Swimming in March!

Look at this little bathing beauty.  So intent on where she is going.

Not sure what they were looking at, but I love this picture!

This boy was a fish doing hand stands in the water!

The Bean had fun floating with Grandma Sharon's water aerobics floats.

She's good for making funny faces :)

Chloe is such a happy girl, almost always laughing or singing.

Nice catch, Grandma Sharon!  Awesome toss, O-Dog!

Palm trees surrounded the pool.

After getting out of the pool, the kids ran for the outdoor shower.

I love the towels. One wrapped tight and the other spread like wings.

What a BIG shower!

Lots of bunnies enjoy the grass around the pool.  Unfortunately, I never got very close before the kids ran up and scared them off. 

Silly kids.  They thought for sure they could run up yelling and laughing and pet those bunnies.

Eating Out

While the guys went to Sports Authority, the girls went to the Apple store.  Afterwards, we went out for lunch at Gordon Biersch.  Good samiches!

Happy boy.

Pensive girl.

LOVE IT when he smiles for the camera!

Visit with the Finney's in Chandler

Day one in Arizona and we relaxed.  The kids got spoiled.  I went to the Arizona Glass Beadmaker's monthly meeting with my Aunt Gail and met many lampworkers in the Phoenix area.  That afternoon, the whole family came over to Mike & Gail's for dinner.

We hung out on the back porch and around the pool.  

It was such GoRgEoUs weather!  

Chloe had fun sitting on top of the dog house.

The pool looked inviting, but was really only warm enough for the dogs.

Before the sunlight was gone, we gathered for family pictures.  My cousin Ali is on the left next to Jesse's girlfriend Katie.  We're not sure where Jess got all that height, but Ali accused him of stealing some of her inches when they were kids. ;)

Vacation to Arizona!!!

All our bags were packed.  We were ready to go.  Standing there, outside the....airplane. :D  And a rainbow.

Chloe got to sit next to the window for takeoff.  The kids swapped places before landing so Owen got the window view of the mountains as we touched down.

We saw lots of these prickly pears driving from the airport.

We are staying with Papa Wenzel and Grandma Sharon for the week.  There is a really cool koi pond at the head of the amenities area.

But the mountains.

Oh, the mountains.

I just love the mountains.

Saturday morning

While Owen was at tennis practice, Chloe was being a little monkey.  Or a little dangle.  It's been a long time since I have called her my little dangle.  When she was three and four, she used to dangle from everything.  Counters.  Chairs.  Me.  Todd.  Stair Railings.  Anything she could hold onto and lift her feet off the ground, she was grabbing onto it and dangling.  She was my Little Dangle.  :)

After Owen was done with tennis, he wanted to wanted to walk home with me (I had walked Dylan up to the courts and playground to watch the kids).  And of course, Chloe then wanted to walk home with us, too.  :)  They each has the little dum dum suckers they got as a reward for helping clean up all the tennis balls scattered all over the courts.  It was 50 and sunny and a gorgeous morning after a week of snow, rain and cloudy weather in the 30s and 40s.

No one can tell Chloe her Momma dresses her funny.  She is the fashion queen, making her own choices of what to wear almost every day.  Besides a ton of barrettes still in the hair (the pony tail came out at some point), she is also wearing her favorite long sleeved butterfly shirt under a yellow KIKI ROCKS short sleeve shirt.  A pair of shorts that look like a skirt in the front over pink sweat pant capris, tights and socks with her brown Dora shoes.  Chloe was stylin!

Chloe's Pony Tail

She made it all by herself and was very proud of her efforts.  It was functional.  See?  Almost none of her hair is hanging in her face. :)

So many pony tail holders.  At first I thought it was a bit of overkill, but it was a nice fashion statement.  All those pastel pony tail holders lined up in a row, making one very thick pony tail/bun.

She managed to work in a ton of colorful barrettes.

Nice job doing your own hair, my five year old Beanarina!

Chloe's First Soccer Practice

Beanarina did an absolutely fantastic job kicking the ball around during her first practice.  She took off running at the start and couldn't be stopped.

Chloe moved fast and she kept the ball moving.  Away from all the other kids who were trying to stop her!

Look at her go!

Love that follow-through and high kick!

She had so much fun at practice!

Whoops, she forgot the No-Hands rule. :)

Family Game Night on the Family Room Floor

The kids chose the games/activities.  Owen chose a puzzle to work on with Daddy and Owen.  Chloe was taking a moment to watch and see if she could irritate help her brother.

Chloe is a serious jigsaw puzzle doer.  She is good at finding edge pieces and matches.

Doesn't she look innocent? :)  This little girl wouldn't do anything to bother her brother.  She is nothing but sweetness.

Owen was pleased with himself for finishing the puzzle with Daddy.

This was the last night all three cats were together and sleeping on the sofa before we went to bed.  The next night, we drove Tiger up to Kari's new apartment to be with his mom again.

Owen's First Soccer Practice

He was so excited to put on his soccer clothes and get out on the field to kick around that ball!

Look at that kick!

Such focus on that boy's face as he watches the soccer ball fly through the air!

Chloe watched intently from the sidelines, still holding onto her fast food dinner bag filled with ketchup and a cheap fun prize.

Owen was good at stopping the ball when it came to him.

What a kick! I don't think I could kick like that with my body so close to the ground.  I would fall over on myself.

Return Trip to the Dentist

Owen needed to get the last two of his four amalgams.  They are similar to sealants in that they fill in the grooves of molars to create more shallow ridges and prevent cavities.  Anesthesia wasn't needed and the procedure took less than 20 minutes.

Owen had fun hamming it up in the waiting room before we went back to the dentist's chair.

He waited until the dentist was ready to put on the sunglasses.  Besides the normal overhead light on an arm, they also used a laser to help harden the material they were putting on Owen's teeth to smooth them out.

Owen insisted that I take a pic of the ceiling with all the cool posters.

The dentist and hygienist worked quickly and Owen was done in no time!