Summer stuff

Our summer routine is a little boring and I feel like I am constantly trying to find something for the kids to do.  We usually  go to Wet n Wild one day, Penny has dance Tuesday and then we run errands, we usually go swimming at a friends another day, we go to the Summer Movie Fun one more day, and then that last day is always torture so when we have a friend over everyone is happy. Here are some pictures from our most recent outings.

Penny I went grocery shopping and I suggested we get ice cream after.  I told her not to tell Lucas, but I am sure you all know how that went.  He was not happy once she told him

Once a week we do summer movie fun, and we take advantage of the air conditioned movie theaters.  Plus we get cold drinks and yummy popcorn.

This could end badly

Penny has been taking a little dance class with girls from church and she loves it.  

Penny and her little friend Navy are trouble together.  These two are pretty much the same person which means the love and hate each other often. 

We tie dyed shirts and the kids had a blast, and I had a stomach bug.

The finished product and day three of my flu which is why Penny and I look the way we do.

I feel like this may end up an awkward family photo.

This is how Roman sits with he little feet crossed.  This picture was taken while Ned was using the restroom.  It is very common for our kids to sit and talk to Ned while he goes and apparently Roman is starting young. 

While we play in the backyard this is where Roman sits in a puddle splashing. 

And this is what we do jump on the trampoline and spray each other with the hose. 

Fourth of July

We had a great Fourth of July we spent the morning being lazy and then the after noon we were invited over to some friends house to swim.  We swam for hours, ate yummy food, visited with friends, and when the sun went down at 9pm we could finally do fireworks.  This is the first time since I was a child living in Utah that I have done fireworks in the street. The kids loved picking out the fireworks and Roman just crawled around.  I often forgot about him, but he was just happy exploring.   Only complaint is it was so hot, AZ heat does not stop even at night. 

Penny with her buddies Navy and Claire

My cute boys

Father's Day and other stuff

Ned always takes such good care of me on Mother's Day so I wanted to do the same for Ned. I wanted to make a yummy dinner, awesome dessert, take care of the kids, keep the house clean, and get to church on time.  Well, one thing I figured out is I cannot do it alone, I need Ned.  He helps me so much at home with the kids, cleaning he is really so great and keeps me laughing the whole time.  I am grateful I get to spend every day with him.  My kids also love him so much and would do anything for him. Lucas got up and cleaned his room and then all day they kept saying "It's dad's day so he gets to do what he wants".

Penny loves her daddy, and daddy loves his Penny

I miss my dad every day, but especially on Father's day.  He was just the right dad for me.  He knew when to push me and when to let me go on my own.  I wish my kids were able to know him, but I am pretty sure he is the one that sent Penny to me so sassy. Dad loved being a Granpa and often talked about what he would do with the kids. I am glad I got a glimpse of him as a grandfather with Lucas. 

Lucas and Ben's blessing day my dad is so happy.

One of the only pictures I have of dad and Lucas. 

While we were living in Rhode Island Ned served in the Providence Branch presidency.  Well, strangely enough the branch president moved to the Phoenix area just 4 months after us.  We were finally able to get together with the Culley family.  They have a great  pool and the kids played for hours and we ate a ton of ribs.  It was nice to have a little bit of Rhode Island here in the desert. 

Penny and Emily

Lucas and Tyson

This summer has been a bit challenging to keep to the kids from driving me crazy.  In Rhode Island it was easy we just went to the beach I was happy to be there and so were the kids.  In Arizona I have to do a little more work. This week we decided to go the Science Center in Phoenix.  We really love it and we have a pass.  It entertains the kids forever, and I feel like the kids are learning.  There is one particular area that has a big stomach and teaches about digestion.  As a result there is a button you can push that makes a farting sound.  That alone entertains forever, that was the first display Penny wanted to go to funny girl. 

There is a game that you wear a helmet and it measures your brain waves. 

In our ward I am serving with the Young Women ages 12-13.  We has an activity this week where we went to a park and played messy twister.  It was fun and eventually turned into a paint fight.  I love working with this age group they are so silly and keep me young. 

Roman has started crawling this week, and it is really fun to see where he wants to go and what he wants.  He spends most of his day following the kids around.  I can just tell he wants to be there with the kids walking and playing.  He is so much fun!!

This how Roman spends his days.

We are really enjoying the World Cup right now.  Lucas has a couple of jerseys and wheres them every day.

The other day we went to Chick Fil A for ice cream and they were having a circus. They had a clown, face painting, balloon animals, and cotton candy.  My kids will do just about anything for cotton candy. 

We may or may not be back

The previous post was a bit premature and posted by Ned just two weeks after Roman was born so needless to say we were not back.  In hopes of documenting our life a little better I am trying to get the old blog up and running.

 Over Memorial weekend we had a great time as a family playing. We kicked off the weekend on a date with our favorite baby Roman at a fantastic restaurant Sierra Bonita. I am still dreaming about the food.  That is one thing there is no shortage of in Phoenix, good restaurants.

This is where Roman spent most of our date,  on the floor between our chairs. The waitress wondered where he went. 

 First day we went to wet n wild where Ned got to ride the rides with Lucas and I was able to enjoy one of the last days under 100 degrees. Lucas favorite ride was the rainbow slide, Penny loved the lazy river, and Roman enjoyed splashing whenever he was in water.

The kiddy rainbow slide not the one Lucas loves.  Sadly the only picture I took.

The next day we wanted to head up to slide rock, but because of fires it was closed so we took a drive up the Apache trail. We found a lake and old western town, plus the drive was beautiful.

The desert does have its own kind of beauty.

Superstition Mountain

An old Ghost town.

Our good friend the creepy cowboy.

If you know our family there is no way we could pass a toilet seat made for pictures and not take a picture.

More toilet seat fun

Roman has no idea how fun potty humor can be.

We ended the weekend with one more trip to Wet n Wild, and then a BBQ and swimming with some friends. It was such a nice weekend and great to spend time with Ned more since he has been working so much.

No pictures of the kids in the pool, but I did get sweet Teyah giving Roman his bottle. She loves Roman and talks to me a lot about babysitting him.