Summer stuff

Our summer routine is a little boring and I feel like I am constantly trying to find something for the kids to do.  We usually  go to Wet n Wild one day, Penny has dance Tuesday and then we run errands, we usually go swimming at a friends another day, we go to the Summer Movie Fun one more day, and then that last day is always torture so when we have a friend over everyone is happy. Here are some pictures from our most recent outings.

Penny I went grocery shopping and I suggested we get ice cream after.  I told her not to tell Lucas, but I am sure you all know how that went.  He was not happy once she told him

Once a week we do summer movie fun, and we take advantage of the air conditioned movie theaters.  Plus we get cold drinks and yummy popcorn.

This could end badly

Penny has been taking a little dance class with girls from church and she loves it.  

Penny and her little friend Navy are trouble together.  These two are pretty much the same person which means the love and hate each other often. 

We tie dyed shirts and the kids had a blast, and I had a stomach bug.

The finished product and day three of my flu which is why Penny and I look the way we do.

I feel like this may end up an awkward family photo.

This is how Roman sits with he little feet crossed.  This picture was taken while Ned was using the restroom.  It is very common for our kids to sit and talk to Ned while he goes and apparently Roman is starting young. 

While we play in the backyard this is where Roman sits in a puddle splashing. 

And this is what we do jump on the trampoline and spray each other with the hose. 

Fourth of July

We had a great Fourth of July we spent the morning being lazy and then the after noon we were invited over to some friends house to swim.  We swam for hours, ate yummy food, visited with friends, and when the sun went down at 9pm we could finally do fireworks.  This is the first time since I was a child living in Utah that I have done fireworks in the street. The kids loved picking out the fireworks and Roman just crawled around.  I often forgot about him, but he was just happy exploring.   Only complaint is it was so hot, AZ heat does not stop even at night. 

Penny with her buddies Navy and Claire

My cute boys

Visit to Albuquerque

While we were living in Providence we made some really great friends.  Well, fortunately for us one of our favorite families moved just 6 hours from us.  Lucas's best friend is Samuel, Penny's best friend is Lori, and Roman's future best friend is James.  So we are beyond excited when we are able to visit them.  We were all particularly excited because life in Phoenix is a bit boring without our beaches to go to.  We had a great time and cannot wait to go back.  Here are the highlights:

• Swimming in the neighborhood pool.  Penny and Lucas are both doing so great swimming without floaties, and Roman loves the water.  Unfortunately James does not feel the same way. 
• Eating out.  I rarely eat out so it was such a treat.  One restaurant was not so great, but it was still a treat.  My favorite was the Bahama Rama Mama at Bahama Bucks which is a shaved ice with cream on top and ice cream on the bottom.  
• We took a trip to the Albuquerque Bio park Zoo, and the kids' favorite part was the cotton candy and my favorite part was the Hippos. 
• Family night at Chick Fil A where the kids were able to bat with a giant cow as the pitcher. 
• I was able to sleep in all but one morning which is amazing when traveling with three kids. 
• Lucas and Samuel had so much fun together just playing.  They played Lego's,  with the hose in the back yard, spies, star wars, light saber fights, and much more.  They read to each other at night when they were going to bed and at the splash pad they laid in the sun just talking.  I wish Lucas had a friend like Samuel in Phoenix. 
• We played at the splash pad.
• Lori and I stayed up way too late talking and eating yummy popcorn.  Which made me feel bad since she had to get up with James.  
• Lucas and Penny's favorite day was the day we went to Gravity Park with is a giant trampoline park.  Lucas loved playing dodge ball with Samuel and they befriended a little boy and his dad so they all had a great game.  Penny loved jumping in the foam pit.  Roman and James wished they could be part of the fun.
• Roman and James were so cute together.  There was constantly a baby train crawling around the house.  The created many messes and anytime they were  caught they just smiled. James is a little more active than Roman, and as a result Roman has picked up a few new tricks.  He can now stand on all four meaning two hands on the ground and two feet on the grounds similar to "downward facing dog" position in yoga, and Roman is now getting into things that he use to ignore like the DVDs. 

Every night I would check on Penny and she would have something weird in her bed.  This time she made a bed for her baby doll. 

Batting at Chick Fil A and he got a home run.

Penny want my help batting, but I was not any help.

These cute boys were there too.  The music was pretty loud and Roman would dance to the music.

The only picture I got of these two boys.  Love Samuel's kissy face. 

At the zoo.  I had to bribe Lucas with cotton candy so he would hold his head up, he was so tired. 

