arizona • 4th of july

We had a late, late flight on the 3rd getting us to our hotel in Phoenix after midnight. After a little mix up with the room, we finally got to bed around 1:00. We all slept in and were ready to conquer the day.

We had adjoining rooms this trip – a first for our family. It wasn’t planned this way but due it was a quick fix for our room problem when we arrived. The girls definitely loved having their own beds, but they didn’t really care about having their room. I thought they would be thrilled to have their own space, but they weren’t really phased by it. I guess they still do like us.

Spying on my neighbors on the patio. ha!

Beautiful desert view

Oh my, it was a hot one! This is the absolute hottest time to visit Phoenix and probably my most poorly laid travel plan. The high was 108! The plan was to swim and see a baseball game and that was what we did. As long as you found a spot in the shade it was just fine, but that sun was brutal. It was best to stay in the pool as much as possible.

We stayed here and the pools and lazy river did not disappoint.

We had lunch at the resort and the girls were thrilled that they received a carafe of ginger ale and tea. The theme of the trip was to stay hydrated.

We spent the entire afternoon at the pool. Oh boy was it hot! I wasn’t surprised by the heat because we knew it would be a scorcher. I was surprised by just how hot it was though. The pavement was like walking on the sun and the sides of the pools were lined with flip flops. A little shade was a sweet relief and we found a great barside table at the pool.

My absolute favorite part of Phoenix: the misters! They are everywhere and are truly game-changing! I told the girls I was going to make this picture my phone lockscreen because I was in love. HA!

Cooling down with some dippin’ dots

My afternoon. We had lots of time to swim so I took a little time to read under those glorious misters. (I love the little hand sneaking chips in my staged book picture…)

This is one of my favorites from the trip….and I actually made this my new lock-screen.

It’s a dry heat! 😉

Time to get cleaned up for dinner

We didn’t rent a car for the weekend so we relied on shuttles and shared rides. We decided to stick around the resort for dinner and settled on Roys. We enjoyed tropical drinks and a peaceful night. We were worn out and ready for a good night sleep! We didn’t get to see fireworks tonight but had a plan in the works for the 5th.

happy birthday to me

We were up and out of the hotel by 5:30 am for our 8:30 flight from California. We made it with a few minutes to spare and were all happy to sleep on airplane on the way home.

We had a quiet evening with dinner and dessert at Johnny’s. It was a super quiet day and exactly what we needed after a busy weekend.

We stopped at Crumble on our way home and my sweet family got me those gorgeous flowers. It was a good day!

swim meet #2

Up bright and early for the 2nd swim meet of the summer. Annabelle signed up for 5 races and Gwyneth signed up for 4. The sun was shining and the races moved along quickly. The girls swam so hard and fast. We all had such a great time. It was such a great meet!

Their loot!

After the meet B had to head to the kitchen for a birthday party and we had some friends coming over for dinner. The girls and I were baking fools and our first creation was pineapple upside cake.

We also made a chocolate, marshmallow, caramel brownie. That wasn’t sad either.

We set up a create your own pizza station for the kids….and then I put my camera down and didn’t take any more pictures that night. We had such a great time with fun friends and no pictures to show for it. I guess that’s ok, but I sure do like taking pictures.

gator breakfast and little mermaid

Rise and shine – it’s swim team picture time!

Bright and early this morning the girls the were summoned to the pool for their team picture and and treated to a pancake breakfast.

It was so very, very sunny! The kids were positioned for the picture at the edge of the pool, facing right into the sun. Oh man, they were not happy and the photo was full of squints. I kinda giggled while snapping a few pictures, but I think I was the only one entertained.

After the group picture I snapped a few of my girls and their sweet friend Molly. The sun was still pretty brutal reflecting off the water and they were annoyed with me as they watched the line for pancakes starting to form.

After swimming, Gwyneth went to VBS camp which she has been attending all week. She goes from 9 – 12 am and absolutely loves it. She has been having a blast with her friends and has already said she will be so sad when it ends.

Annabelle and Molly went to a pasta making camp at the Kitchen and then Gwyneth joined them in the afternoon for a Greatest Showman themed camp.

We ended the day with a live performance of Little Mermaid at BDT Stage. B is not a fan of Disney shows, so the girls were thrilled that Yaya was here to go with us. The show was wonderful! The costumes, stage design, and music were all top notch.

We all started to get a bit sleepy after intermission. The 2nd half was a bit long and we were all so tired after a busy, busy day. We didn’t head home until 10:30 and were all eager to climb into bed.

A big thank you to my mom who helped me drive kids around all day. I was double, triple booked at times and couldn’t be everywhere I needed to be without her!

kids can swim

It is always a little tough to get back in the groove after the holidays. Tonight was the first night back to swimming and it was a bit of struggle to get moving. Once the girls arrived and hopped back in the water they were thrilled to be at it again.

