Life is a Walk in the Park!

To celebrate Memorial Day, we headed to the park to fly our kite and remote control airplane. Jack was especially excited, but had a couple meltdowns when Daddy tried to help him fly it. He is so independent that it borders on craziness somedays. After we grew tired of flying the kite, Jack got to ride a boat and take a train ride around the park! It was such a beautiful day! I felt like God was smiling on us. What a gift it is to have an 80 degree day in Arizona in May. Jack flew his airplane into a pine tree, so Bryan felt the need to climb the tree to get it down. I was not super pleased, but he kept insisting that it was a $30 plane that needed to be retrieved. I was of the mindframe that $30 plane wasn't worth a trip to the hospital!! Boy, I am such a MOM! Bryan took some lovely pics of Jack and me today, so I thought I would share since they are a rarity. After our trip to the park, we went to San Tan Flats. It's a cowboy restaurant outside of town with music and dancing. They had campfire pits all over, so we thought no campfire would be complete without some smores! Jack loved this sticky sweet treat(I was loving the baby wipes afterward)! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend doing what you love with those you love. God Bless all of the fallen soldiers and those who continue to fight to give us the freedom to enjoy days like today!

Little Red Wagon Rides and a Little Bug Too!

Yesterday, Bryan, Jack and I went to our neighborhood park to burn off some energy. Jack and Bryan took turns riding Jack's wagon down the steep hills at the park. You can tell by the pics that my little guy(and my big guy) sure had a lot of fun! After doing the luge down the hill a few times, the boys moved onto the slides and jungle gym to play with the Briggs boys from down the street. Our neighborhood has tons of little boys, so there is never a shortage of "friends" to play with at the park. Jack discovered a little bug later in the morning and was so excited to let it crawl all over him. That was great entertainment until the excitement peaked to the peril of Mr. Bug!!! He took one for the team and is now sunbathing in a rosegarden in the great beyond. Poor little guy....

Garbage Man in Margaritaville

Bryan decided to make himself a margarita the other night. Jack was trying with all his might to get sip of that delicious frozen(and forbidden) concoction that Daddy was drinking. He smelled it(and then tried to steal a sip), laid his head on the cold glass(and then tried to steal a sip), played on Bryan's heartstrings with a "please Daddy" as he cozied up to him(and then tried to steal a sip) all to no avail! Thought you would enjoy these pics. More than Jack wants to be a grown up and do grown up things, he wants to be a garbage man. He is consumed with the garbage truck that picks up our trash twice a week. He notices them every where we go. Stops to watch the truck go by every chance he gets and even waves at the driver waiting to see if he will wave back. Daddy decided to surprise his garbage man wannabe with a truck of his own. Jack is now an employee of Tonka Waste Management! He is so enamored with this truck that our usually peaceful bedtime turned warzone. I finally managed to get him to stay in his room(all the while listening to his new truck say "Tonka Sanitation ready to roll!") until he finally climbed in bed and fell asleep with the lights on. He rolled out of bed this morning and couldn't be bothered with breakfast, eventhough I went to the trouble to make his favorite. He was on garbage duty and has been ever since!

They Told Me This Would Happen

Well, it's official. Jack's eating has finally slowed down:( Don't get me wrong, the kid still eats better than most I know, but he is definitely slowing down. About the only thing I can be sure that he will polish off lately is peanut butter and jelly toast. Good thing its wheat bread, natural pbutter and my homemade organic raspberry peach jam. If he isn't going to eat much, the least I can do is make sure it is the best possible version available. Here are some pics of Jack enjoying his breakfast! We haven't been too busy lately. Between record highs and then 3 days of rain, we have been homebound. I am so grateful for crayons and books I can't even tell you. Jack and I saw the Three Billy Goats Gruff at the Great Arizona Puppet Theatre on Wednesday. He really seemed to enjoy himself, so I am sure we will become regulars there. I was contacted by a reporter at The Arizona Republic to be interviewed about Whole Grains from a mom's point of view. Definitely not the way I thought I would make the paper!! It should run sometime next week complete with a picture of me and Jack. Can't wait to see it. Should be something fun for his baby book!

