Fun at the Phoenix Children's Musuem!

I love my sister and her husband, but man oh man, do I love their kids! I suspect a major part of that is because they are so darn cute and smart, but...I also suspect that it's because they include Abby as one of their own (which I guess she is, but you know what I mean...). We have a little circus whenever they get together- Mason as the ringleader, Maeleigh as the highwire act (lots of fun drama!), and Abby as the clown (or MC, she's pretty loud!).

Don't let this face fool you...

Oh yeah... where am I going first?

We seem to see these scary monsters wherever we go!

Me and Michelle decided to take our kiddos on one fun (last) field trip to the Phoenix Children's Museum. After finally calling Bobby to find out where it was (where we suspected it was all along!), we made it inside and found a fascinating place, filled with all kinds of things for children (and adults!) to spark your imagination and play!!! Not sure who had more fun, me or the kids? I always enjoy these 'trips' with the kids, even when the day usually ends in tears or drool 'cause someone fell asleep (and the former are the kiddos who SHOULD be asleep!).

This fun contraption made handkerchiefs blow through tubing and pop out in an unexpected place!

Loads of fun!

Here I am Mama!

You can see a small, white ball levitating to the upper left of Maeleigh's head.

When we say she walks to the beat of her own drum...

WAY harder than it looks! See below...

I thought he was going to kick me off. Nope, just wanted a pic!

Michelle may have made it about 6 inches, heading left ;)

Our little hula girl!

Although these three could have stayed at the same place the entire time we were there, they begrudgingly let us lead them on to different rooms after plenty of time had passed. Who would've suspected? They actually had loads of fun in the new rooms too! Every room presented the kids (and again, adults) something fun, challenging, or creative to do ;) It was a BLAST and I can't wait to go back again!

Coloring with these AMAZINGLY bright crayons!

Of course our friend, Manatee, joined us ;)

Sand on a lighted table, who knew it could be so much fun?

Uh oh, traffic jam at the carwash!

Getting 'washed'...

Almost done ;)

A game of Plinko, anyone?

This is where you could lose your child...you had better know what kind of shoes they are wearing that day. Can you see Abby in there?

Maeleigh and Abby, finishing an animal alphabet puzzle together.

Going grocery shopping...

Waiting in line for the checkout (it actually had a moving belt!)

Maeleigh did NOT want to sit in back!

VROOM! VROOM! Here I come!

While I am saddened that this will be my last official 'summer vacation' field trip post, I have spent so much glorious time with my girl and I am anxiously awaiting for school to start (Miss Abby starts preschool this year!) and see what new adventures she will go on...

Thanks for being so patient...

A look from the pier.

I know, I know, I have a LOT of catching up to do...where DOES the time go? Well, it's about to take me back to my fabulous job of teaching kindergarten, so I figured I should really get caught up on my summer blogs before heading back full time ;)

First off (this blog) is our recent trip to the lovely San Diego, CA. This is an annual trip that my family takes with my sister, Michelle, her husband, Bob, their two awesome kiddos, Mason and Maeleigh, our mom, Pam, Bob's mom, Selena, and for a least a few days, Abby's Grandpa Kelly. This year we were also blessed to have 'extra' visitors- Moe and Sarah and our very missed friend, Ernesto (he is now a resident of San Diego full time).

Is this really how close guys get when they hang out?

The trip was amazing all over, even with the normal 'hold ups' a trip with lots of family and young can have;) One of the things that I do not have a picture of (and I am so sad about it) is the hotel room we stayed in the first night. Maybe you are fortunate enough to have read the story, The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant, or maybe you haven't. In short, when I say that our first night was like that book, you'd understand. For those of you who have not read it, we were literally sleeping on top of one another, considering all of the luggage that had to be brought in from Bob's truck at night! I couldn't sleep, although it seemed to me as though everyone else was. There's just something ominous about hearing new breathing in a room with you at night when everything is supposed to be quiet. All I have to say is, thank goodness it was only one night!!!

Anyhow, the first official day of our trip happened to land on the 4th of July! What a fun day to be there!!! From the bay, we were able to watch what seemed to be 5 different fireworks shows- how amazing is that? Before hand, Moe and Sarah came to hang out with us and the kids had a lot of fun playing with Moe...we don't see enough of those two.

Abby teaching Moe how to color.

My awesome family on the 4th of July!

Of course we did our annual trip to Sea World, ALWAYS fun ;) The kids had a blast (and the adults too!). I love to see how excited they get over what seems like the silliest things: bumpy skin on a starfish, the pets show (even though they don't get that excited over their own pets), the icy cold arctic environment, MANATEES (pics didn't quite work out this year, after much screaming, we finally figured out that Abby was saying, "I do it myself!"- oh well, huh?), churros (that one is really for Aunt Chelley and Kyle), and the ducklings swimming around in our normal family photo op place.

The bumpy skin on starfishies ;)

They look very studeous, don't they?

Michelle, my mom, and me...I think we take this picture every year???

You can see the back of Mason's head between Bob's and Selena's

(he's getting so brave!).

There's uncle Bobby trying to keep everyone alive ;)

A little bit better...
What a beautiful family!

We spent a lot of time down on the beach. How could we not? The weather was absolutely perfect! I do notice that our load of beach stuff begins to slowly dwindle down as the week goes on because we cannot stand lugging it around day after day. How come we don't remember that every year at the beginning of the trip?

Our beach bum!

Look at these two cuties!!!

Here's Abby and Daddy saying, "Where'd our feet go?"

"Here they are!!!"

Grandpa Kelly, Abby, and Daddy

Abby REALLY wanted to go

boogie boarding...









I tried to convince her otherwise...

This is what we ended up with...

One of the best highlights of our trip was meeting up with my cousin Zach, our fellow Marine...not everyday you get to dine with a hero ;) We love him so much and we were so glad he got to take some time out of his busy schedule to hang with us. Thanks Zach!!!

Mason switched his outfit so he could match uncle Kyle ;)

Scary monsters- oooooh!

Me, our hero, Zach, and Chelle.

Me and my amazing hubby, Kyle ;)

Too cute for words!

Walking with confidence on the pier (not so much a couple of days earlier)!

Hope you enjoyed my recap and the pictures! Can't wait to go back...

Splashin' Around!

What a beautiful day to be outdoors! I have always believed that God works in wonderful, mysterious ways (big and little ones), but how He planned a nice, overcast day on the day we took a field trip to the Tempe Beach Park...well, gotta love Him even more for it ;)

This summer has got me thinking a lot about what Abby used to be like a year ago. I feel that my fearless, go-get-'em girl has been replaced (hopefully temporarily) by a much friendlier (really wish I had taken some pictures of the nice ladies she made friends with today), but timid, one. Maybe she is finally old enough to realize there are consequences to her actions? Maybe she doesn't feel the need for speed (one trip down the big slide was enough for her!)? Or maybe she is just learning to slow down and enjoy things fully? No matter what, better for her now, it took me 28 years to find the greatness in that!

So here are some pictures from our trip today...hope you enjoy!

Great weather + great friends + great places = GREAT FUN!!!

Abby & Gabriel getting a feel for the pad...I think they're liking it, don't you?

Abby is still having difficulties grasping the concept of looking AT the camera when she says "Cheese!"

What will happen if I step on this?

Whoa boy! She wasn't expecting it to change directions!

And of course, she found a ride on toy to play with. What kind of day would it be if not for a ride on a whale?