They swim twice a week and are in a very low-key class called Kids Can Swim. They swim for an hour each session practicing their strokes and flip turns and then get to play games and just goof around. They always ask to stay and swim afterwards. Once they get in the water it is hard to get them out. They spend the second hour mostly racing down the slides. I’m happy oblige this swim request because I usually just sit and read my book. Two hours of uninterrupted reading time is a pretty sweet deal.

happy new year

Goodbye 2017! Welcome 2018!

We were worn out from our holiday travels and made a very conscious decision to stay home on New Years Eve. We did some unpacking, reading, laundry, and whole of lounging and relaxing.

The girls left their Christmas gifts and were eager to return to them. They had plenty of games and crafts to keep them entertained.

We welcomed the New Year with sushi and games. Everyone made it to midnight and we all watched the ball drop together.

The next day we went to see Jumanji. I was worried Gwyneth would be scared (she can be easily spooked) but she left her way through the show. I love Kevin Hart and he was great in this movie.

Not a bad start to the new year! Can’t wait to see what the year has in store.

pool

School has started but we are still soaking in those beautiful days of summer. The homework has started, but it’s mostly reading which we squeeze in after dinner. Tonight we even had enough time to hit the pool.

The best part about the weekday evening pool visits is that we have the pool all to ourselves. It’s so peaceful and quiet. The girls go on the slides over and over and over again. They are in slide heaven!

The sun was starting to set over our neighborhood and the sky was a beautiful glow.

pottery painting and pool time

The girls have extended school days Monday – Thursday and then half days on Fridays. This is a new quirk that we are going to have to get use to, but in theory I love it. We can head out earlier for mountain adventures and travel or just have an early start to the weekend.

Today their friend, Kenna ( a friend from their old school who has also moved on to a new school this year also) had the day off. They don’t start back until next week so it was a great opportunity to get together! I had some work to get caught up on (like I said, I still haven’t mastered this new schedule yet) and the girls requested a trip to paint. Works for me!

They painted a few things and are mastering the silk screen painting. I love their creations and can’t wait to see them glazed and fired. Annabelle made this awesome camera plate and I even featured it on my studio instagram page. She was pretty excited about that.

After painting we headed back to our house for an evening trip to the pool. We ordered pizza and waited for B to wrap up his party. Not a shabby start to the weekend!

gators banquet

We made it home from Colorado Springs just in time for the Gators Banquet. The girls were so exited to receive their ribbons and trophies. They did great this season and we are so excited to see where their next journey in swimming takes us.

For the summer they ended up with the following ribbons:

SEVEN First places

THREE 2nd places

THREE 3rd places

FIVE 4th places

TWO 5th places

They managed to place in every single race. Wowsa! I’m so, so proud of these girls for working hard and pushing themselves.

happy birthday gwyneth | great wolf lodge

Gwyneth really wanted to celebrate her birthday at Great Wolf Lodge so off we went!

Thanks to a 50% coupon we were able to stay for a couple nights for a slightly reasonable price. It’s all a bit overpriced but the coupon does help.

I think this may be the girls’ happy place. They love to swim and just love everything about this place. We stayed 3 night which wasn’t enough for them. I think two is probably good for me and 1 is probably good for B. Ha!

Let’s get in the pool!

And off they went. Sunday night they shut it down. They were so happy to swim, swim, swim.

Silly sisters!

Monday we were right back at it. Bright and early. We were at the water park when it opened at 9 am. Took breaks for meals but didn’t leave until 8 pm that evening Now, that is a day of swimming!

This is one of my favorites shots of Gwyneth!

Annabelle snapped it of her dancing underwater. Fabulous!

And just like that our baby is NINE!! Love that bed head.

Gwyneth ran the show for the day and she wanted to start the day with a big breakfast. Absolutely no surprise there.

Next stop mini-golf. Miss Annabelle was pretty pleased with her hole-in-one!

And then the ropes course. G didn’t have tennis shoes but that didn’t stop her. of course she climbed in ruby slippers. That’s how this girl rolls.

And then bowling!

Gwyneth’s buddy Ruby was there for the night as well. They have been friends since kindergarten and share the same birthday. What a fun birthday coincidence to be there at the same time.

We hit the waterpark after lunch and spent a few hours. Unfortunately B had to head home and get some work done, but we had a great time all together.

After dinner the girls talked me into playing Magiquest. I didn’t know much about it, but the girls were eager to check it out. They got a wand and got right down to it. I still don’t know much about it but it involves finding clues through the resort and it kept them entertained for hours.

While they were exploring and waving those magic wands, I sat and read an entire book and had a glass of wine. I can’t complain, but I wish B would have been there to enjoy that glass of wine with me.

Our last day we hit the water park one last time. Lots of water slides and time in the wave pool. We definitely made the most of our opportunity.

We finished off the trip with pedicures and ice cream. Gwyneth’s dream. She loves the scoops spa and it was the perfect ending to a fabulous birthday trip!