Arizona 6/28

Scott is here!!! Scott was supposed to arrive at noon today, but he was able to get on an earlier flight and he arrived at 9:30a this morning!!! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!!! I really missed him and I know the kids were really starting to miss him, too!

Mom bought all the kids matching pajamas. Jackson loves that they are short and he loves the soft texture. Aunt Juli french-braided Cailey's hair and it looked so cute ~ I wish I knew how to french-braid. Jackson and I made cookies...well, sort of...we bought cookie dough and put them on the cookie sheet :o) Normally, I would make cookies, but I was trying to limit the mess. They were still really yummy...especially with home-made ice cream. We had a couple of falls in the house from wet feet on the tile floor when the little ones went in to use the bathroom, so Mom has agreed to let the little boys pee in the dirt in the yard. Ben thinks that's pretty funny and gets out about every 30 minutes to pee. It's better than peeing in the pool! Grandpa Rich brought his guitar out and played a little for the kids. Poor Lily wasn't feeling well and asked to leave (Camp Gabsa is staying at their friend's place.) Then, Lily got sick all over when they got back to their place. Oh, I feel so bad for them. More pictures. I have so many.

Arizona 6/27

We spent most of the day swimming...surprise, surprise. But, Camp Gabsa came over again. This time, Robert was able to join everyone! Rich still had to work ~ darn it...poor working sap. Highlights from today:

• Wake up at 6:30a (BEN!!!!), make coffee and eat breakfast, wait until the others get up
• Swimming
• Grocery shopping for more kid snacks
• Swimming and drinking Coronas
• Lunch while kids play and watch movies...then NAPS!
• Swimming
• Make home-made ice cream in the ice cream machine
• Swimming
• Dinner and eat home-made ice cream
• Swimming
• Go to park with kids
• Poor Dane got sick and puked for the very first time. Poor baby. Poor Juli & Robert. Ick.Shower/baths/brush teeth
• Read a story to Ben & Cailey
• Bed!!!!!!!

Oh, how I love vacation. I wish my whole life was spent on vacation :o) :o) Observation: Dane and Ethan look SO much alike it's weird! Those Adams' genes are STRONG!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTHEW! WE LOVE YOU!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHRYN! HOPE YOU ARE HAVING A GOOD TIME!

Scott arrives tomorrow!!! Here's another picture video ~ make sure your sound is on!! I love these things!

Arizona 6/26

Another day of swimming!!! Camp Gabsa came over today with Juli's friend, Lisa, and all the kids! For the first time ever, we had all six of the little cousins together! We were missing Matt and Zach, but this is still the first time we had all six of the little ones together. It was a lot of fun to see them interact with each other! I hope we get to do it more in the future.

Dane is so big, can't believe he is almost one! Lily looks like a little girl...no more baby features...same goes for Jackson. Ethan is such a big boy and talks so well...can't believe it when I hear some of the things he says...it's too cute. Ethan loves to swim and was in the water with Geoff most of the time. Lily is a great swimmer and looks like a little fish. Cailey loved having someone to swim with (other than me). Jackson was a little fearful of the water, but Ben made up for Jackson's tentativeness by diving in head first ~ with or without his vest...he didn't care...gave all of us more than a few scares...geesh...that boy is fearless! Lisa's kids are so cute, but they have their own pool and couldn't seem to figure out what the big deal was for all of us :o)

Juli's birthday was today so we went out for Mexican food ~ YUM! There was some good food, good conversation, and a lot of drinking. Scott is still in Denver, so I was solo tonight and elected myself the DD. I still had a great time hanging out with the adults. Grandma Sunny and Grandpa Rich watched Cailey, Ben, Jackson, and Ethan! THANK YOU GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!! WE APPRECIATE IT!!!

Also...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARRIE! Wish I was there to celebrate with you...or at least watch Mason for you so you could go out for dinner or something :o/

Enjoy the video slide show. It's a little long, but I had so many pictures to show! Juli sent me some of her pictures and I added those, too. Make sure your sound is on for a little music to play with your viewing :o)

The Pool Is Done!!!

The pool is done!!!! Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!!!! We are soooo excited because it is hot, hot, hot here!!! The kids jumped right in ~ even Ben. He is FEARLESS! I forgot the swim vest at home so we had to go buy one ASAP! Ben and Cailey love to swim!

The Mann Clan arrived today, too ~ what a wonderful surprise! We've already had a great time. I am officially on vacation now, too. I worked V.O. from AZ on Monday, Tuesday, and today. Now, I am off and won't be back to work until July 7! Cailey, Ben, and I went to see Grandpa Gary tonight, too. We had a great BBQ dinner and tried our first deep fried pickles! They were really good and Cailey can't stop talking about them! We'll be back down to see Grandpa Gar and Grandma Mer next week!

Enjoy my little video of pictures ~ make sure your sound is on!

