The wind and the waves

I didn't want to break up our vacation into different posts but I think I'm going to have to. I'm so busy with... well life right now so better this than nothing....

So first things first... our drive out to California.... We flew my sister in to Tucson to come with us to help with the boys. And it was totally worth it!! Not only did we get to go out a couple times, but she also refereed in the back seat... and... cleaned up puke. We have a baby that gets car sick. We figured out though that as long as he has the air blowing on him he is fine {and no more Carl's Jr. in Quartsize, Arizona}

Can I tell you of the happiness that was going around once we arrived at the hotel. I really don't know who was the happiest to be out of the car after a 9 hour drive. We stayed at the Portofino. After some house keeping issues were taken care of.... {I'll let Eliza elaborate on that one} it was a pretty good place. There was a bunkbed and a pull out couch on one side, with doors that slid closed, and then a king bed on the other. It was nice to have some separation, and be able to put the boys to bed and not have to go ourselves.

After getting our things in we walked down to the open mall to find a restaurant. We walked around. And James walked thought the fountain, {yup you read that right.} Then we went out to dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory. We just got all the appetizers which was great and we found out that Tommy likes calamari.... I don't think he knew what he was eating... And of course there was cheese cake!!

The next day we took it easy and went to the beach. James was so excited to actually see it, and to touch it.... he was in heaven. I told him to go and feel the water and it he liked it he could put his bathing suit on and get wet. The wave had better ideas and James ended up in the water fully clothed. So rather than have clothing and a suit full of sand he just played in the water with his shorts on.

Eliza tried to help Tommy and Tim find sand crabs but there were non to be found.

Now Tommy does NOT like to get his face wet. So you can imagine the screams that came from Tommy when Steve picked him up and turned him upside down and let the waves get the top of his hair wet. Well again... the waves snuck up on them and neither saw it coming. Steve was holding Tommy upside down and here came the wave... Tommy's whole head ended up in the wave! I felt bad but it really was the funniest thing!!! And I think Tommy was to shocked to cry. instead he focused his energy on trying to spit the salt water and sand out of his mouth.

Tim loved to play in the sand and run away from the waves. He liked covering my feet in the hole that we dug. And having Eliza dig with him.

James just could not get enough of the ocean. He played in the waves and jumped around. It was so fun to watch. He like to squish it between his toes and watch the water wash it away.

But like all good things it had to end. And in every ending tears can be shed. And there was. Not because we were leaving...the boys were happy to go because they were tired and hungry. The tears feel because, in the words of James...."But mom... There is sand EVERYWHERE!! It's all over me and I don't like it" Then Tommy chimmed in... "It's all over me too! It won't come off"

Oh, the joys of the beach!

{I'm hoping that it won't take me 2 more weeks to get us to Disneyland... check back soon}

Nothing is happening.

I've been busy these past couple days. My parents are coming to visit, so that means mad cleaning for me. But nothing to out of the ordinary has been going on. So I'm just going to share some random things... oh, I bet you are excited....
*I went shopping on Monday and I have to say that I was SO proud of myself!!! I got $459 worth of groceries for $268!!! That's $191 in savings!! Can you believe it? There was a major sale at Fry's so I totally stocked up.
*Here in Arizona we don't do daylight savings, I really don't care one way or the other just one less thing for me to think about. But... the boys live by the light of the sun and so with the sun coming up a little later that means they wake me up later. Which would be a good thing but that is how I know when to get up. "Get an alarm clock you say" Well I have one. Tommy was playing with it and the alarm is set to go off at MIDNIGHT. I've tried to unplug it I've pushed the buttons and I can't fix it. So now it's just sitting there. I figure better to have three little alarm clocks waking me up in the morning (at what ever time they wonder in) than to have the alarm going off in the middle of the night.
*Our first bike casualty happen on Sunday. We were trying to get into the car and Tim was messing around and ended up putting James' scooter behind the car. (yes, the new scooter he got for his party 2 days before) Now normally I wouldn't even think of buying another scooter, (the rule is if you brake it oh, well) but... this wasn't James' fault, and he only had the scooter two days. James was so heart broken!! He had waited and waited for the scooter, and then it got ran over. So, because it was Tim's fault and James has promised to put it away at the end of everyday. (And fortunately for me, the scooter was still on sale and I had another $5 off coupon)
*The days here are still sunny. We put on long sleeves in the morning, and by the afternoon, the boys are in short sleeves, and sandals. That's the god thing about living in Arizona. We get summer 10 months of the year.

