Papago Park

Santa brought the rest of the family hydration packs this year, so we decided to get a lot of use out of them before it was too hot to leave the house (which is coming up very quickly-already mid 70's this week?!!). We had first planned on going to Papago Park on Saturday, but because of illness we had to reschedule for Monday. Monday was the calm between storms, as one set of illness was just finishing and the other didn't start until that night.

We started out by packing the wee one in the backpack. She was not happy about it and made her opinion known to the whole world. Poor sad girl. Once we started walking, she perked up and seemed to enjoy the ride.

We walked across the park to Governor Hunt's tomb. We learned about the tomb when we visited the state capitol for a home school field trip a couple years ago and the kids have been curious about it ever since. We entertained their curiosity and let them see it up close. They weren't as curious once they actually saw it up close.

I never realized how close the tomb was to the Phx Zoo before. I guess I just never paid attention, but it is right next door to it. We could see the mountain goats, giraffes, gazelle, and everything on that side of the zoo. Ethan was wishing that he had his binoculars, though, so he could see things a little better.

Being on that hill made the whole valley look so miniscule. We suddenly realized that the mountains were just a bump in the middle of civilization, not at the edge of infinity like we had previously imagined. Even the zoo seemed so small from up on the hill.

 After the tomb, we found some tables and had a sack lunch. The boys wanted to go off on their own to eat.

And V enjoyed all two sips of applesauce that she was willing to eat.

After lunch, we climbed Hole-in-the-Rock.

 We saw the hole in the top that was supposedly used by ancient civilizations to tell the seasons and time of day.

 Then we went out to the "cave" opening and looked at the teeny civilization that surrounded it.

The surrounding area no longer looked expansive to us.

Here is the view of the "cave" from the inside.

After we left the main area, we walked around and found another spot for the kids to play in. Jayke was excited to climb up the face of the rock.

Kate got stuck halfway and Ryan ended up pushing her the rest of the way up. Then it was Ethan's turn and when he got to the same point as Kate, he was just done. He didn't want to go any further and started climbing down. Ryan stepped in and blocked him. It took us quite a while to get him up to the opening. When he was finally pushed up there, he was so mad at us. 

He just sat there and cried for a while, angry that we made him do it.

And even more upset that I was taking a picture of his silliness.

He was so upset that he went to the back of the cave and sat there, looking at the wall.

Until he discovered the crack at the back and thought it was interesting. All the while, Jayke thought he was awesome for climbing 7 feet up a wall.

 Kate did a little exploring herself so she could get a picture "alone".

When Ryan climbed up, he had instant flashbacks to the train at Pioneer Park. He said it had the most pleasant odor of urine in the cave. ;-)

After much coercion, we finally got Ethan to make muscles for us, only on the condition that we drive by the Ferrari dealership on the way home. (Sadly, the dealership had moved since they last went, but Ryan made good on his promise and took the boys there today instead.)

By the time they were finished playing, Ethan actually enjoyed being up there.

 On our walk down the hill, I noticed my water was not on my shoulder strap anymore. I think V was watching everyone else sucking on their water and wondered what it tasted like. It was surprising that she was able to reach it from inside her pack. She thought she was so funny sucking on my water.

 After we left Papago Park, we went searching for the pioneer monument that Ryan was curious to see. When he was describing it to me, I was completely confused about what he was talking about. I had never heard anything about it. After driving on a few roads to find a connecting road, we finally crossed over the freeway to a dead-end at an orange grove. We saw a teeny sign off to the side that said "Lehi trail". We figured we were in the right place.

We walked down the trail a little way and found the monument Ryan was looking for. What was even more amazing was how close it was to the freeway and I had never really noticed it before. We were literally right over the fence from it. We were close enough that people driving by probably saw Aimee's bum as she was peeing. ;-)

 The monument was right next to the dry Salt River bed.

Kate wanted another "alone" picture.

In the parking area, we saw remains of christmas tree bonfires and lots of junk dumped around. It reminded me of "the pit" that was down the canal from us growing up in Gilbert. (The pit is now filled in and turned into a neighborhood.) It was obvious that this is a very active teenage hang-out spot. That fact was even more obvious as we were leaving and a few cars started showing up, full of teen-aged kids. There was one group target shooting over the dry riverbed, another group was golfing over the edge, and more were still coming as we were driving away.

All in all, it was a nice day, the weather was perfect, and we actually got out of the house during our vacation. It was a nice start to our vacation that was quickly coming to a close.

December

We had a very long and busy December this year, just like we do every year. We went on a field trip with some friends to the Commemorative Air Force Museum, which was really interesting. Probably more for me than it was for the kids. The kids loved the planes and the huge engines and propellers, and I loved the history and stories. It is surprisingly a really good museum if the history interests you. The (smaller) kids were able to ride in a pedal (car) plane and loved it. Seeing the kids ride it made me want to have some sitting around for when I have grandchildren. I know, my oldest is only 11, but I will have grandchildren before I know it. Time goes by so fast!

