Fort

The fort we made one afternoon. The kids had a ton of fun exploring their fort and taking loads of toys and books into it!

They also like to empty the hallway toy cupboard and climb inside... Yeah, they think it's hilarious and so awesome but it makes a mess! But how can you resist that mischievous little smile?!

Random Zoo Trip

One morning we randomly decided to go to the zoo. We have a pass and it's only about a 25 minute drive so sometimes we decide to go last minute. This was one of those times and we ended up having a blast! The kids always love a trip to the zoo.

This turkey just about gobbled it's head off for us. And the kids were laughing so hard and gobbling right back at it! It was hilarious! 

The Komodo Dragon was up close to the glass this time!

Looking at the Baby Orangutan with it's momma. Usually it is SO crowded and it's hard to get a good glimpse of the baby or it's far away and not close enough to see. But the day we went we got there early and there was hardly anyone around! The kids got to walk right up and watch the mommy and baby orangutan. 

All worn out, resting and drinking their smoothies!

Kimbri & Her Veggies

The other day Kimbri opened up the fridge and got out the carrots and peas, got herself a spoon and opened the lids up and started eating the leftover veggies, cold and everything. Haha! Carrots and peas are by far her favorite veggies, however, the carrots have to be cooked! In Kimbri's words, "I don't like crunchy carrots." She is too funny. So I took some carrots out of the tupperware and warmed them up in the microwave. Other favs are broccoli with cheese and she loves salad... which is funny because it took me till my senior year in high school to like salad. Ha! 

But don't worry... she LOVES desserts too!!! This was at the the Young Women Fundraiser dinner where they served awesome dessert after the breadsticks and spaghetti dinner and she gobbled it right up and asked for more. So I gave her the rest of mine ;) 

And just for fun, here is a cute pic of Kimbri with Daddy. She always has a hard time when Rick has to leave for school/studying and this particular day she asked me to take a picture of her with dad. Cute! She loves her daddy!

Scorpion Traps

It's that time of year... Can I just say GROSS?!?! And I just have to get it out there and say how much I HATE scorpions. No, I have never been stung by one, knock on wood, but I just hate everything about them. Except that it is kind of cool that they glow under a black light. But even that kind of creeps me out. 

Anyway, I stocked up on sticky traps and loaded up all sides of our garage with them. I have a love/hate relationship with these traps. Every time it catches one I think, Yes! it caught the nasty little bugger. But then I think, Sick! Why are they even in our garage in the first place?!  I'm glad that the traps do their job so well but it grosses me out every time it catches a scorpion. 

Tis' the life of living in Arizona.

Bike Ride

The weather has been fantastic! And the kids looooove going on bike rides and they especially love wearing their helmets, which is a good thing I guess :) 

This was a bike ride we did one evening after Rick got home from studying. It's funny how just going around the block can take foreeever. But they love it and so do I, seeing them have so much fun. And Garrett's face in that bottom picture... oh my! Haha! That is the face he pulls when you tell him to say "cheese". It's almost like he looks mad or something but he is actually just saying cheese.

Garrett & His Ice Cream Cone

Not long ago I was out doing a little grocery shopping and on one of the end aisles they had several boxes of cones. So I made an impulse buy and we had ice cream cones after dinner that night. The kids loved it! Well, Kimbri ate down to the cone, loving the ice cream, but refused to eat the cone. Haha. Garrett, on the other hand, was having the time of his life and ate every. last. bite. He was in heaven! 

Books

My kids are obsessed with books. I'm glad they love them so much! I really do. But I can barely sit down for 2 seconds before they realize I've sat down and they run and grab arm loads of books and come running over to me. And most of the time I love to sit and read with them. It's so fun and they are SO into every story we read that they literally just sit there and could listen to stories all day. But lately, with this pregnancy, I have been so tired by the afternoon. 

We have a routine of getting up, having breakfast and going to the gym. It gives me a chance to exercise and chat with my friends at the gym while we do the treadmills and the kids have a chance to run around with each other and play in the day care and on the playground. But by the time we get home, do a few chores, get through lunch and finally sit down again, my eyes are ready to just close themselves and sleep. So the instant I start reading a book we've read for the umpteenth time, I start to fall asleep as I'm trying to read. 

Anyway, so lately I've been putting the kids down a little bit early to bed at night and they get to read books in bed for about 30 minutes before we turn the lights out and it works pretty good! I give them each a pile of books and they do great and sitting there, reading and looking at books!! It's a win win!

And sometimes Kimbri also looks at books in her bed during "quiet time" while Garrett is napping. 

Because of the book love we have in our house, I'm always on the look out for new books... meaning new to us. Haha. Most of them I get at garage sales, Goodwill or DI. It's awesome because I usually can find them for super cheap. DI is the best because most all of their books are only .50 and they are usually in fantastic condition! I once spent $18 on books at DI and was wondering if I went a little overboard. But then I added up how much it would've cost me to buy them all new and it would have been $120!!!! And I got them all for $18! So it ended up being a smoking deal. And I always love a good deal :)