Here are some funny quotes from the boys...
I've killed like 8 fish, and after the last one that died, well Tim has been walking around saying "Poor fish died"
Along those lines of just saying stuff... you might remember this post well James has been telling EVERYBODY that "Mom, broke the tires" (thanks James)
James has been insisting that he and Tommy are twins. He says stuff like "Tommy I love you, that's why we are twins" Tommy plays along, except when he gets mad or doesn't want to play anymore then Tommy says "I'm not your twin any more."
A couple other funny things from James...."Mom, do stars grow up to be moons?"
I telling Tim to stop torturing a bug that was outside (even thought bugs were created to be played with by little boys) and James asks, "What is torturing?"
And one last one from James, "Mom, I have to go to the dentist, my nose is hot."

See noting going on. Maybe in a couple days I'll have something more exciting.

Perfect Pomegranate Day

The other day I was grocery shopping with Tommy and Tim, while we were picking out some fruit Tommy picked up a pomegranate and asked what it was. I told him it was a pomegranate and that it was a funny fruit that you have to crack open to eat. I decided to buy a couple and take a walk down memory lane with the boys.

When I was growing up I lived for a couple years in a little town between St.George and Las Vegas called Logendale. We lived on Anazazi and this street really didn't believe in fences. Well they did but it reall was only to keep any lifestock in. The kids ran through all the yards playing up and down the street. Right next to us was the Hatch family. And not only did they have a basketball court and horses in the backyard there was also pomegranate bushes. I'm sure every neighbor kid got scolled from Jolene for picking the pomegranates. The rule was you can pick them if they were cracked open but NOT before. So as we walked through the their yard to get to the bus stop we'ld stop to check the bush and then again when we got home, usually finding a couple that were cracked.

Eatting this fruit totally takes me back to that and I thought I would share it with the boys.
They were really unsure about eatting it

Once Tim got a taste of it he didn't want to put it down. And he really didn't care about the seeds. Can you see that bright red juice dripping down his hands.

Tommy thought spitting out the seeds was so fun. Later he was planting the seeds to grow more pomegranates. (He was rather disapointed when he woke up the next morning and there were no pomegranates)

James is usaully aprehensive about trying new things but again the idea of spitting seeds was what drew him in. I got "cool" points for being able to spit more than one seed at a time.

It was a great afternoon and I love shareing moments like these with the boys. It has (finally)started to turn cold, so this was a great way to end our summer.

Oh, What a Beatiful Day!

(Ok, to start with this is only funny because we found James naked the night before.... I went in to the boys' room to check on them and I look and see that Tommy has taken off his bottoms and his diaper and is laying half naked in his bed. Not wet or anything, just naked. Not exactly sure why, but there you go)

So yesterday was BEAUTIFUL!!!! The sun was shining and the birds were chirpping, and the children were happy to be outside. So to start things off I went for a 2.8 mile run and realized that the shoes that I has were 7 years old. (gasp, I know) So I needed new shoes. The shoes I got are so cool and really hot.

They are black with shiny blue stripes. I'm really looking forward to taking them out for a run. So they just played outside in the morning and after naps we went to the park to play.

Here we have James and Tommy playing the the dirt. Now during the winter time everything dies and usually stays that way until the rainy season. During that time Sierra Vista is so green and really pretty. Anyway... the boys found the only dirt area in teh entire park it was about 2.5 feet around. Just like puddles, leave it to my boys to find the dirt.

So I watching the boys and all of a sudden I see a random shoe...

I looked around and here are the feet that the shoes belong to. The dirt kept getting into his shoes and decided that not only did the dirt bother him but that his feet "needed the sun" (Tommy is definately my child)

So Tim's independence is driving me crazy. From now (16 months) until about 20-22 months is the scary times for moms and the child that likes to play on the park equipment. And that is where Tim is at, he see's his brothers climbing and playing and thinks he needs to do it too.

OK, this is Tim going up the steps....

And this is Tim going down the stairs... Does anyone else see the problem with this?

And as always Captain is around to keep an eye on the boys. He's a great dog and climbs with the boys and goes down the slides with them.
So here is to the close to a great (sunny, warm, 74 degree) day. Looking forward to the longer warmer days that are up and coming.

Nothing but the Weather...

So what's the weather like where you are? (Minus those in Hawaii) I'm sure you are dealing with snow, and from what I've heard there is like FEET of snow. Well guess what... we had snow here yesterday.

I don't know if you can tell, but yes, that is snow falling. Now don't get to excited, none of it stuck to the ground, so there was no playing in it, but there you go.

Now here are a couple pictures of today...

The first is a picture of our house, do you see the clear blue skies? And the next is of the lone cloud in the sky. I looked around and that is the only one I saw. (We do get snow up on the mountains and you can see it from where we are, but that is where snow is suppose to be, in the mountains!) And just to rub it in a little more... it's suppose to be 74 degrees on Saturday! So as all of you are trying to stay warm, we are going to try to fly kites.