While we were at the museum, we also got to walk through a B-17. There was a spot right in the middle where you had to walk across a narrow bridge with netting on the side. The bottom of the plane was open so you could see straight to the ground. When we went through, Aimee was terrified of this section. After much coercing, she finally crossed. When we finished going through, Aimee asked to go again. She must have forgotten how much she disliked the center section. It was a really fun and interesting field trip to go on with the kids' friends.

Kate has been bragging for several weeks that she has a loose tooth. I had checked it and it was barely wiggly. I guess she either convinced Ethan to help her or he grew tired of her bragging and tried to play dentist with her. We found both of them in the bathroom. Ethan had tied a string around her tooth and was ready to pull it out by slamming the door. Luckily for Kate, the string slipped off her tooth before it came out. Oddly enough, we haven't heard her bragging since.

We also did gingerbread houses again this year. It was a lot more fun this year than it was last year. The kids understood what they were doing this year, so I didn't have to do as much helping. I did try out a new recipe using sugar as a glue. Basically, I had to boil sugar and water as if I was making hard candy and then dip the edges of the gingerbread in it. It was perfect! Next year, I think I will add a little flavoring to the sugar to make it more fun.

Ethan really enjoyed seeing Ryan's icicles hanging from the roof.

Sadly, V didn't get to join in the decorating fun. She didn't mind, though. She was fully occupied with a candy cane (or two) I gave her. I know, it is just terrible for me to give candy to a future dentist's infant daughter.

It at least kept her happy while we were working.

We also had a wonderful Christmas. We were blessed to receive a large delivery on our doorstep Christmas Eve. The kids loved opening their presents and received so many fun toys, games, and books.

The kids got some Care Bear toys. At first when V opened hers, it terrified her so much. It took quite a while for her to not scream when she saw them. Here is a video of her a few hours after initially seeing them.

 It is just terrible of me, but I find so much enjoyment out of seeing her reaction to the bears. I am happy to say that shortly after this video, she started to scratch at their eyes and, realizing that they were just plastic, quickly fell in love with the bears. She can now be found walking around with one bear hugged in each arm. She just loves them now and it is darling!

A year already!

It is official. She CAN walk. Just in time, too. She did it 10 days before her first birthday. She still prefers to crawl since she is a speed demon with those hands and knees ;-) but occasionally she is brave and wobbles around on her little feet. So cute!

At her one year appointment, she was almost exactly 19 pounds and 30 inches, tall and skinny. Her head is still quite petite at 44.5 cm. Her favorite sound to babble is ba-ba-ba and she loves to say it while she is dancing to music. Seriously, this kid loves music! I find her dancing all.the.time! She has been mumbling things that sound a lot like hi and mom, but last night she said her first official word when she wanted a book that Aimee was taking from her: mine. There was no mistaking it. :-( The word that we treated as a curse word for our first child is now our last child's first word.

We are finally getting her to tolerate more foods. She can basically have all the veggies and we have already tried apples and pears with success. She either does not like or does not tolerate bananas. Every time I feed them to her she screams and then refuses to open her mouth. I am sure her mouth itches with them like everyone else in the family. She loves chicken and turkey-even the pureed babyfood kind. Her all-time favorite is still sweet potatoes.  I plan on trying the grains again over Christmas break to see if she tolerates any of them.

She still does not sleep really well. She will go a good 5 hours before she first wakes up but then the rest of the night is terrible. Her naps are usually only once a day for an hour, but on really good days she might go two hours but it is very rare. She must have inherited the same sleepless genes as Jayke--he is finally sleeping past 6am now that he is 11.

V is so cuddly when she is sleepy but if she wants to play Mom had better not even get close to touching her. She is so busy all the time and constantly exploring and emptying.

One thing about her that I love is her hair. The lower part at the back of her head is still just baby fuzz and over that she has about 2 inches of hair growing over it. I think it is adorable. I also love the way she scrunches her nose up when she smiles. Cutest thing ever!

She is super ticklish on her feet and armpit/shoulders and just laughs and laughs when I tickle her. She loves it when Kate and Aimee play with her and will often get into laughing attacks where she just laughs at everything! I love her giggle!

We just love her and are so glad she is part of our family!

Show Choir Concert

One of the classes we signed Jayke up for this semester was show choir. He was really excited about it since he loves singing so much. At meet the teacher night he was already volunteering to sing a solo.

