Summer Fun 2010

The kids have been having a ton of fun lately. Summer is already coming to a close. Sam starts full day Kindergarten on Aug 11. Charlie will start his preschool the following week, going 5 days a week and I will start my school on Sept 15. I CANT WAIT! I am so excited to learn something new, meet new people and just have something else going on in my life. Im ready to start that next chapter. Im ready to move on from only being home with my kids all day. I hope that doesnt sound bad. I dont mean that Im sick of them at all. Im just excited about finally after almost 6 years to be doing something that is just for me. Im going to miss not having to wake up to an alarm clock, and having these leisurley mornings Ive enjoyed for quiet some time now. I have a hard time getting out of the house before 11am. Its time for more structure.


We didnt go on a vacation this summer. We have made up for that by taking little weekend trips. we went up to the cabin for 4th of July weekend with our good friends the Werners. We had a great time. The kids are all old enough to play outside on their own a lot so that really made things relaxing for Carl and I. We spent a whole afternoon at Fossil Creek and that was amazing and fun.

A couple weeks ago, Carl's sister Audrey and I went up to Flagstaff with our kids to visit the Whitney Cunningham clan. We had a blast. The kids had fun with all their cousins and the adults got to eat lots of yummy food and drink yummy wine and just get in some good relaxing time. We didnt get up to many plans at all and that was fine with me.

Tomorrow, Im headed back up to the cabin with 2 of my bestest girlfriends and our kids. I cant wait. Its a mid-week adventure for 2 nights. We may hit up Fossil Creek or the Tonto Bridge. Hopefully since its mid-week, there will be hardly anyone but us around.

Ive really enjoyed the cabin this summer. I think when we went for the 4th of July, and I saw my kids playing and enjoying the same things I used to enjoy, I realized how much I love that place. Its barely changed since I was a kid. Its the only place that we can go that has been there my entire childhood. I will really miss that place someday when it gets sold. I wish I could buy it and keep it in the family where I think it belongs.

Tis the Season

We have been getting ready for Christmas. I think so far this is the most fun its been. Sam is super excited and he believes in Santa and all that fun stuff! We've been driving around looking at lights at night and we found a great cul de sac in Mesa. We also took the kids to the temple.



Sam had a Christmas program at his school this week. Once again, he was front and center, right where it was easy to see him! He did so good and they were all really cute.


I guess the biggest news of the month is that Charlie is potty trained! Yay!!! I had though a couple months ago how it would be a nice Christmas present to myself if I could be done with diapers. I didnt think it would happen, but on Sunday when we woke up, I asked if he wanted to use the toilet and he did. From that point on, he wore underwear. Its now Friday and he has only had a couple small accidents this entire week and none since Tuesday. He even goes on his own, without me asking him all the time. It is wonderful and Im so proud of how great of a potty trainer he has been. Pretty much perfect!

We are heading up to Prescott this afternoon for the Hardy/McGuire Christmas party at Dad and Fran's. Im so excited to see everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving

We have had a nice Thanksgiving weekend so far. We had a little dinner at my mom's on Wed night with just us, Mom and Randy and Grandpa Smith and Grandma Lumpkin. It was nice! It was the smallest Turkey meal Ive ever had. We got to sit at the dining room table and eat on China. It was very nice. The next day, we headed over to Bob and Pat's for a Cunningham family Thanksgiving. It was so much fun! The kids had a soccer tournament. There was lots of tree climbing and rough housing. The food was amazing too! It was great to see Whitney and Audrey's families. It had been a long time since we'd all gotten together. It was better than I had hoped.

Pictures from San Diego

Carl made a pretty cool slide of our pics from San Diego. It includes all of our friends we were there with. Its really good! There are a lot of pics, but it goes really fast. Check it out!

