Fun in the Sun with a Little Mud

This was our fifth year of going to Mighty Mud Mania. In all honesty, we were not planning to go this year. It's hot and crowded and Owen is usually hesitant to get really muddy. Instead, we had planned on going camping. But Owen's swim lessons are at the park that MMM is at, so he's been excitedly watching them set-up all week. We decided to stay in town and rally the troops to brave the heat and mud once again.

,

It took five years, but Owen finally really got into the event. He went through the mud obstacle course (with only minor hesitation).

He splashed, jumped, and ran around in the mud. Here he is lounging with a buddy from preschool that we met up with. 

Niah and Miles ("the troops") were there too. Miles still doesn't like the mud, so Owen and Niah made up for his lack of dirtiness.

Not wanting to be left out of some good 'ol fashioned fun, Ed played around in the mud pit with Owen, which Owen got an absolute kick out of.

Afterwards the gang came back to our place to eat, drink, and cool off.

We're happy we stayed in town this weekend. Heat is much more bearable with good friends around.

Celebrate with a Volcano

Owen had the fun idea of making a volcano to celebrate Ed's last day of teaching for the year.

We were only mildly successful with our endeavor, though Ed did appreciate the gesture. Owen was hoping for much more of an explosion, but we realized we have all summer to perfect the art of volcano explosions, along with conducting other miscellaneous experiments.

Coolest Teacher Ever

When Owen grows up he wants to be a teacher, a scientist, a race car/monster truck driver, and most recently, a plumber. Also, when he talks about his future, he doesn't say, "a teacher OR a race car driver." He is going to be all those things, at the same time. Teach and perform science experiments during the day, race on the weekends, fix broken pipes when needed. The kid has got it figured out.

Getting Crazy in the Photo Booth

One the last day of preschool, one family threw the kids a party complete with ice cream truck, a balloon guy, and a photo booth.

The photo booth came with a variety of costumes that you could wear. We jumped at the chance to have some fun with the photo booth.

Unbeknownst to us parents, Owen and Braden (his bro-ther!) went in the photo booth by themselves and took some pictures. It was later decided that if the boys form a band, this photo would be used for the cover of their album.

Daycare Camping 2013

There are many things that we enjoy about Arizona, one of which is the fact that you can drive two hours and leave the 100 degree desert for 70 degrees and this:

This weekend we went camping in northern Arizona to an area called Blue Ridge Reservoir in the Coconino Mountains. 

We went with three other families: Dawn and Natalie; Wren, Tim, Niah, and Grae; and Sarah, Bart, and Aubrey. Our connection is that we all have used Dawn for daycare. Last time we camped with Dawn, Wren, and the gang was in 2010. Looking back on those pictures just shows how time does fly.

The Bearded Man (as dubbed by Owen) and his lovely bride. It felt good to be temporarily out of the heat and have to wear long sleeves again. 

We went on a short hike to the reservoir. Short is the key word when traveling with young kids, but it was worth it to dip our feet in the water and skip rocks.

Roland is turning into a nice little camper. He enjoys exploring, remains fairly calm (unless we encounter a dude hiking with a parrot, which we did), and curls up right next to us when we're sleeping.

We camped with a great group of people. We had never met Sarah and Bart before, and they turned out to be the nicest people. Since Owen and Niah have known each other since they were one, they play together very naturally. We are hoping to make this group camping trip an annual tradition.

Moving Up

Wednesday was the last day of preschool for both me and Owen. It was a bittersweet day. Owen seems ready to move on to kindergarten and I am excited about starting my new career.

It is pretty much official that I am going to be a middle school Language Arts teacher. I passed the secondary Language Arts test which means I can teach 7-12 English. The day after I passed my test, my little preschoolers surprised me with a party. 

Along with the encouragement and support from Ed, it was working at this school the helped push me towards becoming a teacher. Working with kids is as rewarding as people say. The above photo shows the class I worked in, and Cari, the teacher I worked with. I learned so much working with Cari. Plus, she has that amazing ability to make you feel like you are the most special person in the world to her.

