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!