Lori snapped this picture of me and Roman.  Roman is cute and I look old. 

These boys causing trouble

Following each other everywhere. 

The splash pad. 

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Father's Day and other stuff

Ned always takes such good care of me on Mother's Day so I wanted to do the same for Ned. I wanted to make a yummy dinner, awesome dessert, take care of the kids, keep the house clean, and get to church on time.  Well, one thing I figured out is I cannot do it alone, I need Ned.  He helps me so much at home with the kids, cleaning he is really so great and keeps me laughing the whole time.  I am grateful I get to spend every day with him.  My kids also love him so much and would do anything for him. Lucas got up and cleaned his room and then all day they kept saying "It's dad's day so he gets to do what he wants".

Penny loves her daddy, and daddy loves his Penny

I miss my dad every day, but especially on Father's day.  He was just the right dad for me.  He knew when to push me and when to let me go on my own.  I wish my kids were able to know him, but I am pretty sure he is the one that sent Penny to me so sassy. Dad loved being a Granpa and often talked about what he would do with the kids. I am glad I got a glimpse of him as a grandfather with Lucas. 

Lucas and Ben's blessing day my dad is so happy.

One of the only pictures I have of dad and Lucas. 

While we were living in Rhode Island Ned served in the Providence Branch presidency.  Well, strangely enough the branch president moved to the Phoenix area just 4 months after us.  We were finally able to get together with the Culley family.  They have a great  pool and the kids played for hours and we ate a ton of ribs.  It was nice to have a little bit of Rhode Island here in the desert. 

Penny and Emily

Lucas and Tyson

This summer has been a bit challenging to keep to the kids from driving me crazy.  In Rhode Island it was easy we just went to the beach I was happy to be there and so were the kids.  In Arizona I have to do a little more work. This week we decided to go the Science Center in Phoenix.  We really love it and we have a pass.  It entertains the kids forever, and I feel like the kids are learning.  There is one particular area that has a big stomach and teaches about digestion.  As a result there is a button you can push that makes a farting sound.  That alone entertains forever, that was the first display Penny wanted to go to funny girl. 

There is a game that you wear a helmet and it measures your brain waves. 

In our ward I am serving with the Young Women ages 12-13.  We has an activity this week where we went to a park and played messy twister.  It was fun and eventually turned into a paint fight.  I love working with this age group they are so silly and keep me young. 

Roman has started crawling this week, and it is really fun to see where he wants to go and what he wants.  He spends most of his day following the kids around.  I can just tell he wants to be there with the kids walking and playing.  He is so much fun!!

This how Roman spends his days.

We are really enjoying the World Cup right now.  Lucas has a couple of jerseys and wheres them every day.

The other day we went to Chick Fil A for ice cream and they were having a circus. They had a clown, face painting, balloon animals, and cotton candy.  My kids will do just about anything for cotton candy. 

We may or may not be back

The previous post was a bit premature and posted by Ned just two weeks after Roman was born so needless to say we were not back.  In hopes of documenting our life a little better I am trying to get the old blog up and running.

 Over Memorial weekend we had a great time as a family playing. We kicked off the weekend on a date with our favorite baby Roman at a fantastic restaurant Sierra Bonita. I am still dreaming about the food.  That is one thing there is no shortage of in Phoenix, good restaurants.

This is where Roman spent most of our date,  on the floor between our chairs. The waitress wondered where he went. 

 First day we went to wet n wild where Ned got to ride the rides with Lucas and I was able to enjoy one of the last days under 100 degrees. Lucas favorite ride was the rainbow slide, Penny loved the lazy river, and Roman enjoyed splashing whenever he was in water.

The kiddy rainbow slide not the one Lucas loves.  Sadly the only picture I took.

The next day we wanted to head up to slide rock, but because of fires it was closed so we took a drive up the Apache trail. We found a lake and old western town, plus the drive was beautiful.

The desert does have its own kind of beauty.

Superstition Mountain

An old Ghost town.

Our good friend the creepy cowboy.

If you know our family there is no way we could pass a toilet seat made for pictures and not take a picture.

More toilet seat fun

Roman has no idea how fun potty humor can be.

We ended the weekend with one more trip to Wet n Wild, and then a BBQ and swimming with some friends. It was such a nice weekend and great to spend time with Ned more since he has been working so much.

No pictures of the kids in the pool, but I did get sweet Teyah giving Roman his bottle. She loves Roman and talks to me a lot about babysitting him.