Amy (on the left) was one of Owen's teachers.  I lovingly dubbed her the Buddha of the school because she had a beautiful way with words and outlook on life. Nola (on the right) is the school's director. We met through a mutual friend (Miles' mom). Nola helped me immensely with pursuing a teaching job. She was supportive every step of the way and got a kick out of the fact she converted a city planner to a teacher.

On the last day, the school had a little ceremony to say good-bye. They showed a slideshow and the kid's sang a song, and the ongoing kindergarteners were recognized. There, of course, was nary a dry eye in the audience. (I am having trouble downloading the adorable video of them singing; hopefully, I can make that happen at some point.)

I had lunch with some old co-workers a couple months back, and they asked me if I regretted quitting my consulting job because they feared I would. I can say with 100% certainty that quitting that job was one of the best decisions I have made. I am so happy that I took a year off to focus on my family and to re-center. Owen and I have two more months together, then I start work on July 31 and he starts school on August 7. I am looking forward to this next stage of our life knowing it is beginning on such a solid foundation.

Trampolines, Star Wars, Fireworks and Other Ways to Celebrate 34 Years...

We had a great time celebrating Ed's 34th birthday this weekend. We started the day out by going to an indoor trampoline park, where our age became apparent as we got very tired after 30 minutes of jumping, but Owen was just warming up. Afterwards we had lunch at a small wood-fire pizza restaurant. We chatted with the owner most of the meal and had the opportunity to try his delicious homemade amaretto. Owen got Ed the Star Wars trilogy for his birthday, so we spent the afternoon watching Star Wars. (Owen loves the light sabers, Chewie, and Yoda. In fact, he does a pretty fine Yoda impersonation.)

Kristi, Jeff, Miles, and Django came over later that night to celebrate. The boys made him a sprinkle-topped cake and we ate, drank, swam, and generally just had a good time with good friends. We finished the evening by shooting off some fireworks. Overall, a dang fine way to celebrate 34 years

Mother's Day 2013

I had a wonderful Mother's Day today, thanks to the boys. While I slept in, they went to the store to get me coffee and flowers.  Ed made me breakfast and Owen gave me tons of hugs and kisses.

Owen (and Ed) made me two wonderful necklaces that I will cherish forever. One is a drawing of a flower, tree, and the sun; and the other is a picture of me and Owen holding hands. Owen is so proud of these necklaces, which makes me love them even more.

It was a hot day so we went up the street to El Dorado pool to go swimming. It was a blast. We all went down the water slide (it's been a long time since I went down a water slide), and just splashed and swam for hours. 

We were able to relax in the shade, eat some snacks, and read.

After spending a day at the pool, we came home and took a nap together. When we woke up, I putzed around my garden for a bit. Owen likes to hang out with me when I'm working in the garden. He checks for caterpillars and let's me know the status of the vegetables. (Notice the nose poking through the garden gate.)

To sum up the day, I was able to spend it doing my favorite thing: being outside with those I love. The perfect way to celebrate Mother's Day.

Anyone Can Cook

Inspired by one of his favorite movies, Ratatouille, Owen loves cooking and trying different spices. His favorite to cook is a basic noodle soup. He likes taste checking the different spices and purposefully adding them to his soup. We're growing herbs out in the garden, so he has started experimenting with those as well.

His soups turn out pretty good, and the added benefit is that he usually gobbles down whatever he cooks himself.

8-Year Anniversary

It has been a wonderful 8 years of marriage.  It seems like time is passing so quickly, and it is, but when I look at the life we've built for ourselves it makes sense to me that it takes time.  We started this adventure quite some time before we got married, but I never could have imagined that after this long everything can still feel like work spent building something.  I guess that will never change, or at least I hope it never does.

We had a very nice evening this weekend as we celebrated our anniversary.  We got a small reprieve from Owen (which we broke to come home and swim with him; damn it, we do like him) and went out to a very nice and inspiring restaurant that a husband and wife duo just opened. 

It sounds cliché, but as time goes on, it just keeps getting better. As Owen gains independence, we're able to spend more quality time together and starting to rediscover how much we like each other.

