Oak Creek Canyon

Well, fast forward a month and we were on a day hike at the West Fork of Oak Creek.  This has to be one of my favorite places in Arizona! Maybe because I spent time there as a kid, but I just find it so lush and beautiful!  I smile watching my kids play in the water and explore the different plants and critters along the way.  This was a perfect day for it, the trail wasn't as crowded as I've seen it before, we had some cloud cover but perfect temperatures, and no one had to be carried from being too tired!  =)

As we were hiking in to the big pool, the girls tromped through the mud - so much so that their boots and socks were soaked.  I was genuinely surprised that they actually didn't complain too much about that on the rest of the way in.

Once we got to the pool, the big girls set off to try and catch minnows and bugs, while Jaelyn plopped herself down in this flowing spot of the stream and stayed there!  The water just seemed to fascinate her.

Our wet-rat of a schnauzer!

Then I plopped down next to Jaelyn and put my camera away to enjoy the beautiful moment.

On the way out, there was much complaining about the shoe situation.  I had brought crocs, so we switched to those and appeased them somewhat. Toward the end of the trail Daddy spotted a stealthy snake in the high grasses and then picked the girls some wild blackberries - so all was right with the world again.

When we arrived home, this was the view from our driveway, and I was so happy to have my camera out to capture it!  

All around a simply beautiful day!

Jaelyn's Third Birthday Party

Okay - so this was about two months ago.

Don't judge.

=)

Just love, love, love this little sweetie!  She keeps me on my toes, but has so much joy and a love for doing everything!

We has a small family party at home - and she was so thrilled.  Her only request was a "pretty cake with lots of frosting", because almost all cake has milk in it this girl very rarely has any.  I thought that was a do-able birthday wish!

Here she is practicing with her twirly birthday dress!

She can run super fast!  ;)

And then she dug in!

Those of us who know what regular cake tastes like didn't appreciate the vegan version... but she loved it! And she had it for dessert for a week!  Even better, right?!?

Love you, my sweet J! You are an awesome little three year old! 

Mormon Lake Archery

We took the girls up to the Mormon Lake Archery Shoot at the beginning of the summer, and it was such a fun experience!  Now, being honest here - our kids complained through the entire adult shoot, even though they were shooting.  Really, by the time we were done I thought maybe my ears were bleeding!  ;) Lest you ever think the stories and pictures on this site make our kids look well-behaved.  

BUT, after the adult shoot and eating lunch, we took them to the kid shoot area and they had a really great time.  The guy who ran it was awesome, and had all these little prizes for them!  I think we will be making the trip for this event again!

The beach

Well, it is the end of July and I'm just posting pictures from the beginning of July!  The summer is flying by - not that I'm complaining!  The sooner we can escape this oppressive heat the better!  

And that's just what these pictures are of!  Our beach escape!  We were in San Diego for a few days and had to spend as much time as possible at the ocean!  The girls love it as much as I do!!!  I only had my camera out for a few minutes at the beginning of our day on Coronado:

A little series of Paige:

I'm ready to go back!  ;)

Lauren and family's day-of-FUN!

If you don't understand the Friends reference in that title... I am sorry.  Go watch reruns of Friends.  Man, I miss that show!

For Lauren's birthday we decided to do all the things she wanted to do for the day!  We started out with breakfast of her choice, waffles with blueberries and sausage.

Then she opened her first gift, a new outfit in her favorite color:

She is so big I can hardly stand it!  

Then we headed to the play-place of her choice:

Good old "pump it up"!  Probably my least favorite play-place on the planet, but going to open jump at 10AM on a Monday morning was much more bearable!

All the PIU pictures are in black and white because the light is beyond horrible in there! 

This was just cracking me up!

Then we headed to the mall, where the birthday girl chose Johnny Rocket's for lunch!

After which we headed to get her ears pierced!  I was truly shocked when she came up with this idea a few weeks before her birthday, because she typically avoids any discomfort at all (I have no idea where she gets that from).  But, she was pretty excited!

Until they got started...

The suspicion began with the dots being marked on her ears...

She managed to hold back the tears.  It was nerves!

The second ear required a little more concentration to get through. 

And then they were in!  And she was a happy girl again after that!

Then we headed home for the younger two to nap while Lauren and I headed to Toy's R Us to use her birthday money from Aunt RaRa and her $3 birthday coupon!  Then she was able to play with some of the things she had opened the day before as well as her new finds.  

Then it was on to a dinner of spaghetti, her absolute fave!  And more cake.

And then more gifts, including a big surprise!

She literally danced around and declared it to be "the best day ever"!  

Music to my mama ears!  =)

Then she was off!

Someone else was pretty excited about that bike too, because it meant now she gets to ride the old one!

She did really great right away!

And that was that!  We had a wonderful day together.

Happy birthday, sweet Lauren!  We love you "all the way to heaven and back"!