A Trip Home

Rockwell and I had to leave Joe for the first time, and went home for a quick trip. More than just my friend, my Zac Grow passed away. It's hard to put into words what that really means to me. Although it was a very difficult thing to go home for his funeral I got to spend time with Lizzy, my little big sister, and all of the Grow family. My parent's were out of town on a trip they had been planning to Virginia and to Jennifer's house, so the kids ran wild in Grandma Jeanne and Poppa Eric's house.

Collin, Brandon, and Madeleine; my brother's kids. Rock loves his cousins! Brandon especially made Rockwell laugh everytime he looked at him. Rock put a dirt clod the size of his fist in his mouth shortly after this picture.

My favorite pumpkin patch! I have never lived anywhere other than in the bay area where I have found a better pumpkin patch. I was so glad Rocky got to go! He had such a good time too.

Captain of the ship!

No comment.

Ramona slept through the whole thing!

Rock loved playing in grandma Jeanne's backyard. He walked that tricycle around in circles and circles!

Ramona is 2 months younger than Rocky and put up with a lot this weekend. He just wanted to touch her face and roll over and around her the whole time. She barely made a fuss even when he was poking her in the eyes. Thanks Ramona! And sorry about Rock. He just really likes you.

My mom keeps such a spic and span clean house Lizzy and I revelled in the messes our kids made. She wasn't around to see it, and we found it humorous how many things they pulled out of drawers, off shelves and threw on the kitchen floor. If you find anything out of place you know who to blame...

I also got to see my grandpa. We went on his morning walk with him.

Up to the same old tricks at Grandpa's house.

Happy Guy

Rock is our smiley guy. I just wanted to blog his cuteness.

Getting ready for Halloween!

His new favorite trick- running away as fast as he can after his bath.

Rock got invited to his first birthday party- Kaylee's sister's little girl turned one! He didn't even want to eat cake, instead he munched on a carrot. Good little guy...

Cameron on the other hand dug in! Fun night, thanks Jocelyn for turning one!

Bonfire Pit

Project by project out backyard is coming together. This bonfire pit is the biggest project by far and it feels great to have almost done. And what feels even greater is that all the materials we used were here already- I don't even want to think about how expensive it would have been to have to buy all that rock, but the previous owners had a lot of supplies in the backyard. It started out looking like a rock quarry, and hopefully by the time we're through it will look great!

The rock quarry...

A few weeks ago before the river rock was laid.

Finished product!

Now Joe can roast S'mores every night- a dream come true.

Wet N Wild and Frank Lloyd Wright

One weekend we made big plans with the Nuckles to go to Wet N Wild. Joe's been wanting to go since we moved down here over a year ago, and Jon, well let's just say Jon's enthusiasm about water parks is enough to get the Wizard of Oz Witch to put on a bathing suit. Of course, it was also the same weekend Monsoon Season decided to show up. That didn't stop us from having a good time though, I had free museum passes, thanks to the library, to check out Frank Lloyd Wright's domain in Scottsdale. Joe and I both thought it was really interesting and were so glad we went, even though Wet N Wild was a total bummer.

The upside to the whole day was the temperature dropped enough we were able to wear jeans!

This was Frankie's favorite view. You can see mountains all the way to Tucson on a clear day.

This sculpture garden was my favorite part.

The ladies!

Kade always makes friends with the little babies, which works out great cause they love him. Rock looks pretty happy, and fairly drooly. He had a dum dum or two to get him through the tour.

And we still made it to Wet N Wild a couple weekends later!

It was not Jeans weather.

Rockwell LOVED it, and slept sooo well that night!

Cameron's first and only kiss for Rockwell, so far.

Oro Valley

Labor Day weekend we headed down to Tucson (or close to it, Oro Valley) with the Nuckles and Esplins. Another grand adventure...

In the parking lot of Catalina State Park where we went hiking- Rocky I'm not sure you would be smiling that big if you knew what was coming...

Do we blend in with our surroundings?

Cameron you are caught in the act!

The plan was to hike to these desert pools that were only 1.5 miles out. They were all dried up, but if we went about a mile further there were more pools. We decided to do it. Unfortunately, unaware to us that next mile was entirely up the mountain. The poor little babies started getting hot, tired, and thirsty! I have never seen Rock drink so much!

Content for now...

Unfortunately we had to turn around before we got to the pools. Nothing at that time sounded more refreshing than to jump in a cold pool of water, but the kids had had enough. It ended up being the best choice of course, but nontheless disapointing!

The Nuckles trekking back through the last leg of the return trip. What a hike!!

When we got back we relaxed in the hot tub- only to find a dead scorpion floating around in there with us! It was the first one Joe or I had seen since we have been here.

Andy thanks for the good deals on the condos and fun weekend!

On the way home we took a slight detour to get a peek of good ol Biosphere 2. Tours are over $20 a person, so we just wanted to get a good look, maybe a picture of it and then head home. Just so you know security keeps a tight reign on things out there. Am I right Jon, Kaylee? Rocky made up for not getting to see the Biosphere upclose and in person. This picture was taken in the gift shop.