Tonight was the end-of-semester concert. It was a typical elementary music concert, where most of the time parents find it quite difficult to listen to. Very cute, yes, and the kids were all so brave singing their solos. All the kids had the opportunity to sing a solo if they wanted to, and most of them actually did. Overall, they did a fantastic job, even if parts of it were off tune.

Here is a video of the song that Jayke sang a solo for. Way to go Jayke! We are so proud of you and so happy that you love singing so much!

(As a side note, the girl that sings her solo last is the girl that Jayke has a crush on. So cute!)

Thanksgiving break

We don't have Daddy home very often, so this last week was a special treat for us. We had him for the entire week! V was so thrilled to wake up each morning and see Dad still at home. She just kept touching him, looking at him, and smiling. I'm sure she was in complete disbelief at what she was seeing. Sadly, that was his last full-week Thanksgiving vacation. 3rd and 4th year of dental school don't offer that luxury.

While he was home, we had plenty of projects for him to do. He replaced the tile in our bathroom shower. (We've only had all the materials for a few years now, just waiting for the time to do it.) We even had a play day at Bass Pro Shops. The kids love to go there every Christmas season to play with all the toys. It was nice just being able to spend time with Ryan again. Oh, how I miss him every day!

We had Thanksgiving with Ryan's family on Wednesday. Then with my family on Thursday. We even had our own turkey on the weekend. I don't think I have ever made so many dinner rolls and pumpkin pies at one time before. It was so much fun for the kids to play with so many cousins all in just a few days' time!

We were also so happy to have my sister Amber move back from Florida with her family. They will only be an hour's drive from us now! We also said goodbye to my baby sister Deanna and her husband. They will no longer be a 12 hour drive from us. They are moving to the Caribbean for Luiz' med school. The most sad part about it is that Ryan is still in school so we won't have a chance to visit them while they are living there. When we see them again, Luiz will be a doctor!

Aimee also took full advantage of the fact that Dad was around more. She somehow convinced him to paint her nails on Sunday. I think this was probably the second time in his life that he has done it: once for Kate and now for Aimee.  I just love seeing Ryan play with the girls!

Aimee was so excited that Ryan painted her nails blue and even added black polka dots! Way to go, Dad!

Now Thanksgiving break is over and I am once again going crazy with 5 kids to manage on my own. So crazy that I decided that each day of home school will only consist of reading for an hour, writing one page of something (either fiction, non-fiction, or poem), and one science activity along with a write-up in their science notebook. I am pretty sure this will continue all the way through December. I am guaranteed an hour of silence while they read and V naps each day now and it is definitely an hour that my brain needs! Only 2 1/2 weeks until Christmas break and we will have Dad back again...I can do this!

Jayke's first scout camp-out

 Jayke got to go on his first scout camp-out just recently. I was quite jealous that Ryan went with him. Sadly, we only have pictures of before he left.

His pack weighed a total of 21 pounds. It looked monstrous on him! Since I did not get to come along on the camp-out, Jayke has graciously described his experience for us. It was definitely a memorable experience for him!

As I left for my first scout camp-out I knew I was in for a lot of excitement. It was a long drive before we got there. We couldn't have dinner until we got to camp. On our drive up there it was raining and I said to dad, "My scout book is going to get wet!" He told me not to worry because my back pack was probably built to handle this weather. Since it was still raining we were lucky mom had made me pack a poncho for the two of us. We had to look a while before we found our camping spot. Luckily, shortly after we found it the rain had stopped. We set up our tent and helped the other campers with their tents. We had a welcome meeting. During the meeting the boy scouts performed some skits and I learned that my friend Kyle Petersen's dad saved a boy from drowning when he was a boy scout! When the meeting was over we got back to camp, ate dinner, waited a while (I wanted to explore in this time) and then tried to fall asleep. While we were attempting to go to sleep we heard coyotes in the camp ground right next to the tents. They sounded so cool!!! We woke up the next morning to the sound of a trumpet and there was dew all over the tent! We got some breakfast and went to opening exercises. Then we started the FUN part of the day, trying not to freeze while doing fun activities. We started with learning the key of backpacking: light objects. After that we learned about light foods (most of them are dehydrated foods). Then we went to learn about proper campsites and while we were at that station we saw a tarantula about 6 inches across and 2 or 3 inches tall! On our way to the last station we saw another tarantula about the same size as the last one. The last station of the day was my favorite. We were orienteering with a map and compass! We  had to find five flags that were charted on a map in about 15 minutes. We had a good start. On our way to the first flag we saw a third tarantula  that was again, about the same size! Then we finally found the flag! We had to decide if we were going to take a trail or go over a small (but steep) mountain. We chose the mountain. About half way through I got a small cactus in the inside of my right leg just about 2 or 3 inches below the knee. When we were about to find the next flag we heard the "time to return signal". Brother Hancock was so close he just kept going for a little and found the flag. When we got back the leaders gave us two bags of dehydrated food and told us to make some thing with it. Dallin, Dad, and I made black berry cobbler. Hunter and Jordan made black berry oat meal, scrambled eggs and pancakes. We got in the car and I told dad to drop me off at the out house. I was in the port-a-Jon dropping the kids of at the pool when someone started to prepare to take the out houses away. So as you might suspect, I was a little startled. I started knocking on the door. Luckily they noticed I was in the out house. Then dad came out of the car, worried I might be accidentally taken away, and notified them that I was in there. I got out and started my trip home.

