tales from a far-land

Last Thursday, Madilyn had her third City of Phoenix swim meet.  It was a scorcher for us spectators. It was over one-hundred degrees for the entire swim meet.  I have a newly developed appreciation and admiration towards my parents who continually supported me at my swim meets during the heat of the summer.  I guess I am now fully a swimmer's mom! This week the meet was hosted by Roadrunner Pool.  Madilyn did wonderful!  I cannot believe how confident she is becoming.  She is like a totally different kid in that water.  We are so proud of her. Plus, she is becoming a much stronger swimmer as well.  Here are some of my favorite parts of the swim meet: Watching the swim meet with Aunt Christy and Uncle Brandon.  They were such troopers for staying for the entire meet in the record-breaking heat! Being the swim mom who supplied "treats" to Madi and all of her friends for swimming a good race.  They would all visit me after each race to receive their appropriate rewa

Two weekends ago, the Farrell-Landers family took a mini-vacation to Loveland, Colorado, to spend time with family.  It is very strange to believe, but both Josh and I have family in this little northern Colorado city.  This trip was a great opportunity for us to spend time with everyone. It was a whirlwind of a trip.  We flew into Denver on Friday afternoon (after being stuck on the tarmac for over an hour in Phoenix), rented a car and started our journey up to Loveland. First stop we made on Friday was to Fairgrounds Park  to allow the kids some time to expend some energy. We visited this park the last time we visited Loveland and it is one of the coolest parks we have ever visited.  This park has everything -- age-appropriate playgrounds, covered picnic areas, a splash pad, and a paved trail along the Big Thompson River.  The kids had so much fun while the adults had some time to chat and catch-up.   After the park, we headed over to my aunt and uncle's home where we would

Last Thursday night, Madilyn had her second swim meet at Sunnyslope pool.  After the previous week, we talked with Madi all week about her upcoming swim meet.  We continued to remind her that it was going to be at a new pool.  She seemed to understand and was less nervous this time.  We also figured out after a meltdown during swim practice that Madi would rather be the first swimmer in the relay races.  So, Coach Emi told her that she would make sure that she would be the first swimmer for the relays.  It seemed like Madi was fully prepared for the meet.  Just in case, Josh and I had promised a variety of incentives that she could earn if she did really well swimming during the meet.  Our fingers were crossed! On Thursday evening, Madi and I headed over to the pool early so that we could get seats in the front row.  We wanted to make sure that we could see her swim since this time she was ready to go.  As soon as we got there and set up the chairs, Madi jumped right in the pool w

This summer we enrolled Madilyn on the City of Phoenix's swim team.  Kids five years and older are able to join the swim team if they are able to swim one length (25 yards) of freestyle, which we knew Madilyn was more than capable swimming. On the first day of swim team practice, Madi was very nervous and in tears before the practice even began.  She clung on to me with a death grip and continued to tell me that she didn't want to do swim team.  Josh and I continued to reassure her that everything was alright, that she was a good swimmer and that she loves swimming.  After all of the kids warmed-up on the deck, the coaches wanted to test of all of the kids to make sure they were able to swim a full twenty-five yard lap.  I told Madi that she needed to swim this lap and we walked over to the line that was forming.  She was still in tears and didn't really want to participate.  I continued to talk to her and showed her some of the smaller swimmers so she knew that she wasn&

Aiden is a funny, little kid.  Sometimes Josh and I find ourselves laughing out loud at his actions and sayings even when we know that we should not.  We just cannot help it. Some of you may know that Aiden has a catchphrase.  This started about six months ago and he still responds with it several times a week to certain things people say.  His catchphrase is "Oh, Crackers!"  It originates from one of the cartoons the kids watch called Jake and the Neverland Pirates .  One of the characters from the show, Skully, says this certain phrase as least once every episode.  Aiden has just picked up on this and now responds with it in daily conversation with perfect timing and relevance. Anyway, this morning, I was telling Aiden about one of the mice that got caught in one of the traps last night in the house. I further explained that it was stinking up my laundry room.  Aiden, without skipping a beat, responded, "Oh, Crackerpoop!"  It caught Josh and I off guard and

For the past three weeks, our kids have been taking swim lessons through the City of Phoenix aquatics department.  The kids have been taking summer swim lessons for the past couple of years. This year, we decided to take lessons at a different city pool, Mountain View, so they could be with some of their preschool friends.  It has been a great experience so far.  On the first day of swim lessons, our kids waited for their class name to be called and they each just walked right up to their instructor to participate in the class.  No tears, no issues.  What a huge change from last year! Madilyn is in the "Yellow Star" class this summer.  In class, Madi has been working on perfecting her freestyle stroke, learning the backstroke and practicing diving into the pool.  She is doing really well and is one of the youngest in the class. Aiden is in the "Red Star" class this year.  In this class, they are working on their freestyle stroke, learning how to breathe to the s

On the last day of our California vacation, we decided to spend the day at the beach.   This time we decided to visit Corona del Mar beach near Newport.  What a great beach!  We may have found a new family favorite. The clouds were out for most of the day, so the temperature was a little chilly. But the kids didn't care, they love playing in the sand and collecting shells.  Madi even played in the ocean for a bit until her lips were shivering too much.  Thank you to the Hughes and Barnhart families for joining in the fun!

When in California, we always try to see as many of my Palmer sisters as we can.  This year, we opted to brunch at Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel.  This is a special restaurant where while you are dining several Disney characters visit with you.  It was fun to watch our kids interact with these new friends.  In the past, they did not particularly enjoy this experience and would shy away from or even cry because of the characters.  Not this time, in fact, our kids loved it.  Each time a Disney character would come visit, the kids would jump out of their chairs so they could get a picture with each of them.  Aiden was really enamored with them this time around, giving them big hugs and high-fives.  Or it could have been all of the cookies and ice cream that he ingested for breakfast!  The Palmer Gang Minnie Mouse Pluto Dale Chip Aiden really liked Chip! Goofy

The next stop on our adventurous, fun-filled Memorial Day weekend, was GG and GP's house.  The kids were so excited to see GG and GP.  They ran right up to their front door, knocking as fast as they could, calling their names.  It was really adorable!  We loved our time with GG and GP.  We really wished they lived closer so we could see them more than a couple of times a year.   Here are some of the fun activities we enjoyed with them during the weekend.  I hope that we didn't exhaust them too much! We enjoyed lunch out on Friday at Sam Woo's.   We celebrated Shabbat on Friday evening with Kathleen King.  We  kibitzed about life, politics, family and day of ole. On Saturday, GG and I took the kids shopping to our favorite stores ... the 99 Cent Store so the kids could pick out some toys to enjoy at the beach on Sunday and The Children's Place for a couple of new outfits.  While the ladies and kids were shopping, Josh and GP hit some golf balls on the driving range