Morning park weather

The weather in the early (ish) morning is finally just about nice enough to go to the park before the sun cooks the slides. So, off we went!

"Hmmmm, what should I do first?
If only I could get across without walking in sand..."

"Push me daddy, push me!!!"

 While Eloise was going up the stairs and down the slide, the other two were doing this...

The carwash soap gun

It started years ago with Katie. We'd go to the carwash and I'd buy her a donut. Then we would do something (not super special but not something we do every day) together. Then when Katie got a little too old for a donut and a balloon, I started taking Natalie. And now it's Eloise's turn to have some special mommy time after we go to the gym on Friday mornings (not every week as my car doesn't get that dirty) at the carwash learning to shoot the soap gun, tie a balloon to her water bottle and treat her to a sprinkled donut while mommy gets a hot cup of coffee all to herself.

Visit from Auntie!

Every year before the pool closes, Auntie comes to visit (to channel her inner little kid). This year was no exception. The girls were all excited and thrilled to have her around for the weekend.

It took a few attempts to get the desired photo of the 3 of them doing a handstand. But they sure had fun trying and trying and trying and trying.

Reading outside with Auntie while mommy goes to pickup Natalie from school.

Gold Belt

Natalie tested for her Gold Belt at karate today and Auntie was the family representative allowed on the mat to assist her with the tradition of putting the new belt on.

Karate entertainment

Eloise is generally awesome during Natalie's karate lessons. But today, not so much. So we took videos of ourselves to help pass the time.

Happy 5th Birthday, Gus!

No pomp and circumstance this year, just lots of hugs and snot-nose kisses...

Trash Truck!!!

The City where we live offers free bulk trash pickup once every six weeks. So mommy trims the trees and bushes a few days before the bulk pickup day and leaves a giant pile out front.

Bulk Pickup day is Eloise's favorite day. Last time the guys came they took time to come over and say hello to her and were even kind enough to give her a coloring book (about garbage), crayons and a magnet shaped like a trash truck.

Eloise goes to school

Eloise started going to school two days a week to help her learn to socialize and play well with others. She was very excited about her backpack... until we put it on her (like she was asking us to do). After we took it off, everything was fine again.

Obligatory first day picture outside the "pretty school."

Little Miss Confident follows her sister down the hallway into her new classroom.

She walked right on in, walked around a bit and then we said goodbye and left. She didn't cry. She was shy but eventually played with the other kids, took a nap and was super happy to see Mommy in the afternoon.

First Day of Kindergarten

We weren't surprised at all when this fierce girl chose to wear knee-high Santa socks with her uniform dress on her first day of school.

We parked down the street and walked to school. She held daddy's hand until we got up to the gate. She gave mommy a high-five, gave daddy a hug, posed for a quick photo and then turned around and marched right on in to the Kindergarten playground. We stayed outside the gate long enough to see her set her backpack down in line and then run over to the playground equipment and hop right on in.

And when mommy picked her up from school she said she had an awesome day "and even ate all my lunch." So we went out for ice cream to celebrate.

Here are some photos from later in the week...

Fleeting babyhood

All of a sudden, Eloise is not a baby anymore. She loves to climb up at the little kid table and color with crayons. She is using more and more words to communicate (although still screaming as well).

A girl and her dog. 

She loves to dress-up and play mommy to any one of the many babies that live under Natalie's bed.

Meet the Teacher

Natalie was super excited to go to Meet the Teacher night, which was held just a few days before the start of school, at her new elementary school. She was eager to see the inside of her school, her classroom, find her desk and check things out. Mommy and Daddy were pretty excited also.

Camping with 3 kids and Gus

Now that Eloise is walking pretty confidently, we decided to take the kids camping. But since we had never taken all 3, we decided to go for just one night. And for one night out in the wilderness, this is how much crap we took...

Yes, the back of the truck was full. After doing some off-road exploring, we picked a campsite. We had a picnic lunch and determined that it was quiet, not full of bugs and perfect. So we began to unload. And while unloading and getting our new mega tent set up, we noticed that our trusty new steed had a flat tire. Oops. Good thing we have Mr. Handy to fix it.

After going for a walk, we came back to our campsite and it was perfect. And the truck tire was still full of air so that was a definite sigh of relief for the grown-ups.

So we played, lounged (Gus), built the world's smallest fire ring, made dinner and, of course, roasted marshmallows...

 

 

The next morning we packed up and set off down the road a bit to explore Potato Lake...

After a lil morning exploration, we headed back into town to find some lunch, at a brewery (duh). Then we hit the road back to Phoenix. And how do you know you had a good trip? When Natalie is tired enough to actually fall asleep in the car.