Summer Tennis

Alex and the girls in her Tennis group. Sydney and Alex really enjoyed the Tennis program this summer. It kept them busy and entertained that's for sureSydney has gotten really good. I think they've decided to carry the program over to the school year. All summer they got to use their rackets, balls, hats, and bags for free. They said we could keep the equipment for $10.00. I thought that was a great price. The girls are now proud owners of their very own tennis equipment!
The HAMMER in action! The tennis coaches said Sydney should probably play softball instead of tennis. She has a mean swing meant for a different kind of ball. Go Sydney!!

Alex is getting better and better. She has a lot of fun with the girls in her group. I never have to struggle to get them up and ready on tennis days.

I'm glad the girls had a fun summer activity they could do together. I look forward to more sports as they grow up!

Old friend, new quilt

I'm not real big on the whole Facebook thing. I have a Facebook, I use it occasionally. I do however like the fact that I can reconnect with people I knew once upon a time. Just so happens I reconnected with a friend from school whom I haven't seen in at least 14 years. She was a good friend and I have lots of fond memories of spending time with her. I had made a quilt and posted pictures of it on my Facebook. She commented on it. We got to talking and I offered to make her little boy a quilt. I mentioned I was no a pro at quilting and that I did it mainly for fun. She was so excited I was going to make one for her!

I got all the material, got the circles cut out, everything put together, and it was in the mail before the week was up. I also made a pillowcase to match.

It was by far one of my most favorite quilts. She was so excited to get it and she says her little boy loves it. I'm so glad. I have a hard time letting go of the quilts I make, it makes it easier when I know they're going to be loved.

I'm in the process of updating our blog with our many summer adventures. I have to get this done before school or it'll never happen. I hope to have all the updates done by next week. Keep your fingers crossed I accomplish my goal so you'll have something to read. I know you're all dying to find out what we've been up to :)

Summer reading program

Once again, this summer we participated in the summer reading program offered by our local library. Today was the last day of the program. We've had some very exciting and very informative Wednesday's at the library. We heard stories from different cultures. We learned about the Chinese calendar, letter boxing, and Japanese Origami. We learned about houses in foreign places, Arizona minerals and birds. An excellent artist came a taught us about animals from around the world...... We also learned about Geography and food from around the world. Today's topic was music from all over the world.....
We learned about different instruments from around the world. We had a little mini workshop, we all made beautiful music together. The drums got a little loud but it was fun. Since it was the last day of the program, following the end of our music workshop we had a pizza party. The library provided drinks, pizzas, and desserts for everyone. We look forward to next year's reading program, and we can't wait to see what we will learn about next.

As we were leaving we saw a display of books that looked familiar. Alex wrote the book Oh Sally! and had it published. She was so happy to see it being displayed in the public library!

Boxes of beds....oh my!

We finally decided that the girls needed new beds. They had loft beds. These beds were awesome. There was a desk and bookshelf that their twin bed sat on. Our house is old so we don't have vaulted ceilings or anything. When they were on top of the bed they were practically kissing the ceiling. Plus we had two of these beds in one room. You walked in and all you saw were beds! It was very squished. That lasted about 6 months then Mom got claustrophobic and made a few changes. I moved the desk and bookshelf units into storage and set the bed units on the floor. Much better, the girls at least had breathing room now. Even though the beds were complete with nice comfy mattresses, I still felt bad for the girls having to sleep on the floor every time I walked by their room. I put their loft beds on craigslist and within three days they were sold! Now what? The girls slept on an air bed while we shopped for beds. They still wanted to share a room so we decided on bunk beds. We found an awesome full on full wooden bunk bed online at simplybunkbeds.com. They offered free shipping and free mattresses. Perfect for what we were looking for.

We decided to buy the bunk beds after shopping around a bit more. The boxes the girls are playing in in the above picture, yeah those are the boxes that showed up with mattresses in them! (You can't tell in the picture but Sydney is wearing a headlight and Alex has a flashlight and their making these boxes into clubhouses. Yeah my kids have NO toys to play with! Good thing there were no boys around, all over both boxes it was written that boys were not allowed.) Totally cheap mattresses but free. They're like a couch bed mattress but thinner!! They're like a piece of foam covered in material. Not what I wanted but for now the girls say they don't mind.