San Diego Slide show

San Diego

We went to San Diego for July 4th this year. We were invited out by our friends Nate and Stacy and their 4 kids. They rented a big house right on the boardwalk of Mission Beach. We also met up with our old friends Jim and Elisabeth and their 3 kids too. There were 10 kids in one house. It was loud and crazy and everyone had fun. We had a really neat fire pit on our patio and we got to make smores. Each family was in charge of a dinner and everyone grilled and made really yummy food. We mostly stayed at the beach but on the last day we went to Sea World. We had a great weekend with our friends. Cant wait to do it again

Happy Easter! (alittle late)

Its Easter. We have had a nice few days. On Thursday we went up to Prescott to hang with everyone up there. Leslie was in town from Seattle. We stayed at Jason and Kristals and that is always great for the kiddos. On Friday, we went over to Sarah's place and some of our other family was in town from Michigan. Sam and Charlie got to dye eggs with all of their cousins that were there. It was fun. I think they went through 120 eggs in about 30 minutes or less.


Yesterday, we hoped to go to an Easter egg hunt here in Las Sendas at the Trailhead. It was rained out though, so we came back home and I had an easter egg hunt here for Sam and Charlie, so they werent missing out. Since I did that, I had to go to the store and buy more stuff to have for Easter morning. LOL, cant forget that the Easter bunny comes!

Today, the kids got up earlier than normal, and I was not prepared. Sam was wondering why the Easter bunny was late. I made them stay in Sam's room till everything was ready, then they had their little hunt and got gobs more candy that they really dont need.

Its been a nice holiday. Carl hasnt worked much and its been nice having him around this weekend.

Sicky Pumpkin

Here are some pics of our pumpkin carving last night with the kids. Sam was very much into the little saw and getting to cut the pumpkin himself. We did a funny one this year, it looks like the pumpkin is sick and puking! Hey, it wasnt my idea and I do live in a house full of boys.

For halloween, Sam was Batman and Charlie was Robin. We went to a party at our friends, The Crist's and it was a great time with lots of good friends. They kids got to trick or treat and everyone had a blast.

Prescott and Grand Canyon with the Cuencas

Tiffany and Luis are visiting the US right now with Luis's parents, Jauni and Luis. It is their first trip to the US and their first time ever out of Spain. Its been really great to see them. Earlier this week, we all headed up to Prescott. Tiffany and her in laws stayed at Dad's so we all stayed over at Jason and Kristal's. The first night there was a really nice dinner at Dad and Fran's. Everyone was there and all the little cousins were running around and having a blast. The kids even found a HUGE horney toad and everyone got to hold it and pet it. It was so nice seeing Aunt Lucy, Sarah and her kids, Beth and Mark. We got up early one day and drove to Williams and took the train to the Grand Canyon. Its really fun. They have a whole Wild West experience for us on the train complete with fake train robbery and entertainers that come through the cars. We got up to the canyon and had 4 hrs to walk around and eat and enjoy ourselves. Luis's dad took us all out for lunch to the El Tovar Dining Room. Its a very nice restaurant up there in the neat old El Tovar Lodge. Charlie fell asleep in his stroller right before we ate, so it was nice to enjoy a relaxing lunch for a change.

When we got back to Prescott, we picked up Pizza's and everyone went to Jason and Kristal's for dinner and to hang out. It was great staying over there. Sam and Charlie had a blast with Evan and all of his toys. Their house is all baby proofed and had tons of toys and kid entertainment. We had the whole downstairs to ourselves and it was wonderful! We only had to bring our clothes with us, and that is rare with small kids! We are looking forward to staying there more in the future so Sam and Charlie can play and have fun with their cousins. Thanks so much Jason and Kristal for your hospitality. I hope that next time, we wont be as busy and can have some time to chill.

Even though we had a great time, it is always good to get home. Tiffany and Luis will go to Kauai for the next week to stay with Mom and Randy. When they get back, they leave the next day to go back to Spain. We get to see them soon though cause they are coming to Michigan for Grandpa McGuire's 100th Birthday. Yay!!

We got soooo many great photos of this trip. If you'd like to see all of them, click here.

