The happiest place on Earth

Move over Disneyland, the Children's Museum of Phoenix is about to take your place! Jack and I met our new friends(adorable Sara and her even cuter son, Ben) today at the museum for a little fun and lunch. The boys had a great time with the tricycle races, shopping at the grocery store, climbing through the tunnel maze and eating lunch each other's lunch! Jack was very big brotherly around Ben(19mos)helping to feed him, wipe his tiny mouth and attempting to hold his hand to "keep him safe!" Ben , being his own little man, was having none of the hand holding! There was SO much to do and see that by the end of the day, both mommies and kiddos were pooped. P.S. Thanks Sara! I appreciate you taking some pics of me with Jack today:)

Simply Raven

My cousin, Fauna, has the sweetest little guy. I don't get to see him very often, so I took the time to photograph him while I was there. This way, I don't have to wait for Miss Fauna to send my some pics!

Over the river and through the woods...

to grandmother's house we go! Our purpose for visiting California was primarily to visit my mom's side of the family and see Grandma Millie(75) and Papa(82)along with my mom's sisters. We had lots of laughs watching Raven and Jack run around though Grandma's patience was worn more than thin with all of the doors being slammed by the little ones. It was the first time in years that mom and I visited at the same time. We got to enjoy a lunch to our once favorite Mexican restaurant, have a fabulous bbq on the 4th hosted by Mary and the girls and look through lots of old pictures full with memories with a sentimental Papa. Here are some pics from our visit.

I second that emotion!

One of the things Jack loved best about our trip to Cali was playing with his cousin, Raven, who will be 6 in October. They were a perfect match of fire and sweetness as one moment they hugged each other and the next they were pulling hair and swinging fists for all they were worth. While they sat on the porch at my Aunt Mary's house, I took a series of photos capturing the subtle changes in their moods and expressions...in about 5 MINUTES! For me, these photos really illustrate family dynamics...love, excitement, comfort, anger, jealously, competition...a perfect ying and yang of complexity.

Snap Crackle Pop

On Friday, we headed to the fireworks stand..yes, the fireworks stand. For those of you who live in AZ and elsewhere that they are illegal for residential use, you can buy them on nearly every street corner in many parts of California. It has bee 22 years since I last visited one and had the pleasure of purchasing some for our own little light show. This is also Jack's first year to see fireworks, so you can imagine the excitement over his very first sparkler! As you can see, we did the tourist thing in our own town taking photos of this trip the the stand.

Breakfast Included!

Grammie, Jack and I packed up the G for a road trip to Carson, California to visit some family over the holiday weekend. We were lucky enough to start each day at my Grandma Jokki and Grandpa Don's house with my 82 year old grandma as the chef. She lovingly decorated the table with her finest table cloths, napkins and sweet dishes covered in pink roses. We enjoyed cottage cheese, yogurt, fresh fruit salad, and of course, rice and bread pudding...a Peyer family favorite! She even set out the tiniest coffee cup with milk and a splash of coffee for our tiny connisseur...that gene must have skipped a generation as neither I nor his father like coffee too much. Even Aunt Nikki stopped in one morning to say hello. On our last morning there, Grandma got out a wishbone she had been saving for Jack to make a wish. Boy, he was so excited, he could barely calm down to listen to the directions and darn near ripped it out of his great grandma's tiny hands when the time came.