Lots of fun at the Fair!

On Tuesday the 21st I took the kids to the fair. It was the hottest day we have had so far 102!! It was a good thing that there were some buildings we could go inside and look around to take a break from the sun. The kids loved the rides, and the petting zoo was a hit! They both decided that they want a pygmy goat. Kylee actually gave it a hug :)

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

On Monday the 20th, we went to the Desert Museum with some friends Doug and Melissa. It is about 2 miles of paths to walk around on and see all kinds of plants, cactuses and animals. It was a hot day, but we saw some neat things. There was a hummingbird area that you could go inside and see them up close. There was a nest and a hummingbird was sitting on it, but my picture really didn't turn out of that. There was a cave that we went down into, which Devon really thought was neat. Here are a couple of pictures of our day...






That is a roadrunner!


This is Doug and Melissa's little girl - Naomi

Our Inside Project

Here's whats been keeping us busy indoors. :) The kids were real excited to get it started, and they did get quite a few together on the edges and the train! But they have grown bored with it now, so its the adult challenge now!! We figured we didn't have any remodel projects going, or painting to do, so it seemed there wasn't much to do indoors. :) It is a glow in the dark puzzle, and when its done, we will frame it for Devons room. Here is where we are at now...

Kids Korner - April 19

Devon: Like three days ago, I liked smushing the cars. And I like watching them pull the motors out. Yesterday on the walk, I was way ahead of mommy that I could wait inside the tunnel in the rock for everyone for a long time. I like writing worksheets for school. That is it :)

Kylee: I like playing with my friends. I like the waterfalls. I don't liIke the walking though. I like the animals at the zoo. I like the monkeys best. I like writing my letters. I like going swimming in the water. I like to play with Daddy and mommys cell phones. I like playing with Devon.

Hiking at Bear Canyon to See 7 Waterfalls

Yesterday a bunch of us took a hike up Bear Canyon. You took a tram up the mountain about 2 miles, then hiked 2 1/2 miles each way and took us about 2 hours each way. The path wasn't wide enough for 2 people to meet on it, and was a dirt/rock path along the side of a mountain. We crossed the "wash" (creek of water running down from the top of the mountains) 7 or 8 times. It was quite an experience. The kids did great - only had to carry Kylee a couple of times for a short distance because she was too tired. There were quite a few kids so I think they encouraged each other to keep going :) In places it was pretty steep climbing. Scott and I were pretty sore last night, and are still a little sore today, so it was pretty impressive that the kids made it.

The hike was worth it though - it was beautiful at the end. Its pretty neat to see that much water in the middle of the desert. When we got there, Kylee exclaimed "The ocean!!" :) They call it 7 Falls, but really it is one long falls, with seven levels where it drops. The water is ice cold (it snowed on Mount Lemmon about a week ago, so some of the water is coming from melting snow.) A couple of the kids went swimming, but the rest of us just waded. It was so cold it actually hurt if you got as deep as your knees. It was in the high 80's so it was a pretty hot day. We all got sunburned - well except Kylee - she got browner :)


The path








The falls - the pictures don't really show the height


Another level of the falls


One of the teenagers swam underneath and behind this falls


Playing in the water. At this point they both had their shoes wet trying to cool down in the washes on the way home.

Our Little Apartment

Some have been asking to see pictures of where we call home for now, so here are some.

Ours is right behind that big palm tree in the center of the picture


The living room and "kids bedroom"


Other side of the living room


Dining Room - Craft/Puzzle/school table at back




View from our patio - you can see the pool in the background




The kids sandbox - they spend alot of time here


With their friend - Emma

Devon and Kylee got to crush some cars!!

Some of the friends here in Tucson own a junkyard. Last night we went to watch them crush some cars, and they let Devon and Kylee do it. They thought it was great fun! When we were leaving, Devon asked Scott if he could drop him off there after work so he could help them work. :) (They only do it in the evenings) Here are some pictures of it.

Layed off Again :(

Well, we are holding our breath again... Scott is layed off here too :( But hopefully only for a short time. He went into work on Saturday morning and 10 minutes later they sent all the contractors home. Not enough work for everyone. He is to call in later today to see if there is any updates. They say for sure there will be a plane come in on the 21st, so that would probably be the latest he would be back to work. Thats what they are saying right now anyways.

