tales from a far-land

Summer has officially arrived in the Valley of the Sun.  I cannot believe the temperature reached 111* this past week.  Ridiculous, so the only way to survive is to submerge yourself in the pool all summer long.  Sadly, we do not have a pool.  It is on the house wish list.  However, we are lucky that we have several friends, neighbors, and friends who allow us to visit and swim all summer long.  We also have set up a cute little play pool (Thank you, Aunt Kathleen!) on our back patio for the kids to splash around in. On Father's Day, while we waited for the "dads" to get home from golf, the kids and I headed over to my parent's house a little early so the kids could go swimming.  Madi is becoming quite the little swimmer, becoming more comfortable with each swim she takes.  This is a huge improvement over the first swim of the season when she just cried and cried not wanting to be in the water at all.  For this swim, I decided to put swim floats on her arm

Now that Aiden is crawling, we are remembering what a fun and exciting stage this can be. And yet, I am more anxious this time around. Boys are *so* different than girls. Aiden has only been mobile for about a month now and has already tried to harm himself several times. He has no fear and tons of curiosity. That is a dangerous combination. He has tumbled down the stairs into the sunken living room a couple of times now. Thank goodness there are only two stairs to navigate. He loves to open cabinets, play with doors, and eat bugs that he finds on the ground. Even though we surround him with plenty of toys to play with, he typically will crawl away from them as they are not as fascinating as the "off limit" items which he usually will beeline for as soon as they are within his eye sight; often taking out everything and anyone in his way. Poor Pooh Bear, she is usually mowed over if Aiden sees something he wants. She just cannot move that fast anymore. The "off limit"

In May, Josh and I attended "The Big Event", one of our annual charity events which benefits the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Phoenix.  This is always a fun evening spent sampling delicious food by local restaurants and a tasting a variety of specialty beverages all while enjoying live entertainment and music.  As a new addition this year to the event, there was a photo booth from Shutterbooth for all of the attendees to visit during the event so they could create memorable keepsakes of the evening.  Here are our photo strips from that night ... we finally got the hang of it.

A special Father's Day wish to all of the "Dads" in Madi's life ... we love you!