Arizona 2019 (in one post)

This post is quite photo heavy, but my goal is to capture our Arizona vacation all in one post. 

Back at Christmas, my mom suggested gifting our family a vacation out to visit her this winter. Since our kiddos don't exactly need more material items, we made a decision as a family that this would be the most perfect gift. 

So we picked a time to pull the kids from school for a few days and headed West to some sunny fun. 

We headed just West of Phoenix on our first full day so we could take in the Wildlife Zoo and Aquarium. There were tons of birds, some great exhibits and even some rides. 

Lincoln enjoyed the sting ray touch tank (obviously more than Sidney did...the smell was stuck in our clothes for the rest of the day!).

I loved seeing these giraffes up close and personal! Lincoln wasn't a fan of feeding them, but Sidney thought it was pretty cool to see their tongues hanging out waiting for some food :) Regan took the sideline and helped play photographer. 

Ride highlights included a Soaring Eagle zipline and this carousel, where even though the tiger didn't go up/down, it was obviously Lincoln's choice! His smile each time was heart-warming. He sure loved riding his tiger! 

Our first "hike" in Arizona wasn't much of a real hike, more like a walk in the city. It gave us a good feel for what hiking might look like (because we had a few good ones planned). 

But nonetheless, we ventured to Hole in the Rock in the Papago City park. 

While exploring more of the park, we headed over to the Governor's pyramid/tomb and took in the beauty of Arizona.
Stunning views! 

After spending a full day in/around Phoenix, we headed over to the Botanical Gardens for their electric show at night. I could've spent twice as long there as we did, but the cold got to us and the kiddos were getting tired. 

Man did we get to see some humongous cactus! 

And quite possibly one of the most gorgeous sunsets, complete with cactus. 

The next day we took up our longest hike, stopping to smell the roses along the way. 

Ok, so maybe they aren't really roses :) 

This hike was roughly 4 miles long, and took us several hours. I have a new appreciation for hiking. I always thought hiking was just walking....boy was I wrong! 

We had to constantly look down to ensure we weren't going to slip on a rock (which we all did several times), or fall off the edge and tumble to our death (that might be a bit dramatic). We were never in harms way, but we sure got a good workout. 

Around 200 yards from the end, mom had to call it quits. Side story, I told her to stay put (because we had no cell reception), and that we'd come right back after we made it to the top. 

Well, she didn't listen. 

And I was a basket case when we made it back to "the spot" where we had left her, only to find she was no where in sight! 

I swore she had tipped backwards and fallen into the ravine. Or slipped on a rock on the way down and hit her head, having to be saved by 911. 

Yea, I can get a little carried away sometimes. 

Not to fret, she walked back down with some nice ladies instead. 

MOTHER! 

But, before all of that. We made it to the Wave Cave. 

This totally awesome cave mid way up the mountain. 

I hear going first thing in the morning allows some amazing photos, but I think these will work too. 

We started where I was standing to take this picture, walked all the way up to that mountain to enter the cave. And then walked all the way back down again. 

The kiddos found some time in between all that sight seeing and hiking to take in the association pool. Despite the chillier winter temps, they keep those pools ultra warm! 

My uncle lives just a few blocks from mom so we stopped over one day, played ball in the street, changed a headlight and took a quick family photo. 

Another long hike was taking us to the Hieroglyphics. Lincoln was starting to feel a little under the weather by this point of the trip (caught a cold) and this hike was really hard for him. 

Several times, we would turn around and see this.
Him sitting down telling us he wasn't going to walk anymore! 

Once we arrived at the end of the trail, Lincoln and Ryan did a little bouldering. They climbed pretty far while the rest of us took in the beauty around us. 

Let's take a closer look at those two boys: 

The views just cannot be captured in a picture. But we tried! Some of the most fantastic natural backdrops that I have ever seen. 

We peppered in a lot of relaxing, lots of good food, a movie during a rainy morning and some quality family time during our trip. We even happened to miss out on a snowstorm back home which, coupled with a holiday, meant the kids only had to miss one day of school for a 6 day vacation!

Win win :) 

Thanks for a most wonderful vacation mom!

Ahhh! A teenager! Happy 13th Regan

Our sweet, emotional, adventurous, oldest child is now a TEENAGER!
And I can hardly believe my eyes. 

Oh that sweet face with a big pouty lip is now a teen. 

She still loves to try new things, generally one with little fear. 

Certainly not afraid of heights, or falling. 

In fact, she recently told me she wanted to try out for several softball clubs this fall. When I asked why those particular clubs, she confidently said because she wouldn't be following the masses. 

Oh and she is definitely giving us a run for our money.
She has one heck of an eye roll, an enormous temper (and we thought 4 year olds were challenging) and some not so kind words when she's really angry. 

I know this is a phase, and the teen years are tough. We love you to pieces Regan, and wish you a very Happy 13th Birthday! 