Next came the beds in a delivery truck. I got really excited when I saw this truck pull up. I was dumb! How dare I think they may have been put together for me and then shipped! DUH!!

Three heavy boxes arrived (we were supposed to get 4 boxes but the under bed storage drawers are on back order) and we got to work. The girls were so sad they couldn't play in these ones.

A couple hours later, the girls had new beds. They also got new bedding, I didn't have anything for a full size bed. What is the first thing they do in their new bed that is up off the floor? Grab a book and read! The under bed storage drawers should ship in August sometime. I like that the beds can come apart and become two separate full beds for when the girl decide to have their own rooms. I'm so thankful that they are the best of friends and enjoy each other so much. I'm not a bad mom anymore!! My kids have beds that are off the floor, yay!!

The Protector

Cassius is the best dog ever!! He's great at letting us know if there's something outside. He takes his job seriously. He's always patrolling his yard, on the look out for anything that might hurt his girls or chickens. From javelina to snakes, birds to scorpions... he's got our backs!

Monsoon Rainbow

The rainbow tonight was so beautiful. The girls love rainbows. We hurried them outside so we could take some pictures. They had just gotten out of the shower and threw on whatever they could. We didn't even let them brush their hair.

This was a double rainbow. It was so pretty. Clay took the pictures then had some fun messing with the colors of the photos. I love the monsoons!

Aunt Debbie's Party!!

Once again we were invited to attend the annual shindig at Aunt Debbie's house to help her celebrate her birthday. The date and time worked out perfect for us. We got home on Thursday from California, we spent Friday with Grandma Wing, and Saturday on our way home we swung by Casa Grande and partied with Aunt Debbie. If you recall last years party that I blogged about, we played minute to win it. This year the party game was Telestrations. Aunt Debbie heard about it on a blog, couldn't find it in stores so she had to buy it online. OH MY FUN! I've never seen or heard adult ladies laugh so hard! It is one fun game. It's like playing telephone and pictionary at the same time! If you want to be the hit of your next party, get this game. Aunt Debbie said we could have the game to take home since she wouldn't be playing it anytime soon. We decided to play it as a family for family home evening. The kids can do pretty well. It's a fun concept that could be tailored to fit any occasion. Kids birthday party, showers, BBQ's, church get together, whatever. Just make up your own clue words and go for it!
After dinner we broke out the watermelon and fresh pineapple and sat down to show Dad how to play our new favorite game. It's so much fun! I'd give you an example of the fun but it's not the same, you have to play it to get it. OK, well here is the example on the box. How did doggie bag become man purse? Not funny, but if you saw the drawings and the guesses you'd have milk coming out your nose right now!!

We had a blast playing this game as a family. Clay even laughed pretty good. It's kind of hard to play with kids since they don't know what every word is. It's for ages 12 and up. Alex got the word bed pan. She had no idea what that was so she drew a bed and a pan. I have no clue what it ended up as, but like the game of telephone the answer is hardly ever right. When it did turn out right it seemed a little boring. I highly recommend this game if you and your friends need a good laugh.

GET THE GAME!

Beach fun....day 3!

Our last day in Oceanside :( We had to check out of our hotel by 10:00 in the morning. We didn't want to waste any of our beach time. We all got up early and headed to the beach at 7:00 for a couple hours of fun before we had to leave for good. It was pretty chilly that early in the morning but we made the most of it! The kids looked for seashells and played in the water. We watched a bird eat a fish. We saw some real drift wood and walked the beach and played for a couple of hours.
Sydney loved the water and the waves. If she could have stayed out there the rest of the day I'm sure she would have!

Harry was a happy camper this morning. He was having so much fun digging in the sand and playing in the waves.

Have to have a toes in the sand picture! We didn't get pedicures before we left, we ran out of time. The beach sand was so soft and felt so nice on our feet.

After we checked out of the hotel we walked up the road to a pizza place and grabbed some lunch before we headed back to Arizona. It didn't open until 11:00 so we had an hour or so to kill. We hung out and took pictures to pass the time.

