Splash Pad

A couple of weeks ago when it was not was not to terribly hot (like 100 degrees not 110 degrees) we braved a new splash pad. I was a little skeptical at first because it is far away. It is about 20 minutes from my house in the middle of the dessert. But eventually I sucked it up and decided to go. Oh am I glad I did, this was the coolest splash pad and park my kids had ever seen. I wish I had taken a picture of the playground it is 3 stories high and the kids had a blast. We went with some of our great homeschooling friends. It is so nice to have good friends:) Here are some of the pictures of the day.....

Rory doesn't look to terribly happy in this photo but she had fun splashing around in the water so she wouldn't get to hot:)

Sydney waited and waited for this bucket that was up high to fill up and pour down on her. She seriously would move two seconds before it dropped every time and it would miss her. It looked like the picture below when it finally poured out.

We had lots of fun and the kids can't wait to go back!

Camping 2011

We have taken an annual family camping trip pretty much every year since Sydney has been born. We have missed a few years but not many. We have cheated and gone to a cabin to one year. Anyway we never went at all last summer and the girls have been begging to go so my sister was coming into town in June so we all thought it would be fun to go. Normally we go the end of July, this is the first time we had ever gone in June and now we know why. It was FREEZING and we could not have any fires because it was to dry.

Setting up camp was a breeze. Everything went together nicely. Here is our new tent. It wast he first time we had gotten to use it and it worked out nicely.

Rory's favorite place to take a nap was in Nana's tent. All that fresh air was exhausting!

The big kids had a great time playing in the back of the trailer we borrowed. They thought it was like a big fort. (Thanks Chris and Sherrie it worked out great!) All went well the first day the weather was beautiful and everything was great. The night on the other hand was a tad bit FREEZING! No one slept very much and we all woke up the next day ready to go home. Here is everyone sitting around our imaginary campfire since we couldn't have one because it was to dry.

She is showing us her pretty painted fingers that Ashley painted.

Look at this cute bundled up baby eating her breakfast:)

Nana made us the yummiest breakfast, bacon and eggs. I don't know why it always tastes so much better out in the wilderness.

All the monkeys enjoying Nana's hard work.

After breakfast in warmed up and the kids had lots of fun. Ashton taught the girls to use pocket knives. They widdled the end of some sticks.

They kids all had a blast exploring. We brought home a whole big container full of pine cones.

They even caught a horny toad. It made everyone jump and scream.

After our nice warm morning of exploring and tromping through the woods we packed up camp and left. Jerame's mom happened to be up in Payson and Ron's family's house so we went there for the second night. We took much needed showers and then went and got some ice cream and went to the park.

The kids had a blast at the park. They had never ridden on a tire swing before and the thought it was way fun.

Overall a fun weekend. The kids can;t wait to go back camping. We will try again in the fall when we can have fires. Camping just isn't the same without smores:)

First Food

Rory had her first food last month. It was an interesting experience. I tried carrots but mostly every time I gave her a bite she made these really ugly faces at me. If she could talk I am sure she would of had some interesting things to say:)

Daddy Daughter Date

Jerame's dad gave him tickets to a Diamondbacks game and he decided it would be fun to take Sydney. He gave the other two tickets to the neighbors and John and Jack joined them. Sydney and Jack had so much fun!

Sydney and Jack had a lot of fun playing with the camera.

She looks a little nutty in this picture:)

They had a super time and really enjoyed the game. Thanks again Grandpa!

Kung Fu Panda

We got to go to the funnest event ever with Grandpa and Grandma Patty. It was an event put on by a bunch of vendors for Grandpa's grocery store. We got to go see Kung Fu Panda, got breakfast, free t-shirts, free movie snacks, and lots of free goodies; oh I almost forgot blue bell ice cream too. There were even clowns making everyone balloon animals when we got there.

Aunt Jessica and my parents also went along too.

Waiting for the movie to start.

Somehow I missed getting a picture of Grandpa but thanks so much we had a great time.

Cooking Class: Granola Bars

The next few posts are all from June but oh well I always seem to be catching up. The girls are really enjoying our cooking classes and this one they really liked. We made homemade granola bars. I have had this recipe for forever and am not even sure where I found it but it is a good one. Sydney read the whole recipe to us before we started I might add. We didn't do this last time and ran into some problems.

We poured, stirred, mixed and got everything together.

Ta-da the final result. They were delicious and the girls loved them.

Here is the recipe if you want to try it for yourself: 5 cups crispy rice cereal 4 cups quick cooking oats ( I used regular and they were fine) 1 cup raisins 1 cup honey 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup peanut butter 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup chocolate chips Combine cereal, oats, and raisins in a large bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the honey and brown sugar to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla extract and blend until smooth. Pour this over the cereal mixture and mix well. Add chocolate chips and mix thoroughly. Divide up and press into TWO ungreased 9X13 inch baking dishes. Cool. Cut each pan into 24 bars.