taytum.

Walking to the light rail station. This was also a trip highlight for Emma. On which she promptly threw a RAGING fit because there were no seats for her on the train home. Oh the turmoil of wanting to BEAT your child in public, but realizing you can not because of all the blasted witnesses.

Not sure if I would call it the "Greatest Show on Earth" as their tagline boldly declares... but we REALLY had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon with Greg's family.

Thank you Linda!!!!!

Phew.

Dance Class wearing tights (in 112 degrees) and sandals?

Check.

Swimming (kinda) after her 5th day of lessons.

Check.

Tired (and SWEATY) Mom and kids.

Check. Check. Check.

Tour de Uncle Glen

There's a little story about a 15-year-old boy named Glen. His parents told him that he could go to EFY in Boston or take a nomadic trip around the country visiting his niece, nephews and siblings. Because this boy named Glen is such an adoring family member, he chose the family tour. I reckon there aren't too many 15-year-olds who would make the same choice.

We were HONORED to have him here in Phoenix for the first 10 days - after which the second leg of his trip took him to Oregon visiting Jeff's family.

I am 18 years older than Glen. And he is 12 years older than Emma. My own brother is closer in age to my daughter than me! Crazy Mormon families.

I felt like a tourist in my own city while Glen was visiting! Went to a few places for the FIRST TIME and I have lived in Phoenix for 8 years.

One of our stops was the Science Museum. Saw the IMAX 3-D movie about surfing in Tahiti. Super cool movie, but we all got motion sickness (including Grant who literally spit up ALL day, which is not typical). That day was sponsored by IB Profen. Really fun exhibits though. Wish it were cheaper. Had to sell one of my fingers to pay for it all.


Glen actually stayed with Laura, since she owns her place and has an extra pimped out bedroom. Probably better for him, since I don't really stay up late and live the partying single life anymore. I mean, come ON, I am still fun... I just get tired around 10:30pm and have an infant that eats at 6:30am. Kinda cramps my style.

We decided to try a day at the beach park at Saguaro Lake. It appeared that all of the Wal-Mart shoppers in the WORLD also came up with the same idea. OH. And it appeared that they took a big truck of doody and dumped it around the lake. Why? Because it smelled like doody and JJ found a floating piece of doody in the lake while she swam. Gross.

Grant was not a happy camper being stuck in the sun. Emma didn't want to get in the water because it was "gross". And I was worried about both of them getting too much sun and doody poisoning.

The company was FANTASTIC. Brought along Jenna (friend from KY) and JJ and Alex. We all got a good laugh and decided that we got points for just trying out the "adventure".

Next time we'll try a doody-free pool.




We spent lots of time at the pool. Saw the new X-men movie (which was GREAT!). Ate plenty of yummy food. Watched SYTYCD (love!). And spent plenty of time relaxing and playing with the kiddos. Laura took Glen tubing down the river and to Sun Splash without us. I'm sure they missed us fiercely.


Grant smiled lots for Uncle Glen. But then again, Grant smiles lots for everyone. :)

Grant was crashed on Laura's bed one afternoon, and I had to catch a photo, because I don't normally sneak into his pitch black room and sneak a shot.

I love his one chubby leg hanging out of the swaddle. Don't you wanna just gobble it up for dinner? So precious.

We took Glen to a D-backs game on his final night here. We haven't been this season, so it was fun for us as well! I would never watch baseball on TV, but I sure enjoy watching a game LIVE.

Thanks Uncle Glen for giving up your fun EFY excursion to come and visit us for 10 days! We sure enjoyed having you here! You are one stellar 15-year-old and we feel lucky to call you Brother and Uncle.

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

WOWZA! Can you tell we've been having LOTS of summer fun? I think this is the longest blogging hiatus I've ever taken! :) Three. Whole. Weeks.

We've had friends and family visiting for the last 2 weeks and it's been a BLAST. Our first visitor was one of my closest friends Lara (Saville) Dahl. She was in town for a double reed (translation: oboes and bassoons) conference at ASU and stayed at our house. We didn't get to see her NEARLY as much as we would have liked... but I suppose she kind of had to attend the conference she came out for. Darn. My brain must have been missing that week because I don't have any pics of us together. I'll have to steal a few from Lara and post them later. I had such a wonderful time with her here and even got to tag along to some of the evening performances and Lara's recital. Feels nice to get some culture in me again. :)

Our second visitor was Uncle Glen. That post will will come shortly.

Although the summer heat in Arizona is almost unbearable, we've been trying to "stay cool" with lots of fun activities.

Because is there anything "cooler" than building roads with your lunch? I left her for a few minutes to finish her lunch and when I came back she proudly presented her creation. Nice sweetie. Now please eat your art.

And the pool. Oh the blessed pools. We've been enjoying quite a bit of water time. Emma can not be found without her green ring. Paid a buck for it. She is totally mobile all around the pool, as long as it is attached. She is starting FOR REAL swim lessons next week, so hopefully soon she won't need the ring attached.



This was Grant's first adventure in the pool. When Emma was his age she HATED the pool water, because she did not like cold water. But, proving again to be the content baby that he is, Grant is just fine in the water. He got in, kicked his legs around and chilled with us in the water until we got him back out.


With all our visitors, school time occurred slightly less often. But, we're back to our routine. Emma still enjoys writing and was very excited to show me the "D in the Square" she drew one morning. I hope she enjoys learning this much when she starts preschool in August!

Bubbles and Summer. No doy.

Brynn visiting from California. Laura and Brynn let us crash their pool party one afternoon.

Drew and Ashly McDaniel visiting from Utah. Drew and Charlotte (in blue) and Greg were study buddies in law school. Charlotte lives here in Arizona. Drew and Ashly were kind enough to spend a Saturday with us swimming and playing at my Aunt's home. They are the BEST and we had a great time reconnecting. Amazing that they've been graduated for FIVE years. Where oh where has the time gone?

Grant has been spending his summer working on his baby skills. He finally rolled over on Monday, June 13th at 5 1/2 months. He was SO proud of himself. But, has not chosen to repeat the skill. He's just fine on his back.


Sometimes it is hard to have Grant out in the heat - he does not enjoy being a sweaty mess (nor do I). Which unfortunately happens all too often when he's stuck in his car seat. So, I try to make it a happy medium between getting Emma out for toddler fun activities and staying at our house for Grant fun.

On the days we are home, I like to invite Emma's friends over periodically to keep her entertained. We have a baby pool on our patio that they enjoy using.

When David came over, Aunt Laura drew them a race track for the horses. They played with it for over an hour. It's nice to have a teacher in the family who can think of fun activities!!

We've been loving our summer... hope you are too!