Grand Canyon Vacation (part 1)

For Memorial weekend we went on a family trip to the Grand Canyon. It was amazing!! Randy and Winnie (Grandpa & Grandma) left early Friday morning. Dewey, I and the boys left as soon as Luke got out of school. (Both boys last day of school). Our first stop was the Hoover Dam.

It is a HUGE structure, if your an architecture nerd like me you would love it.

A little alarming to see how low the water is. All the white that you can see on the rocks is where there used to be water. Lake Meed is way way to low.

For security reasons a new bridge was built to drive over. But you can still drive over the Hoover dam if you go through a security check first. We drove over then parked and walked back over it for the best view.

We stayed in Williams AZ. A darling little western town. We stayed at the Grand Canyon Train Hotel which was a block from downtown. So it was easy to walk everywhere. To the boys delight walking involved going past a lot of trains and tracks.

Because it was Memorial Weekend there was a Parade on Saturday. We spent the morning walking around town and then watching the parade.

It was about this time that Luke started to not feel good. Hey it wouldn't be a Warner vacation if it was all smooth sailing :)

More to follow...



Kolby's Kindergarten Graduation

 We were driving into town to go to Kolbys Kindergarten graduation when he informs me that he has lost a tooth. (perfect timing that's us) Being a "seasoned" mom I reached down to grab a napkin (I keep a stack close and handy) handed it back to him and told him nor to drip blood on his suit.

How is it that my baby has already graduated kindergarten?

Kolby was so excited to wear his "handsome" outfit. Luke on the other hand informed me that it wasn't his graduation so he didn't need to dress up.

All of the kindergarten classes put on a Dr. Seuss themed program. It was beyond stinking cute. Kolby asked if I was going to cry. I asked "what do you think?" he said "Try not to be to loud".

We lucked out and got front row seats thanks to some friends that got there an hour early. Who ever came up with kindergartners singing "oh the places you'll go" was brilliant.

Kolby went to preschool and then kindergarten with 6 of his best friends. It's such a great group of kids. So sad to think after 4 years together this is their last year together. Next year Kolby will go to the same school Luke goes to. A few of the other kids have moved and will be going to new schools too. So we had to celebrate after the graduation by going to sushi.

The restaurant was great and gave the "graduates" and their siblings their very own table. A very big deal. The parents sat a few feet away all trying to relax but failing miserably :)


One more week of school and summer vacation starts.

Happy Mothers Day!

I had a simply wonderful Mothers day and hope you did too. I woke up to breakfast ready and waiting out on the patio. The boys had each made me the cutest present at school. Luke made a vase with tape and Kolby made Hot pads with his hand print on them. Both just perfect. They also picked out a plant for me, they told me it was a "man eating flower". Its official name is a red rose plant. :)

When they asked what I wanted to do I said "Lets go hiking". We decided to try a new hike about 15 minutes to the south of us. As a fun added bonus grandpa came with us.

A lot of the hike was in and through a stream. Which just happened to be ice cold. (that's what happens when snow melts :)

But the absolutely stunning scenery made up for it.

The slot canyon was amazing. These pics were all taken with my phone. I did take my camera but forget to change the lens (derr) we were in way to confined spaces to use it. So keep in mind phone pics and frozen feet when you look at the pics.

At one point we came to a ladder which really was just a log with little wood pieces nailed in for steps. I have never really thought about doing these kind of things before. Now that I have boys that also have to do them it changes things a bit. (scared out of my mind)

Grandpa went first and then the boys were brave little troopers and clamored right up after him. Once we got to the top Luke did ask if there was any other way to get back to the car that didn't involve going back down the ladder. There wasn't but we all made it back none the worse for wear.

Well almost, Kolbys wet shoes caused a blister so he "had" to be carried part of the way back.

A beautiful perfect Mothers day hike!

When we got back we went to Grandma and Grandpas to have a BBQ for Grandmas mothers day. A wonderful relaxing way to end the day.