Perspective

We had a winter trip planned to visit Arizona and see Grandma Jan this month (bigger post in the near future). Sadly, Arizona has had a relatively chilly winter and I was disappointed that we weren't going to be seeing 80-degree weather. 

My family, on the other hand, kept telling me "no matter what, it is going to be warmer than here!"

And boy were they right! 

While we didn't get 80 degree weather, it was warm and beautiful and the sunshine on our faces felt ah-mazing! 

And as our return flight home was delayed due to another massive snowstorm (one that gave the kids their 5th snow day this year), I'm warmed by the perspective our family taught me during this winter getaway. 

Now we wait for spring....

Winter Show 2019

The annual winter show was this past weekend. But before we get into that, let's back up to the hours and hours of work that goes into this incredible show. 

Back in early December Regan committed to trying out for the Cast of the show, which meant doubling her time at the studio for the month of January in preparation. 

She had a great try-out and landed two roles in the Cast (one part in each show), she held an evil part and a good princess part and was over the moon with the opportunity. 

Each Saturday and Sunday, she spent 3-4 hours at the studio learning her roles. I had hours of coordinating our personal schedules to accommodate her dance, help volunteering at the studio with costumes and endless driving back and forth shuffling her around to formal practices and informal at friend's houses. 

In the last week before show weekend, Regan had 6 days straight of practice leading up to 2 nights of shows. Ouch. Couple that with other activities and school work, and we had a pretty stressful week. 

And then it was time for the show. 

Unfortunately, they lost their dress rehearsal night by having to add a third show due to ticket demands! Friday night ended up being show number one and I again volunteered as usher (secretly it's the best volunteer job around because once the show starts, I was able to watch from the back. Mom win!). 

Despite no dress rehearsal, they looked beautiful on stage. There were a few mishaps (more on that later) and a lot of tears backstage, but you wouldn't know it from the audience! 

 For the first (and third) show, Regan's Cast role was part of the Evil Army. When she found out she was in the Army after tryouts, she was so excited to wear this black one piece. Some kids love them, some hate them. Thankfully she was thrilled.

To get yourself inside this suit, one needs to be zipped up completely. And to get out, unzip. These girls also had a number of "quick changes" between songs to be sure they were back on stage and ready for the next song. Sadly, Regan's hair got stuck in the zipper and there was no getting her out. I was oblivious to this whole scene until hours later when a mom text me "Heads up they had to cut Regan's hair and she was crying...."

Wait, what!??! 

"her bun got caught in her costume and they couldn't get it out". 

My heart sunk to my stomach, not knowing how bad it would look. 

Following the show, as I waited for her to come out, the studio owner found me and let me know she wasn't prepared to hear over the headset that they were having to cut out Regan from the black suit. No one still had an update as to what it looked like. I feared the worst! 

There were lots of tears when I finally got to her, still not knowing how bad it was. Eventually after a shower and a good comb out, we realized that she has so much hair, no one would even notice. 

But they all went through the next shows without zipping their buns into the costume! 

Somehow she continued the remainder of the show, click here for a short glimpse of her jazz. 

Show two brought the princess role in cast and this beautiful girl shined on stage. 

In addition to the cast role, Regan had 5 other dances which were part of her regular weekly classes. This one was certainly one of my favorites, one of the ballet classes. 

Part of it might have been the gorgeous white leotard I may have paid too much for :) 

She picked that beauty out on her own (the studio provides costumes for this show, some of them require a leotard we can borrow or find on our own). This white leo is gorgeous, and she wore it to class the final week before the show. Only to get a tiny spot of blood on the side. In quickly washing it, I didn't realize I had also thrown in a newly purchased swimsuit in the washing machine at the same time. A maroon swimsuit. 

Her white (very expensive white) leotard was now pink. 

Double crap. 

Anyone close to me knows I don't do bleach very well (and I may have put holes in Sidney's white Vineyard Vines shirt once...). I was suupppeerrr careful and managed to get this leotard white again.
Dodged that bullet!

Her new glass-less face now that she's wearing contacts. I swear, she's all "growned" up, like she asked me so many times as a little girl :) 

Let me tell you, it was no easy feat picking her out on stage minus glasses this year. All those girls start to look alike! 

There was a host of kiddos on that stage for the final bow each show. 

And when her group from cast ran out, I got giddy hearing those fellow dancers squeal and cheer. Our girl was beaming with pride on stage. 

I loved this Pixie costume. A huge thanks to all my mom friends volunteering back stage who sent me photos throughout all of the shows :)  A short glimpse of one scene is here. 

The final show was back to the evil army costume (she's center in that photo below). 

We played it super safe and all of the army was instructed to leave the bun OUTSIDE of the costume so as to avoid anymore haircuts. HA! 