Happy 5th Birthday

Our big 5-year old. My goodness how time does fly.

Owen is the funniest kid we know.  He makes friends with incredible ease.  He loves animals and bugs. He collects "treasures" (rocks, sticks, seeds) constantly, which we keep in a mason jar at the house.

He's determined, stubborn, curious, and adventurous. He jumps off the diving board of our pool; is anxious to take his new razor scooter to the skate park; and likes to come up with his own science experiments.

He absolutely loves cars and has moved on from Cars (Disney) to cars (Toyota, Maserati, Camero). He likes going with his dad to the car dealership to test drive cars. And he still can't get enough of watching race car crashes (hence the cake).

He is extra sweet when he wakes up in the morning and when getting ready for bed. He will still cuddle with his mom. When he draws pictures, it's usually of his family (mom, dad, Owen, Roland, and Nala).

We love him to pieces. Happy 5th Birthday, Little O.

Birthday Camping Trip

This year for his birthday, Owen decided he wanted to go camping and fishing instead of having a birthday party. We were more than happy to oblige.

We camped at Dead Horse State Park, which is outside of Cottonwood. It was a great campground-very quiet and a pretty landscape with lots of lizards and quails running through the campsite. We will definitely be back.

We had classic camping meals. A nice stew for dinner and pancakes and bacon for breakfast. And of course s'mores at night.

The campground had a couple lagoons for fishing. The water was getting warm so the fish were not really biting, but Owen still had a great time.

Bella caught the first fish of the trip. Can you tell how happy Owen was for her? No jealousy felt at all.

 Owen finally caught a little fish too (thank goodness!), and all was right in the world again.

There was a wonderful river close to the campsite which offered a nice reprieve from the heat. It was a perfect swimming spot. The kids and Roland loved splashing around. We let Roland off the leash for a bit and he was in heaven running through the water.

Owen found a snail in the river. The kids named him "Gary" and he hung out with us at our campsite. It was later decided that Gary probably liked the river more than our pool, so Owen and Bella took him back to his home so he could live.

When asked how the camping trip went, Owen gave it two thumbs up. He swam in a river, went fishing, cooked marshmallows over a fire, chased lizards, played for hours with his cousin, and hiked with his dog...really what more could a 5-year old ask for?

Brother from Another Mother

Last weekend, Owen had a play date with one of his closest preschool buddies. These two get along incredibly well. It helps that Little B is a very sweet little boy. The boys are really cute together and have taken to calling each other, "brother." When they say bye to each other, they say, "Good-bye brotha!" "See ya later, brotha!" It's adorable.

Owen was having an off day, so a couple meltdowns happened on this particular play date. So I did what any parent/preschool teacher would do to distract and I had them make playdoh.

Easter was still fresh on their minds so they played Easter Bunny and took turn hiding eggs around the house. This game was a hit.

(Great) Grandpa Cooper

Every year my grandfather and his buddies escape the snow of Montana and head some place warm to golf for a week. Fortunately, this year they decided to golf in the Phoenix area.

We were able to spend a couple nights together catching-up and introducing him to the deliciousness of garden burgers. We don't get to see my grandparents nearly enough, so it was wonderful getting to spend some time with just him.

Easter 2013

We had a very nice Easter this year. It was mellow, but nice.

Owen decorated the eggs on Saturday night. He wanted to paint them all by himself so needless to say, we had very faintly dyed eggs because he could not handle the anticipation of letting them soak in order to dye them bright colors.

 

The Easter Bunny hid a ton of eggs around the house this year.  The "bunny" went a little crazy because 1. in past years Owen absolutely loved searching for eggs and he found them very quickly and 2. Owen told us he knew the Easter Bunny was going to hide hundreds of eggs, and that he would even hide them in the car tires. So hide them in car tires he did. Fortunately, the dog only found three of the eggs.

Later, dressed in our Easter best, we headed down the street to a neighbor's house for a Easter party and egg hunt.

Turns out nice clothes don't last long on little boys, especially when a water balloon fight is involved.