Disney on Ice!

A few weeks ago we had a super-fun girls activity with some of Caroline's cousins and aunties at Disney on Ice! It was so great and even better that we got to share it with such fun girls!

So excited! I didn't tell her until right before she left and she was jumping up and down with glee!

It was a great show. We went to a Disney on Ice a few years ago, but this one was all princesses - very fun for a girl's day out. We had a blast!

Mail is fun

Dave's parents sent the kids a package for Halloween.

It.Was.Awesome.

Fall Break

We spent a few days of Caroline's Fall Break in Gilbert. It was nice to get away as a family and do some fun things and hang out with some fun people. I love that we live close to our families now. We used to only see our siblings and nieces and nephews once a year, maybe less. It's so great to be a short ride from most of them now.

Caroline and her cousin Lucy. After I took the picture and showed it to them, they said "we looked like twins!"

Uncle Jeff used some of his fancy hair products to give Miles a mohawk - I thought it was pretty cute.

We spent a couple of days checking out some Phoenix attractions that we've never been to before. We went to the Phoenix Children's Museum one morning. Other than being too expensive, it was great :) Miles wanted to stay in the car/racetrack section all day.

We also went to the Sea Life Aquarium in the Mills Mall. It was neat and the kids loved it.

Miles kept trying to kiss things through the glass! So funny!

We also took our first trip to Ikea - thanks to Karen for being our guide :)

It was a great little get-away. I'm always proud of us when we do new things - we're kind of a stick-to-the-familiar sort of family.

Caroline had an exciting few weeks when she lost both front teeth in 24 hours!

They had been loose for a looong time - we're talking months here. Then one day at school she collided with another kid and that knocked them *almost out. She tells the story much better and mentions her trip to the nurse where they had to give her a new shirt because her's was all bloody :(

That night we pulled tooth #1 out.

The next day tooth #2 came out!

Her grown-up front teeth are already starting to come in. But, Man! Do little kids look different when they loose teeth. She looks so big to me now!

The weather has been nicer in the evenings, so we occasionally venture outside.

I saw these "pool-noodle horses" on facebook and made a few for the boys. Immediately after I took this picture Miles pulled off the eyes, ears, and mane - basically everything that made it look like a horse. Pretty soon they were all riding around on plain 'ol pool noodles!

"Muscles!!!"

Dave flew back to Memphis to work with his brother again for a few weeks. We knew he would be gone at least two weeks, and ended up staying for a full month. We missed him a lot! Picking him up from the airport was so exciting - I got that Christmas Eve feeling! We made signs and waited at the airport and when he came down the escalators - it was the sweetest thing. Caroline ran to him and he picked her up and she got emotional - sweet little tears. Miles put his arms right out to Dave for him to be held too. It was such a sweet reunion and people at the airport probably thought he'd been deployed for months or something!

Right afterwards, we went to Arizona Mills Mall for lunch and some fun before the ride home.

It's Soooo nice to have him back - I won't take him for granted ever again!!!

August

What an ... interesting month it's been for us! We sure do miss Dave, but more on that later.

Caroline had a dentist appointment this month. The office was pretty cool - it had an indoor playground! There was also a movie and climbing wall - should've gotten a picture of that - it was pretty sweet!

I'm always apprehensive to take Miles to any kind of office, but this is not your typical office. He didn't mind being there at all :) The bad part was... three cavaties for Caroline :(  Apparently she's going to have her mother's teeth, which is NOT a good thing.

We've had SO much rain this summer. I took this picture for my parents - can you believe how big this bush has gotten in 3 months?!

While Dave is gone I decided to indoctrinate our kids ;)

Caroline started first grade! She is really liking her school and has made some friends quickly. She loves walking to school.

Also new, I started babysitting again! Two little boys (again) of a friend from high school. They are so so good and it's been great so far. Caroline adores the baby. She's as good a babysitter as I am :) This picture is when the two older kids were playing Mario Cart on the Wii, while the two younger kids *thought they were playing Mario Cart :) Pretty cute!

This week Caroline and I went to the zoo for the Lion Cub's first birthday celebration. Caroline loved the face painting, games and crafts - I was just excited to see the lions actually moving around for once! Usually, they're lounging.

The zookeepers said they put out a bunch of treats and "enrichment" toys so the lions would be more active for their little party. It really worked, because we got there just as they were letting the lions into the habitat and they were SO active - playing and pouncing on one another. It was pretty cool. Even the mom and dad lion got into it.

They really put on a show for us. The "treats" they put out were... "bloodsicles". Yeah. It's exactly what it sounds like - water, a little blood and guts - frozen. The lions sure seemed to like them though!

Also this week I had a mini-reunion of sorts. These are all friends from my ward growing up. Really, we've known each other since we were wee little ones. We got together and had a pot-luck lunch - it was fun catching up and reminiscing.

Caroline's last day of ballet was this week. Lately she hasn't been too excited to go to ballet and now I think I know why. Usually I take her to the room and then chase Miles around the rec center for an hour so I didn't really watch a full class. So this last one they had the parents sit-in to watch what they learned... and it was boring. They seriously stood on floor dots and did the positions and stuff for 40 minutes! They hardly moved around the floor at all. It's not exactly what I had in mind when I thought of a dance class - I figured there would be more dancing. No wonder Caroline wasn't thrilled. Oh well, maybe next time we'll do karate or gymnastics or something so she'll get to move around more.

She does make an awfully pretty ballerina though!