My camera had a hard time keeping up focus with the stage lights and speed sometimes. I think this photo, although blurry, is a fun depiction of all the movement. No wonder Lincoln loves the winter show! 

We love watching her shine on stage, doing her thing and showing off all her hard work. 

And I know darn well she adores all the socialization part of dance. She has deepened friendships and made new friendships, with kids young and old. 

And according to this younger friend's mom, Ava was just as excited and proud to have made a 'big-kid' friend in Regan. They clearly were having a good time together sharing inside jokes and giggles :) 

Oh goodness, these costumes might be the most hideous things anyone has ever seen! I had to include the photo in this post, if to only remember them years from now. 

The bow at the base of their head is made for a wreath, and is at least 10" in diameter! It's humongous and ridiculous! 

There was a cute cheering crowd that came one night to support Regan and her friends...this photo was taken while we were still crying over the haircut. Thankfully she had that amazing support and love to lift her up and not ruin her evening! 

Congratulations Regan on a job very well done. Your persistence to learn 9 different dances in a matter of a month amazes me. I love watching you dance on stage. Your skill has grown and grown over the last 7 years!
Nice job! 

Flashback to the first days of softball

We've come a long ways from the days of Regan's first softball experience.

Days where she stood in the field, quite apprehensive about the ball coming her direction.

Days of playing in the dirt, standing semi-prepared for the next ball with her hat in rally motion.

 

And let's not forget her early catching days. This picture cracks me up. She was TERRIFIED of the ball. Putting her glove over her face whenever the ball came close, nervous that it was going to come up between the helmet and chest protector.

And now our big girl stands proud behind the plate. Diving to make plays, knowing full well she could be injured by a cleat, a bat or a player. So proud of our ball loving almost teenager!

Learn to skate

Lincoln scored hockey skates and a hockey helmet for Christmas....and we're putting them to good use this week! 

Although we have a rink across the street, Ryan took him over one night last week and it smelled horribly of dog pee. Ewww. They came home and we swore off the rink at the park until it was less smelly and ready for use. 

This week I took Sidney and Lincoln to meet up with some friends at the indoor rink instead. Good thing too, because he spent much of his time flat on his back like this: 

He is figuring out this skating business, slowly but surely. Our first few attempts at skating this year were in rentals, figure skating rentals. A toe pick helps one catch their balance. I think he'll get the hang of it after a few more attemps. 

Love watching our kiddos tackle something new! 

Christmas time

Working in healthcare, we don't have many perks around the holidays. 

We work while everyone else gets to spend the day with loved ones. I heard friends talking about how they were spending Christmas eve and it made me sad to think I was heading into work.

But that's what we do in the mission to "Make Lives Work" at Courage Kenny. 

So I put on my smile and drove in bright and early. I managed to get a lot accomplished in just the first few hours of the day and had more than one "thank you so much for your help" from my patients and families. Thankfully I was able to sneak out a few hours early and in an effort to make up for lost time with the family on Christmas eve, I made a pit-stop for coffee frappes on my way home :)

Let's just say I was greeted with some really big THANK YOU's! from the girls.

The best I could do was get the three kids together for a photo on Christmas eve. Regan refused to change into something other than comfy clothes, Sidney put on her Santa Vineyard Vines shirt and claimed to be festive, and Lincoln wouldn't let go of the reindeer that accompanied Ellie since it was the only day of the season he could touch her. 

I'll take what I can get. 

Yes, the reindeer and Ellie even made the family picture. 

Whatever. We're all looking at the camera and we're all smiling. It's a win in my book!

I didn't even pull out my camera on Christmas eve. I guess that means we enjoyed some family time instead. We ate, shared gifts with Ryan's parents and Lincoln opened this gigantic tiger that roars and had me take his photo in action. Isn't he scary!?

Before they climbed into bed for the night, I insisted on my traditional photo of the kids in front of the tree. It's so magical to see Christmas through the eyes of a child. Lincoln is so delighted in the excitement and wonder. And I love to listen to him as we drove through the neighborhood, telling  me how beautiful each house was with all of the lights. 

Bright and early Christmas morning we woke up to presents from Santa. He ate our cookies, the reindeer ate our carrots, and Ellie disappeared through the frosted glass on the sliding door. Magical and glee was all around us. 

Lincoln scored big with hockey skates and a helmet, which he proceeded to wear while opening the remainder of his gifts :) 

Sidney had begged for an Alexa from Santa, and was disappointed in that she didn't think it would be gifted. Her face was priceless upon opening! 

We shared the rest of the day with Hope and my mom with a sprinkle of facetime with Ben out east. Some of us wore ugly sweaters, but mom insists her Bon Jovi sweater was most certainly not ugly!

And looking at this photo below, I'm pretty sure Sidney is holding one of Papa Leo's favorite holiday toy....the Santa that toots! 

Thanks for the memories, it was a wonderful holiday season