Greer!

Two weekends ago, we left Sophia with her bestamama and grandma for the first time (!) and drove to Greer to help our friend Alicia celebrate her birthday.  Greer is about a four hour drive northeast of the Phoenix area, almost to New Mexico.  The weather there this time of year was beautiful - sunny and in the 70s during the day.  We stayed in an adorable log cabin with a great porch (perfect for shooting archery off), cooked our own food, did lots of hiking, played board games, and just had some great relaxation time.  We wished we could have stayed longer and tried some fishing, but had to get back home to relieve the grandmothers :)  Thanks for planning the trip Alicia!  We had a blast!

Our cute little cabin

View from the cabin

Heading out on our first hike

We really lucked out with the weather!

These were the strangest silk worm nests

Justine, Alicia, Napali and I

Justine trying out Jeremy's "very necessary" slingshot purchase...

We met this little horned lizard on our hike - he was pretty docile!

Alicia, Max and Napali

Jeremy and I

Justine and Napali (Justine's boyfriend Andrew couldn't make it up to Greer until the next day)

Very sleepy Napali!

Trying out some archery

Bullseye!!

Luckily for the deer, we were shooting in the opposite direction :)

Visiting the Children's Museum of Phoenix

This past weekend, we met up with our friends (Charlie & Rachel with their daughter Clara and Kyle & Leah with their daughter Peyton) to visit the Children's Museum of Phoenix.  The museum is more of an exploratorium and has lots to appeal to children from a year to about ten years.  All three little girls had a blast, though I'm sure it was a bit of a sensory overload!  We spent the most time in the area designed for children 3 and under, which is a little less crowded.  Sophia loved climbing up and down the stairs, as well as the little slide.  There is an area where children can do artwork (we didn't do any this time), a room full of "forts" complete with giant sheets, a little shop, a kitchen area and a giant noodle "forest" (a little too scary for Sophia).  Overall, it was a big hit and I'm sure we'll be back (not much else to do in the summer in Phoenix!)

Sophia trying out a lightbox puzzle 

Rachel, Clara and Sophia exploring the flowers

Clara, Peyton and Sophia

Sophia loved exploring!

Look closely!  That's Charlie :)

Some of the unique wall art

This was a big hit - you put little discs at the top and watch them drop to the bottom, kind of like Plinko on the Price is Right

Jeremy, Sophia and I

Rachel, Clara and Charlie

Leah, Peyton and Kyle

Exhausted!

The Pink Bathing Suit

For her first birthday, Sophia was given a new bathing suit from our friend Suzanne.  Last week, since my mum's pool finally got warm enough, it was time to try it out.  Sophia was absolutely fascinated with the fact that her new swimsuit had tulle, and she kept trying to figure it out.  The pool was also a bit hit, but she hasn't quite grasped the concept that the pool isn't a giant bathtub and she won't float if she walks off the steps.  Here's to the start of an Arizona summer and lots more opportunities to go swimming!

Trip to Flagstaff

Due to life being busy lately, I haven't had much free time to update our blog.  So, in the next week or so, there will likely be a flurry of posts, as I try to catch up a bit!

A few weeks ago, on a random Wednesday that I had the day off, Jeremy, Sophia and I took a little trip up to Flagstaff to visit my friend and vet school classmate Alicia.  The weather in Phoenix this time of year is getting appreciably hot (it was 109 today), but Flagstaff is quite a bit higher in elevation and much, much cooler.  Sophia was great on the drive up to Flagstaff and for most of the drive home - the joys of having a child who naps in moving vehicles :)  When we arrived, we met up with Alicia for a hike (along with our two dogs and her dog).  We plopped Sophia in her neat little hiking backpack and hiked for just about two hours, thoroughly enjoying the pine trees and 70 degree weather.  The dogs were also thrilled, as hiking (actually, all walking) in the valley is practically non-existant this time of year.  After our hike, we had a picnic.  Sophia was absolutely elated with the fact that we let her wander around a bit, picking up sticks, bits of dirt and pine needles.  After lunch, we drove into downtown Flagstaff for some gelato, then wandered around for a little while before we had to head back  down to Phoenix (and the heat).  We will back many times this summer, I'm sure!