Bring on the heat!

Our last couple days in Ohio were hot and humid, preparing us for the heat of Phoenix. We've got no complaints about the higher temps and lower humidity! Last Thursday, the boys & I went to McDonald's for lunch and to play, attempting to avoid the heat.

Monday we left Lima around 9am and began our llloooonnnngggg day of travel, starting with an hour and a half car ride to Columbus. We stopped at Polaris Fashion Center for lunch and to play at the play area, in hopes of wearing Josiah out so he'd sleep at least a little bit on the plane. You know what they say about the best laid plans... he fell asleep during the 20 minute ride from the mall to the airport. And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the extent of Josiah's nap that day. However, he did amazingly well on the airplane, despite a flooded diaper (his airplane seat probably hasn't been that clean in ages...). He flirted with the girls in the row behind us and played quietly almost the entire time. Only a few minor outbursts that were quickly quieted by snacks and stories. :) Having his own seat was worth EVERY penny.

We arrived in Phoenix around 4:30pm (local time), rented our car, headed to our resort, checked in and then found a bite to eat before returning to the resort. We all made it to 8pm local time and then promptly went to bed. :) The fact that we all stayed awake until then is quite amazing, in my opinion! lol Though still not quite adjusted to the time zone, we've all managed to sleep "in" until at least 6 each morning and have been having lots of fun swimming and enjoying the city.

Today we started the day swimming and then headed to the Children's Museum of Phoenix, which, for the price, was quite disappointing. It's touted for ages 0-10 but Noah was bored out of his skull (as you'll see in the pictures) and should really be advertised for ages 5 & under. Josiah had fun and I thought it was ok, though a bit pricey for what they offered. The highlight for me was the area where you could stick stuffed animals to a velcro'd moving belt that would then take the stuffed animals up to a ceiling fan which would then shoot the animals across the room. All those times my brother and I got in trouble for doing just that very activity and here is a place where it is encouraged. Mom, Dad... we were LEARNING while we were shooting bologna sandwiches off the ceiling fan! :) I took a picture of the area to prove that it does indeed exist!

You'll have to wait on pics... I'm having problems with this wifi connection. Soon!! :)

It's NOT a Blizzard in here....

So glad that I waited to blog today 'cause have I got a story for you! :) Noah got a Blizzard maker for Christmas and tonight we got it out to make a Blizzard. Finally! All of the ingredients: ice, salt, half and half, Blizzard mix. I get everything gathered together on the counter, pour in the ice, Noah pours in the water, add the salt, mix the half and half with the Blizzard mix and pour into the little cup. WAIT!!!!!!!! (Note to self: ALWAYS check the Blizzard mixer to be sure that the cup is screwed in tightly from the last batch.) Half and half and Blizzard mix pouring onto the counter, down the cabinets onto the floor... grab towels to sop up the lovely, sticky mess while trying to keep Josiah, who happens to be allergic to milk products and will get hives wherever the milk product touches, away from the spill. (Breathe in, breathe out, repeat.) Let's try this again... everything is wiped up and sticky towels are in the sink. Pour in the ice, add the water, more salt, mix the half and half with the Blizzard mix and sssslllloooowwwwlllllyyyyy pour into the little cup. No leaks! Put the whole contraption together, set the timer and get Noah going with the cranking. All goes according to plan so I decide to get out the vacuum and get the kitchen floor ready to be mopped since it's still a bit sticky in places.... (and it needs it anyway, who am I kidding???) So I've got the vacuum going and all of a sudden I hear a loud scream from Noah. Turn around and find that while he was cranking, he accidentally knocked over the whole thing and now there is ice, salt, water, half and half and Blizzard mix all over the counter as well as running down the cabinet and puddling on the sticky floor. Noah throws himself to the floor and starts bawling and I find myself literally laughing out loud. What else can you do at that point? At least now the floor isn't quite so sticky! :) I asked Noah why he was crying (after all, he and I are well known for our ability to spill just about anything...) and his response? "How long am I going to lose Wii for now??" Yup, that's our go-to punishment, but not for an accident, even one of this magnitude. :) The question only made me laugh more. Once he was reassured that he would not lose Wii, the tears cleared up and he helped me keep Josiah out of the disaster zone while I found MORE towels for the clean-up. On a positive note, my kitchen floor is clean now! (Noah had a popsicle for dessert...)

Now, on to the rest of the week! Last week, along with VBS, Noah also attended a local day camp called Safety City. It's a week long program that teaches kids about fire safety, bicycle safety and focuses quite a bit on personal safety. It's a program that he has done for the last several years and he enjoys it. On Friday they did a program and talked about all that the kids had done during the week. There are also pictures from Camp Lutherhaven. Noah went to Explorer Camp Sunday-Tuesday and once again had a great time, despite the heat and despite the fact that they didn't make a single s'more this year. :( He's looking forward to next year when he can go for a whole week! And to round out the pictures, there are a few of Josiah playing in the sink, his new favorite past-time.

7-20-11

a few pics from VBS

Christine once again showed her amazing photog skills. She gave me 2 CDs with 375 pics - good thing she was only at VBS for 2 nights! lol Here are a couple of my boys.

Josiah with Mr. C. He actually went to the park and on lots of walks with another member but always made it back in time for closing.


Noah at the Bible Challenge site.


Noah during closing.

Noah "crossing the Red Sea"

Noah at crafts


Noah at Opening

Noah, aka "Beef Jerky"... such a trend setter, the next couple nights, many kids put that on their name tags.

blog-shmog

Got nothin' for ya this week. lol Vacation Bible School is in full swing and I'm the director, the opening & closing leader, the music leader, the storyteller and the games leader. So really, I have no excuse I guess. ;) I had our friend Christine taking pictures at VBS on Monday & Tuesday so I'll share some of those with you when I get them. I can't even think of any good stories to share this week.

So there you go: BLOG-SHMOG! :)

as promised..

Here are pictures from the past week. We continue to be busy enjoying summer!! We went to the Star Spangled Spectacular on Monday night and Josiah was not overly impressed. He did last through the fireworks and didn't seem to be afraid of them and even made it home without falling asleep. He slept until 10 the next morning to make up for it! :) We also went to the Ft. Wayne Zoo with our friends who currently live in Plymouth, IN. It was fun to spend the day with them.

4th of July & Ft. Wayne Zoo

The McClarens did take pictures while camping and some of them are absolutely wonderful! I wish my little camera would take amazing pictures like their BIG camera. ;)

camping with McClarens

I know it's Wednesday but...

...we spent the day at the zoo and didn't get home from Ft. Wayne until dinnertime. Post-supper was filled with the normal chaos (especially since Michael had a meeting tonight) and so, although I have many wonderful pictures to share with you, you're going to have to wait a day or two.