Saturday was the first day that it rained since we got here. Was pretty cool - low 50's all day. We went to check out the "washes" (where the water runs down the mountains from rains, or snow melting) The washes go right through the city. But didn't see anything. Either we were too late, or there wasn't enough rain to do that. We also noticed that it snowed at the top of the mountains, so maybe thats why too.

We also went up to Casa Grande conv. preps on Saturday. There were alot of people there (we guess about 200) so the work got done pretty quickly. Convention starts the 30th of April, so coming soon!

We are Homeschooling for Now!

Starting to get into a routine now, although I do miss the routine we had when Devon went to school. We are finishing out this year doing homeschooling, then where ever we are living in September, we will enroll him into 1st grade. Devon is really easy to homeschool, as he loves to learn, loves to be challenged, and enjoys doing schoolwork. Hopefully that continues through the years :)
Kylee is a little different that way. She is excited to do "school work" when Devon does, but it only lasts about 10 minutes and she is done. Her favorite words "I don't know how" :) We are only working on writing her letters, as she already recognizes all of them by sight.
For Devon, I have found a couple of websites that I can download free worksheets - they are all categorized by grade level. We don't sit down for more than 1/2 hour at a time, but try to do that several times a day. Everyday I try to fit in listening time - I am reading some simple chapter books to him, Reading - Devon reads to me the Level 1 readers!!, Math - worksheets, phonics -worksheets, Writing - he draws a picture about something we did the day before and writes a sentence or two about it. Also, we have just started writing a letter to someone of his choice and we will mail it - so you may get one in the future.
I am enjoying it, but wow - its alot of work! I don't think I could homeschool every year. And Devon really misses his friends - he is too social to keep home :) We also try to go to all the storytime/craft times at the library.

Our Bike Ride at Sabino Canyon

Last night, we all went for a bike ride at Sabino Canyon. It was fun, but didn't all go as planned. Just recently, we bought Devon a new bike, and Kylee got Devons old one and we put training wheels on it. She is doing well with it, but when she gets even on a small incline, she doesn't have the strength to get up the hill. Well, there was more hills at Sabino Canyon than we remembered. So, we ended up leaving her bike off the edge of the road, and she rode on Scotts bike. She stood on the bar in front of him, while he held her. It was kinda difficult. If we do something like that again, we will get a bike extension (with an extra seat, wheel and pedals) for our bike and have her ride on there. We had a picnic by a little stream, and rode back.

We went to a B-Day party at the Gymnastics Place

We went to Trevor Koessler's 5 year birthday party. His mom and dad are Steph and Jeff. Scott knew them when he lived here last time 12 years ago.

The kids went to a Gymnatics place and had a ball. There was a pit of soft foamy things that they could jump into, or bounce off of balls into. There were beams they could walk along. There was a trampoline level with the floor (pit underneath) that they could bounce on, and there was a place they could run and vault off a "diving board" onto a pile of mats. There also was a pinata, cake and icecream. Fun times!!


Devon is in the orange shirt, Kylee is ahead of him in the Pink.


Jumping into the pit of "foamy blocks"


You bounce onto your belly onto the ball and it throws you into the foam.


The trampoline

We went up Mount Lemmon - 8000 feet up!

On Tuesday, we went to the top of Mount Lemmon, here in Tucson. We actually saw some snow, but not til close to the top. It took an hour to go up, most of it hairpin turns and views wayyy down, which I am not real fond of :) We stopped a few times to take pictures which I will add here, but the pictures really don't show what it was like. The steepness was amazing!!

At the top of the mountain, there is a ski hill, but it is closed for the summer already. There is also a small town Summerhaven. Some years ago, a forest fire went through the town, and burned almost everything, so whats there now is all rebuilt in the last few years. We picked up a brochure at the local realtors, and the prices of the homes are amazing!! You wouldn't think the economy was hurting at all after seeing those prices!

We went for a little hike at the top too. You really have to be careful, as there has been sightings in the last few years of mountain lions (same as cougars) We were told on the tour we took of Sabino Canyon of how to act if you see one, but hope we never come across one :) Both Scott and I were uncomfortable hiking because of that, so we didn't go far. It was also pretty cold up there. It was 66 degrees when we left the bottom, and at the top it was 45 degrees!!


A neat looking cactus we saw





You wouldn't catch me going that close to the edge!!




I thought the ski hill would have been bigger than this on a mountain!


Rebuilding Summerhaven at the top after the fire


Devon by the first snow we saw in Arizona. It was only 45 degrees!