Livin' La Vida Arizona

We are here!!! Our vacation in Arizona has begun! The drive here was a little rough. I left with the kids (Scott is flying down later) early Sunday morning. We got about 10 hours into our 12 hour drive when Ben proceeded to puke all over himself and his car seat!!! It was so gross and I was looking in the rear-view mirror saying, "No, no, no...stop puking!!!" ~ as though he had a choice, right! Poor thing was so upset and kept saying, "I sorry, Mommy...I sorry, Mommy" We were about 30 miles from Flagstaff and there was NOTHING out there. I had to pull over on an on-ramp, pull Ben out, pull the car seat out ~ wipe it out (sort-of...ick, ick, ick...chunky puke!), try to wash it down with some bottled water. Then, I had to strip Ben down naked, pour bottled water on him. I am sure the people driving past on the highway thought I was abusing him, because he was crying and I was holding him still, trying to get the puke off! Then, we were back in the car for a very smelly two hour drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I had to do a load of laundry first thing on my vacation! Ben has been fine since we got here. I believe he got car sick and that is why he puked all over.

Ben and Cailey have been playing in the water and the pool almost all day. The pool in the backyard won't be ready until tomorrow so they have gone to the community pool. It's very, very hot here...98 degrees at 8:00pm! Some pictures...lots more to come as the other kids get here tomorrow and Thursday! Ben enjoyed being naked in the hot weather!

Cailey Dance Recital 2008

Another year, another dance recital. Cailey did so good! We are very proud of her! I only have pictures from the rehearsal, but I am hoping to update this post soon with a clip from the video of her dancing!! Stay tuned!

Because this was rehearsals, Cailey is in her Hip-Hop costume when she was rehearsing for Tap. In the video from the performance, she will be in full costume.

Also, we leave tomorrow for Arizona!!!! Yeah!!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Happy Father's Day!!!

To all the dads...and especially to Scott...the wonderful father of my children.

Cailey and Ben have the best daddy ever ~ and I know we don't tell him enough. Scott is a fun, loving, thoughtful, caring, and a natural at fatherhood. He is out front now, playing in the yard with Ben and teaching Cailey to ride her bike. What a great way to spend Father's Day! :o) We love you, Scott!!

Just a few quotes I love about fatherhood:

*All fathers are invisible in daytime; daytime is ruled by mothers and fathers come out at night. Darkness brings home fathers, with their real, unspeakable power. There is more to fathers than meets the eye. ~ Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eyes

*It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was. ~ Anne Sexton

*The most important thing that a father can do for his children is to love their mother. ~ Theodore M. Hesburgh

*My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. ~ Clarence B. Kelland

4 years: My Daddy can do anything!

7 years: My Dad knows a lot…a whole lot.

8 years: My father does not know quite everything.

12 years: Oh well, naturally Father does not know that either.

14 years: Oh, Father? He is hopelessly old-fashioned.

21 years: Oh, that man-he is out of date!

25 years: He knows a little bit about it, but not much.

30 years: I must find out what Dad thinks about it.

35 years: Before we decide, we will get Dad's idea first.

50 years: What would Dad have thought about that?

60 years: My Dad knew literally everything!

65 years: I wish I could talk it over with Dad once more.

Grandma Kitty's visit

Grandma Kathryn is in town and we spent the whole day having some fun! We even picked up Richie to join us bright and early for breakfast at Pete's Kitchen! Then, we all went to Heritage Square to ride the Alpine Slide. This was the first year Cailey was allowed to ride by herself...she loved it...of course. She was a little hesitant her first time down and, like a good girl, followed all the signs ... when it said "Slow"... she went sssllllloooowwww. We told her it was a warning sign and she should just slow her speed up a little to be safe...but that she could still be going pretty fast :o) She went down two more times really, really fast! This was Ben's very first year on the Alpine Slide and he really, really liked it. He had to ride with Scott, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the sled control lever and pushing it all the way down to go fast ~ they even passed Richie, who was in the fast lane, on one trip down!!! Ben liked the chair lift, too ~ it was a little ride in itself! The kids rode the Ferris Wheel with Grandma and liked it when the Ferris Wheel stopped at the top! My kids get that adventurous spirit from Scott...I hate heights and I am not a speed junky, so the Ferris Wheel and the chair lift are not fun for me. I like the Alpine Slide, but I don't enjoy the ride up to it. We also let the kids get temporary tattoos. Cailey picked a flower and Ben picked a monkey ~ all so appropriate. After Heritage Square we drove to Castle Rock to see the new movie, Kung Fu Panda. Ben did okay until the last 30 minutes and then he was pretty much done. Cailey and I got a shower of soda ~ Scott was handing the LARGE soda to me (Cailey was sitting on my lap) and between the two of us, the lid popped off and the soda came showering down!!! COLD COLD and STICKY!!! Oh, well. It was time to go home anyway.


Tonight Cailey had her dance pictures taken! She looked so cute. The black costume is for Tap and the Red/Black costume is for Hip Hop. I let her wear a little makeup and I was glad to see I wasn't the only mom to give in :o) :o) It was fun to let them dress up. I ordered pictures and spent too much money ~ I am a sucker ~ but they turned out so cute and I couldn't resist.