Kinda little bit

Jack has become the prince of funny one liners. If you ask him if he likes something or if he is happy, he will say, "kinda little bit." He tells me "love you babe" everyday because that is what his Daddy says to me when he leaves for work. My day is filled with "best woman whole world mommy" and "come here buddy", not to mention plenty of "so proud of you last night!" We have yet to figure the last one out, but it makes us smile like idiots none the less. Whoever said 2 year olds are terrible had it all wrong. They are definitely busy and curious and sometimes tenacious in the most exasperating ways, but they are precious and funny and loving and perfect in every way. Maybe I am a glutton for punishment, but if time could stand still in my 2 year old's world, I would be blessed to be part of it.

Entertainment Galore

Jack has been having a blast playing his Elmo guitar! It's so funny to watch. I sometimes ask him what he's doing and he says "I'm rockin'!" Jack also loves to play dress up. Today he was ready for anything to happen at the luau. It's is so fun to watch the imagination of a 2 year old unfold. Every experience is new(and sometimes disturbing to me, but more on that later) and exciting. The other day when Jack got up from his nap, I asked him if he needed to go potty and he said, "NO, thank you!" A few moments later, I was running for the phone and heard water running in the pantry. No, we do not have running water in the pantry. Never the less, Jack's hose was watering my recycling bin!!!!! When I asked him where he is supposed to potty, he stopped mid-stream and said "toilet" and ran for the bathroom. Sometimes these new experiences are eye opening and other times they just make you want to shut your eyes and yell, "Calgon take me away!" Boys!

Mother's Day

Ahhh....Mother's Day. It started out with a "Happy Birthday!" as my son brought me a gift bag this morning. He thinks it's a birthday party whenever gifts are involved. We went to breakfast this morning and then I enjoyed a day out with my mom. We went to lunch and a movie(What Happens in Vegas...I highly recommend it. Very funny!) Here are a couple of pictures of me, mom and my son who was none to happy to cooperate! Happy Mother's Day!

The Queen Creek Peach Festival

Every year in May, Schnepf Farms hosts The Peach Festival. They are the largest peach grower in Arizona and turn out delicious, organic peaches of several varieties. Today, Bryan, Jack and I decided to check it out. Jack was able to get a pony ride, ride an antique carousel built in 1912 and run through a field of beautiful flowers. After having a simple hot dog lunch, we took a hayride out to the orchard to pick our own peaches to bring home. I am looking forward to making some jam and a peach pie! Despite the hot weather, we all had fun, but were ready to get back to the a/c at home!

Organ Stop Pizza

Friday night found us visiting Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, Arizona. The Mighty Wurlitzer(one of only a few remaining in the world) is operated seven days a week by skilled musicians and plays everything from Bach to the soundtrack from the movie Grease! These organs, complete with 6000 pipes, were originally created at the turn of the century to provide the soundtrack for silent movies when the cost of retaining an orchestra became too expensive. It made for a fun evening of pizza and sodas while we watched and listened to the musical light show!

Old Mc"Myers" Farm

Today, Jack and I went to Coolidge(a small town outside of Phoenix)to visit our friends Janie and Rhett Myers. They have a farm with lots of fun animals, so we had quite an adventure. Janie took us on a golf cart ride around the property and Jack was in awe! He wanted to ride the tractor too, but there was too much to be seen and too little time to do it. The boys gathered eggs, chased the chickens and turkeys, had a chat with the pig and found 3 tiny kittens in a tree stump where their mommy left them protected from the heat. I stuck my hand into the hole and grabbed a little striped kitten who hissed and spit until I thought he would nearly have a heart attack! Bryan is lucky I came to my senses and didn't take the little orange one home. After a couple hours chasing the animals and playing on the swingset it was time for lunch. We headed into "town"(hee hee) and had lunch at a little place ironically called Big Wes'! Thanks for a great day guys!

Jack's New Bed!

As promised, here are some pics of Jack in his new toddler bed. In a few months, we will start working on a big boy room complete with a new full size bed, but in the interim we thought this would be a good transitional bed for him since it uses his crib mattress and bedding. As you can see, it is just his size. Although he has plenty of room to stretch out, he prefers to sleep between the rails!