Catch up

It seems like the past few weeks have flown by. I don't think I have picked up my camera since our last hike. All of these pics were taken with my phone. 

The boys love hats and taking pictures. They both took turns taking pictures of each other. The top picture is Luke telling me and Kolby to look mean. I'm not really sure we pulled it off :) They each took at least 25 pictures, laughing the whole time.

 Two weekends ago Dewey and I went to Las Vegas with some wonderful friends to see Bon Jovi.

 We had SO much fun. We are blessed to have amazing friends. We laughed so hard my stomach and cheeks hurt. Good food, fun limo ride excellent concert and a zip line down Fremont street at 3am. A perfect little weekend get away. Terrible picture of Jon but I swear its really him.

 Zoey turned six months old, so in she went to the vet to get fixed. When we brought her home she didn't move much. Curly (the cat) laid by her I like to think to protect her. See his little paw moving getting ready to smack me if I get to close?

 A local nursery had their big spring grand opening. They had a ladybug hunt for the kids. Which the boys of course wanted to do.

 There had to have been a gazillion lady bugs. I spent the whole time making the boys go in front of our cart picking up the ones on the sidewalk so they didn't get squished. Like most things I did not fully comprehend what a lady bug hunt involved.

 In the end the boys each ended up with a little container full of lady bugs. Luke let his go in grandmas flower garden. Kolby let his go in our garden. After telling them to not get eaten by the chickens.

 How many dogs do you see?

 Ha two dogs. (can you tell I'm easily entertained?)

 What do you do when one Kindle has to be recharged so there is only one to play with? Teamwork of course.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with what they came up with.

Last weekend Dewey and I took turns manning our booth for work at the Spring Home and Gardens fair. I did still manage to get in some work on the house. I have decided to make some cosmetic changes to the front of our house. (thank you Pinterest) I'll post some before and after shots once its done. If it turns out at all presentable :)

Red cliffs hike

 We had not done this hike in two years.Two years makes a BIG difference in what the boys can do. We got to the end and Dew and I both said, "that's it we are here all ready, didn't it take longer than that last time?". I downloaded a hiking app on my phone (I love love me some stats people) The hike was all of .77, not even a mile long...... what the.

 Even if it barely counts as a hike we still love it. Red rocks, blue sky and water YES please.

 Check out my wild man hubby. See the water, walking in it not a big deal. Dropping your whole person in it a huge deal. Guess where this water came from? That's right freshly melted snow......brrrrrrrr

 This little water whole was deep enough that Dew couldn't touch the bottom. It didn't stop the boys from figuring out a solution. Pretty handy that a rock slide was available.

 Do you think Luke had fun?

 Kolby's turn, that's right Dew dunked his body three times in icy water.

 They were both doing their warrior yells.

 If you are looking for pics of me doing the same, keep looking. This mama stayed warm and dry on the shore. Hey I was holding the camera it had to be protected :)

Did I mention how much beautiful it is here?

Second hike of the season done and much enjoyed.

See ya baby teeth

 The tooth fairy has our house dialed in to her frequent stops GPS. (I mean I assume she has one)  Last week Luke had one tooth pulled by the dentist and two days later lost the third of his front top teeth.

 And Kolby lost his very first tooth. It has been loose for a few weeks so it had to have been only hanging on by a thread. Luke offered to "Help" by pushing, pulling and twisting (gag) Kolbys tooth for him to get it out.  Kolby said no he would wait for it to come out on its own. The tooth made its grand exit Monday while he was at preschool. When I picked him up from Kindergarten there was quite the excitement from the other kids for him to show me.

 Because it was his very first lost tooth the Tooth Fairy left a certificate and nice letter explaining why she takes the teeth and that its a big deal to start losing them. Beyond happy kid.

This last picture is not at all tooth related, unless you count the smile. As soon as Kolby sits himself down this cat plants himself on his lap. Curly (as in Curly, Larry and Mo) relaxes completely as Kolby plays his kindle, relaxes or watches a movie. Pretty stinkin cute if you ask me :)