Saturday, July 5, 2014

Happy Independence Day!


We spent a quiet evening at home with Donna and David for the 4th of July. We enjoyed a delicious BBQ and even lit a few ginormous sparklers! (They were almost as tall as Madelyn!)


At the end of the night we walked to the end of the street, along the greenbelt, and watched the fireworks around the valley. It was no comparison to the Del Mar Fair fireworks, but it was fun to be able to see so many different shows going on at once. Too bad it was 103 outside!


Monday, June 30, 2014

Staycation 2014

This year, since we bought our new house, we decided to save a little money and do a "staycation."

I won't lie. This was the first year in ten that we didn't go to southern California. And although I was heartbroken not to get to hear the sound of the waves crashing at my feet, I do have to say that our staycation ended up being magnificent!

Before we even got to the hotel I made a simple request: Can we please eat at Eeegees?


For sure! Eegee's one of my very favorites, and now is one of Madelyn's favorites, too! We all enjoyed a quick lunch with a cold Eegee beverage. Yum!

Since the weather is so incredibly hot during the summer in Arizona, all the hotels have really great rates to encourage people to visit. We decided to mosey on down to Tucson to the Westin la Paloma Resort & Spa. I have stayed at this resort every summer for the last several year when I present at a state conference so I was well aware of how wonderful it was. If you ask the girls what their favorite thing was during our first afternoon, they would both surely tell you it was riding the golf cart to our rooms!


We spent the first afternoon checking in, and getting settled in our rooms. Then we wasted no time and hit the pools! This resort has four pools and a water slide! We especially liked the main pool that had a swim up bar. Although I'm not sure Madelyn's "What did you do this summer" story will come across right when she describes sitting at the pool bar during her first day of school. Hmm... To be fair, they made a mean strawberry smoothie, and the girls thought it was pretty cool to be sitting on a stool in the water!


When we woke up on Saturday, we headed down to Benson to explore Kartchner Caverns. This was so wonderful! We couldn't believe that we had never gone before now! Truly amazing!


On the second morning, we told Madelyn she could order room service for breakfast. WOW! She loved this! She thought it was super cool to have her breakfast delivered to our room and eat it in bed! She especially loved the mini maple syrup bottles for her pancakes. :)


After breakfast we decided to spend the rest of the day at the pool. The girls must have gone down the water slide about 50 times! They loved it! Although it did take some persuading on Madelyn's part to get her to go once, but we knew once she went down she'd want to keep going! The dads even joined in on the fun!


Watch the fun below:

Here comes Dad!


We can't wait to come back next summer! :)



Sunday, June 22, 2014

Dance Recital 2014

Madelyn certainly enjoyed another year of dance at The Dance Shoppe. She took the ballet/tap combo class again, which I think is a great foundation. They are very focused on learning the skills needed to properly position your feet, arms, hands, etc. They even learned the right terms for the positions. I really like this because it teaches the kids that there's more to dance than just the recitals.

Although... we do love the recitals! ;)

WOO HOO! It's recital time!


Madelyn's Fan Club




We celebrated afterwards with pizza at our new favorite pizza spot: Fired Pie
Papa and his "Girlfriend" 

After dinner we decided to catch a movie. We saw Maleficent. 

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Indiana

Madelyn loved visiting Indiana so much over Thanksgiving that Auntie Kim invited her back to spend a whole week there this summer! And to top it off, Grammy got to come along, too!

New Suitcase

Here are some highlights from their trip:

Suzanne' & Joe's Wedding

Every wedding should include a trampoline!
First Lightning Bug
Indianapolis Zoo 


Wonderlab



Swimming



Kidscommons


Zaharachos Ice Cream Parlor


We were undoubtedly excited to see Madelyn when she got home from her long trip away from home. And she apparently missed us too because the first thing out of her mouth was, "Can I go back again next summer!?"