I'm so glad we worked so hard saving our money so we could go to the beach. We had a great time. I was so very sad to leave. I can't wait to come back next year! We've already started saving!

After pizza we went to a frozen yogurt place. It was so yummy. As we were leaving the yogurt place we noticed how sunny and warm it was. Compared to yesterday it was beautiful. Wanting to make the most of our trip we went back to the van, changed in to our swimsuits and went back to the beach for more play time! We had so much fun. It was a spare of the moment decision but it turned out to be the best call of the vacation. The sun, the beach, the breeze. Amazing! A perfect ending t an awesome summer vacation. Then it was back into the car for the long ride home.

We miss California already :(

The beach....day 2!

Day 2 at the beach! It was overcast all day but still fun. The girls had fun playing in the sand with Harry and all the toys we packed. Sydney's favorite toy was this little floating pirate guy. She'd throw him as far out in the ocean as she could and then wait for him to wash back in to shore. Harry loved emptying the toy basket and then he'd turn right around and fill it back up again. It kept him busy for quite awhile.
Sand and Harry were best friends! Can you tell?

Sand, sun, and fun......What more could we ask for?

Uncle Colin built an awesome sand volcano complete with lava. It was fun to watch him have fun in the sand. It's nice to know I'm not the only adult that is a kid at heart! We had a long busy day at the beach, a yummy dinner mad by Amy back in our room, and then we finished off the day in the pool (which was heated slightly) and the hot tub! What a great day! I can't get enough of the beach, good thing we have one more day!!

California Dreamin!!

The girls were so excited about their new sunglasses that they had to wear them the entire way to Mesa. We stayed the night at Colin and Amy's house last night and headed for California this morning! On the way to Mesa we ran into tons of rain and a huge dust storm. It was very scary but we made it in one piece! Alex said it was ok if I cried because I think she could tell I was a little scared. I told her I couldn't cry or I wouldn't be able to see and we would wreck. So we cranked up the music and took it slow and steady.
The view from our hotel room is amazing. Amy did an awesome job making the reservations! This place has it all. More pictures will be coming soon.

The girls are having a blast looking for sea shells, jumping waves as they come rolling in, chasing the sea gulls, and building sand castles. Tomorrow we'll been spending the entire day at the beach (with sunscreen and snacks).

For dinner we ate at the restaurant Ruby's which is at the very end of the pier. This was the perfect ending to an awesome beach filled day!

VACATION ROCKS!

Oceanside California!!

This year we actually made it to California. Last year we had to cancel our annual Dozier vacation. Not this year, we saved all year so we could make it back to the beach. We went with Uncle Colin, Aunt Amy, and Harrison! We had so much fun. Here are a few pictures from our first day in Oceanside California. We got in at 3:00 in the afternoon, checked in to our room, changed into our swimsuits, and headed to the beach! The girls were so excited. The 6 hour car ride was worth it!

They had a great time looking for shells. The water was cool, the sun was shining, and the company was great. We stayed out on the beach until sundown.

The girls had a blast burying Uncle Colin. Colin has to be buried at the beach, it's tradition. This year even Harry got in on the action.

Harrison was so much fun to watch. A face, body, diaper, eyes, hair.... full of sand didn't stop him from having fun. He didn't seem to mind. I think he had a great time. What a fun little boy to hang out with!

The girls (and me too), liked watching the surfers. Maybe one of these years we'll try it.

As the sun was going down and the temperature was getting cooler, we walked down the pier so we could eat at the restaurant Ruby's. It's at the very end of the pier. Alex was so cold when she got out of the water she put her sun dress on backwards. The sunset was amazing!

The restaurant was packed and we were on a waiting list 45 mins long. It was worth the wait. The food was great! We would have been nice and warm inside but the big table they sat us at was by the back door. We were pretty chilly until our yummy warm food came. We looked like a bunch of beach bums compared to some people at the restaurant but we didn't care. We're on vacation!!

After nice, long, warm showers the girls were exhausted. They hit the bed and were out. They had a comfy couch bed (for a couch bed this one really was comfy), I had my own room with a queen bed, and Colin and Amy had their own room with a king bed. The hotel was awesome! Good job Amy on making amazing reservations!! I can't wait to get to the beach in the morning!!