First hike of the "cooler" season!

Now that we are officially over the days of "fire and brimstone" for a few months, we decided it was a good idea to join our home school group for an easy hike. The trail for this month was the hieroglyphics trail.  The morning started out a little rushed because I had forgotten about the hike until late the night before. Sadly, that meant we didn't have a lot of yummy snacks. We were left with Ritz crackers, tangerines, and Wowbutter (peanut butter alternative) sandwiches. Thankfully the kids were so hungry when we got to the top that they didn't complain about the food at all.

The trail started out nice and easy with just a slight incline. Aimee kept telling me, "I love hiking" and "This is the best day", which always makes a mom feel good. Halfway up, she started changing that to, "I'm so hungry!" Sorry girl, that's what happens when you refuse to eat more than 3 bites each meal for the past month!

 Nice wide, "smooth" trail at the beginning.

 About halfway up, taking a drink break.

 Still pretty early in the hike, and still all smiles. So excited to be outdoors on a semi-cloudy day.

The last little bit of the trail was fairly steep and very rocky for the little ones. We had a few other young boys sticking close to us and they kept running off on little side "trails" getting lost. I finally told them to stay with us so they didn't "find" any rattlesnakes in the bushes.

We finally got to the top and found hoards of people soaking up the sunlight on the rocks. We found a shady little area and ate our lunch. Then, the boys ran off and played with the little tadpoles in the water. The kids were all very excited to see the petroglyphs carved into the rocks.

 Little Miss was excited to see Mama after the long trip.

 Finally relaxing at the top.

Kate enjoying her Wowbutter sandwich.

Playing with tadpoles in the water.

V begged me to let her play on the rocks. (Meaning she screamed as shrill as possible until I took her out of the pack.) She was more than thrilled to find some sand to play with!

I stood around, enjoying the views and watching the kids play around the rocks.

 The view down the mountain.

All the boys playing under the petroglyphs.

Some of the kids playing up the rocks.

 The view up the mountain. Beautiful clouds speckling the sky.

 Ethan and Kate basking in the sunlight.

All the kids ready to head back down.

Going down was much easier, as it always is. Aimee just wanted to run, which was a definite no-no with all the rocks. The first time she fell, it was more of a slip and roll, in really slow motion. She was pretty upset that she rubbed her face on the ground. She tried convincing me that she got a cut, but it wasn't even a scratch. It was more of a "light sanding". I convinced her to let me hold her hand for a while. That is when she fell again, but this time it was a "trip and fly" because I picked her up as soon as she tripped and then let her get her footing again. She didn't appreciate my holding her hand, even though I saved her face from eating rocks. So towards the bottom of the trail, when the parking lot was in view, she got excited and started running again. This time I was nowhere near her and she took a really good tumble right onto some rocks. She still has rocks embedded in her palm. :-(

 This is after the first "roll" for Aimee. She was not happy to be in a picture and thought it was the worst day ever. Little was she aware of what was coming her way. ;-)

 

Same place on the trail. Just without Aimee. 

 The kids loved the look of this part of the mountain.

Jayke kept looking for viewpoints and wanted to stop anytime he could see anything. It was all basically the same view, just lower and lower elevation.

 Almost to the bottom. Kids are enjoying the hike again after they were able to drink some of my cold water. I am definitely hoping to get more hydration packs in the future instead of carrying water bottles for all the kids.

I just loved this picture. As we started to get closer to the bottom of the mountain, we started to feel a little breeze. It felt really nice on our sweaty bodies! Aimee started raising her arms in the air and chanting, "let the wind blow in our face" over and over again. You can just see how glorious it must have felt to have a little breeze.

Overall, it was a nice, easy hike to start out the season. Even with a baby on my back, it wasn't too difficult. My knees didn't even complain with their typically popping and grinding. The trip took a total of 3 hours, with probably only 20 minutes at the top eating and playing. I am incredibly grateful for the slight cloud cover, as 72 degrees was still a little too hot for my enjoyment. I am just glad that it wasn't the 90 degrees that it was last week! We will be doing this hike again soon, though it will definitely be much earlier in the morning next time. Hopefully we will have Ryan and a nice camera on our next time around.