Padre-hijo

Last week Little Robby and I had the chance to enjoy a nice father-son outing with the rest of the folks from church. We were out in the Superstition Mountains, which legend has it, is home to a lost gold mine. We didn't find any gold, but did pick up our fair share of dust. It's a picturesque area, with saguaro galore.
The little ones didn't get much sleep--I think Robby came into the tent around 11:15 that night and was up again soon after 6 am--but seemed to enjoy themselves. Most of Saturday morning was spent in two teams contesting control of the following two bases, one in a dry riverbed and the other in a tangle of trees.
Here Robby parries a playful blow from an opponent.
Watch out--he's fierce!
Robby's good friend Casjen remained neutral in the conflict, a point he enjoyed making pointedly to both participants and observers.
Father and son in the vicinity of base #2.
On the way home, we stopped by one of the several area hiking trails and walked around for a few minutes. When the palo verde trees are in bloom this area is a sea of green and gold--quite beautiful.
Before and after shots. Hey, at least one of us changed shirts.
We're looking forward to our next father-son somewhere in the wilds of Indiana.

Jenna's very own birthday party

Okay, I had a really hard time narrowing down pictures for this blog, so you get to see a lot!

First off, I start off with a picture of myself...

This is to remind me that I was sane when I decided to do a birthday party for Jenna's 3rd birthday. I am not one who is talented at putting together functions for large numbers of people, let alone a number of children, but I did it and everyone had fun, so I count the day a success! Most important of all, Jenna had a day to remember.

We had her birthday at the train park in Scottsdale. I share this picture above with you because there is a story that goes with it. When we were standing and waiting for the train, Jenna was talking to her friend Alyssa. Alyssa was asking Jenna if it was her birthday and if she was 3 today! Jenna replied, "Yes!" And then Alyssa told Jenna that she was 3, too! At which point Jenna got really mad and told her she wasn't 3! I'm not sure Alyssa knew what to think. Then Jenna came up to me very upset and tried to tell on Alyssa for saying that she was 3, too! How dare she! ;) I guess there is only one 3-year-old allowed at a 3rd birthday party! I took a moment to explain that she and Alyssa were both three, and finally Jenna seemed okay with the idea.

Riding in the cattle car (Alyssa, Robby, and Jenna)

Cousin Matthew riding on the carousel

Blowing out candles


I love this picture of Audrey with chocolate cake on her face!

Jenna is admiring the picture that Matthew drew for her. (Alyssa, Matthew, Jenna, and Graham)

Jenna and Ava had a great time blowing train whistles together.

Waving to everyone on the train

Olivia kicked back most of the day in the car seat.

Uh-oh, look who got caught by the law!


The big birthday girl!

After the party was over, Grandma, Grandpa, and our family decided we wanted a couple more rides on the carousel.

Yee-haw, Grandpa!

Then we all rode the train together.

Afterwards we walked together over to the ice cream shop in the park.

"I want that flavor, Grandpa!"

Here's an interesting tidbit... When my mom was single she used to work for the Santa Fe Railroad Company as a nurse on a passenger train. It rode from Chicago to LA and along the way it passed through Arizona, and right past this building! This train station used to be in Aguila, Arizona which is further north, but the owners of the train park in Scottsdale bought it and moved it to the park. It now houses the ice cream shop. My mom never stopped at this building because it was not a stop on the express line, but she remembers passing it along the way. Very cool!


Olivia takes a ride with Mom.

And lastly, one party pooped birthday girl!

Jenna's birthday celebration with the family

We start with a birthday tribute to Jenna, as sung by herself...

Here is a sampling of pictures that show you the fun that Jenna had on her birthday!

She got jewelry from Li'l Robby. (He earned his own money to buy her a gift... it was his idea.)

And dress-up shoes from him, too!

And for the grand finale, she had to put on her new shoes, jewelry, dance clothes, and purse all at once!

How much water can our bathtub hold?

Oh, I don't really know... All I know is that it only holds so much and then it overflows! How did I find this out, you ask? By getting distracted while I filled the bath for Jenna just 10 minutes ago.

Fortunately, I realized it was WAAAAAY past time to shut it off, and ran in there in enough time to stop the water from emerging too far on the other side of the sopping wet bath mat. Jenna then protested when I started draining her water. She said, "But I want it really high!" Sadly for her, our bathroom was not designed to have a waterfall in it.

Now I wonder how much that sopping wet bath mat weighed when I picked it up to drain the water from it. I don't know that either, and I hope I never have to opportunity to find out again.