July 4th at The Cabin

This weekend, we went up to my grandparents cabin in Strawberry which they named Hardy's Hollow. We took our good friends Nate and Stacy and their 4 kids, Alli, Maddy, Jenna and Zach. It was so great to get out of the heat! The weather was beautiful up there, and we even got some good rain and hail! We left Mesa in the morning on Friday and got up there around noon. We all got settled in and picked out our rooms. My grandparents cabin is a really great cabin that Ive been going to since I was little. We used to spend a lot of weekends up there. Its on a creek and there is a big yard and tons of trees. Some things are different from when I was a kid. The tree swing is gone and so is the tree house that my grandma built us, but the porch swing is still there and so that always ends up being the main hang out.
We hung around, letting the kids explore the yard until about 4:30 then we went into Pine and had Mexican food at Pine Verde Mexican Restaurant and it was pretty good! Better than expected. Once we filled our bellies with fattening Mexican food, we made the trek back into Payson to watch some fireworks.
The next day, we got up and went to Houston Mesa and found a creek to let the kids play in. It was a lot of fun and it was something I hadn't done since I was little. Once Charlie got tired and needed a nap, Carl and I left and headed back to the cabin with our kids. Nate and Stacy and their kids stayed longer then went to check out the Tonto Natural Bridge.
When everyone got back to the cabin, Carl and Nate grilled up some burgers and dogs for everyone. Then afterwards, we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. We finally got the kids in bed and finished off the night with some board games. It was a great weekend and we cant wait to do it again! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa, for letting us use your cabin! If you'd like to see the rest of the pictures, then click HERE.

Father's Day Weekend

This weekend, we made the trip up to Flagstaff to visit Whitney, Jenny and their kids. It was such a good time. Spencer and Tyler played with Sam the whole time. Charlie had a blast playing with Cora and all of her toys. It was so nice to go up there and not have to bring any baby or kid stuff. They already had everything we needed. On Friday night, we went down to Heritage Square and ate yummy sandwiches from Pita Pit. Then we headed over to a creperie for some sweet crepes. We finished off the night by watching The Goonies with the kids and eating popcorn.

Saturday we all got up and just lounged around the house all morning. It was so nice. Whitney cooked us some yummy breakfast. After we were all ready to head out, all the boys went shooting. Sam got to shoot a gun for the first time. He said it was very loud, but I think once he got used to that he had a great time. Good thing he had these ear protectors to wear, and that camoflauge hat says it all!

While the boys were gone, Bailey and I took Charlie and headed back into town to walk around and check out some of the shops. We hit up some funky stores and Bailey bought a crazy hat. Then we went back to the creperie from the day before and we ate more crepes and talked. It was really nice, and the first time Ive ever spent any time with Bailey one on one, so that was great.

Saturday night, we didnt get up to much. Just hung around and relaxed. Whitney cooked us all a really great meal of grilled salmon, baked potatos, green beans, bread and a yummy garlic basil sauce for the fish. It was good. After all the kids were in bed, us 4 adults got to spend some time out on the patio, drinking wine and talking. We went to bed late, and then got up and went to church on Sunday. After church, we headed back down to Mesa.

After we got home and unpacked, we headed out to Tempe to Grandma and Grandpa Hardy's house where we got to see my dad and wish him a Happy Father's Day in person. It was a great weekend.

Memorial Day Weekend

Its been a nice long weekend. We had record breaking weather last week (when is it not?) with 108 degree temps. This weekend, we had rain and cool weather in the 60s and 70s. I cannot remember a cooler Memorial Day weekend than this one.

On Saturday, there was a family reunion/memorial at Carl's parents house to honor Carl's Grandfather, Richard Patman Crowsen, who died last month at the old age of 89. Carl's Uncle Mike and Aunt Jill came to town along with their kids, Laura and Nick. Nick, who is a chef at the Four Seasons in Jackson, Wyoming cooked up some wonderful salmon and gourmet macaroni and cheese.

We had the pleasure of having Laura and Nick stay here at our house with us all weekend. It was really fun. They both were great with the kids and Sam just adored Laura. He wanted her to do everything for her.

Today, the last day of the weekend and the weather was still beautiful so we didn't want to waste the day. We decided to check out the McCormick-Stillman train park in Scottsdale. We took a picnic lunch with us and let the kids run around. It was a beautiful park with trains to ride and an antique carousel. Everyone really enjoyed it.