Depressed

I have a confession. I think I am depressed right now. I know it sounds silly being that I just returned home from 3 1/2 weeks at the cabin, but it's the truth. Being home is the pitts! The phone calls are coming in, the fall schedules are being made, meetings are happening, and my kids are miserable and making me miserable. It is too hot to do anything outside. Therefore, we are all going nuts inside!! We were so spoiled at the cabin. The weather was perfect, there were no schedules or phone calls. We played and played and played together until we fell into our cozy beds each night. Now that we are home, it is like a Nintendo DS and Disney Channel festival. I hate it.

Today we headed to the AZ Museum for Youth in Downtown Mesa. I will admit, it has been a long time since I've taken any of my kids there. The whole place is different, but we liked it. We needed to get out of the house, if only for a few hours. We played at the museum and then went to Mattas and Yodipity for lunch/dessert. It was fun. Anyone else having the problem of loooong, dragging out afternoons? They are killing us around here. Everyone is grouchy and bored by time 2:00 rolls around. The problem, Miss B. is napping so we are stuck at home. I have some fun things planned for next week and want to make our last official week of summer a good one, but man, those afternoons are gonna be the death of me. What are all of you doing for your last week of summer vacation?

Miss B. is starting to really love coloring, especially with markers.

The theme at the museum was Peanuts And The Gang along with Baseball. I love that my kids still think it's fun to throw on a Snoopy head and have fun!

These chairs are awesome. They are like a personal cocoon.

One of the highlights of the museum was the giant pixel board. It was like a large version on a Light Bright. Brody spelled part of his name and then asked me to take his picture. It did look cool all lit up.

The kids playing with the large Light Bright board. Way fun!

Saguaro

Today we took the boys to Saguaro Lake for a day of fun. It has been a loooong time since we've been to the lake. As a child, I went to the lake often. My Dad would come home from work early and we would head up for an evening of skiing and dinner. I have many great memories of skiing and boating trips with my family. As young children, Jeremy and I would ski together across the lake for hours at a time. We were both so head strong that neither of us would let go or drop, no matter how exhausted we were. Our parents laugh to this day about our skiing marathons. Being that I have a summer birthday, many of my b-day parties were on the lake with my girlfriends, skiing and cliff jumping (remember Sara?). Today we headed up with H and Presley. The boys were in heaven. They are already asking to go back which sounds good to me.

The boys had so much fun on the tube and swimming. The water felt so good on a hot July day.

First up to ski was Brody. We have this water ski board thingy that looks like a bogey board but is split at the bottom like a pair of water skis. It was great for learning how to ski. Brody made it up on his 3rd try. He was all smiles for the next 30 minutes while he skied around the lake. He loved waving to us the whole time he was out there.

Swimming and jumping off the boat were the highlights for Brody today.

Next up, Case. He jumped up on the first try and skied all over the place. He loved trying to jump the water. He almost made it out of the wake but wiped out right on top of it.

Case was asking all sorts of questions about the boat and lake today. He loved being in the water and playing on the tube.

Finally, Ledger. Yes folks, my little Ledger who turned four years old exactly one month ago went water skiing today. The funny thing was, he would have nothing to do with the inner tube, but he was all about water skiing. He jumped up on the ski board after his second try and skied until he fell. The best part, he broke out into a loud, frightening scream when he fell and saw the boat so far away from him. I think he was scared to death when he realized he was in the water by himself. We quickly circled around and pulled him in. Boy was he proud of himself. So were we.

This cool dude wanted to swim all day in the lake water. He loooooved everything about today. I imagine that since he has a summer birthday also, we will be spending many summer b-day parties on the lake.

Presley did not like her life jacket today. She ended up wearing it most of the day but did not want to get wet. We didn't care, we were glad she came with us.

As you can see, H. and Jer are trying everything they can to get Presley to go on the tube. She was not having it! Maybe next time Presley!

Golf Tournament 2011

Today the three boys participated in their final golf tournament of the summer. Brody and Case did the 6 hole tournament while Ledger stuck to the one hole. All three boys did a super job and had a great time

Ledger chose the 1 hole tournament. He did a fantastic job. He shot a 25 which is great for a kiddo his age. He was thrilled with his performance and so was I!

Lookin' like a pro Ledger!

Ledger and his friend Trevin Brown.

You can see that Ledger did pretty darn good for the one hole kids.

Brody had a good day of golf today.

Look at how close this putt is. Brody was literally jumping on the green hoping it would drop in. No such luck. He ended up putting it in for a score of 71.

Case was in every sand trap today. Somehow he still had a great game of golf. Today he was a little more interested in his peanut butter/cheese crackers then the game. He ended up with a score of 67 on the 6 hole tournament. Awesome!

The boy who won the boys 6 hole tournament was in the same group as Brody and Case. His name was Brennan. He was 11 years old and adorable. He was so kind and encouraging to my boys. I was so grateful for his kindness.

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Fun At The Cabin Week 3

Another week at the cabin has come to an end. I wish we could just go on with life up here. There isn't a worry in the world these days. Just perfect, beautiful weather and lots of FUN! This week the boys participated in the golf and tennis clinics. They loved both and are now asking for tennis lessons when we get home. I bet they'll change their minds when they realize how hot it is in Mesa. Maybe when it cools down we can talk about it, but right now...NO! We spent most of the day at the rec hall, playing, swinging, zip lining. Brody has done every craft available up there while Case has played every sport the rec hall staff has organized. Ledger likes to play on the swings, slides and monkey bars while Berkley is sleeping comfortably back at the cabin with Sugar.

On Tuesday night, we headed up to the Club for a little Family BINGO. Although not one of us won, we had a good time trying. Ledger fell sound asleep between two chairs (shortly after this picture was taken), Miss B. snuggled closely on my lap, Case asked if we could leave (toward the end) and Brody downed Root Beer after Root Beer as he tried to win a game. I would say that was a good night!

One of the Cub Scout electives is to make a bean bag to give to a friend. Soooooo....Sugar helped both Brody and Case sew bean bags for themselves and then Brody made one for Miss B. and Ledger. They did a great job and looooved sewing on Sugar's fancy machine.

Thanks Sugar for helping Brody learn to sew. Now he wants to make bean bags for all his friends.

On Wednesday it poured rain all afternoon. We were at the rec hall playing and it was really coming down. The thunder was so loud and the lightening was flashing all over the dark sky. It was awesome! Calie Parker had asked if I wanted to take the kids to a movie with her so we headed over the the White Mountain Cinemas to see Zoo Keeper. The movie was not super great. I didn't like a lot of the language and innuendos. Some of the scenes were not appropriate for my boys. It could have been so much better considering all the animals that were in it. The boys did love hanging with their cousin Madden who is up here for the golf clinic also.

Case thinks tennis is the best sport ever now. He is asking for lessons when we get home. He is really pretty good at it!

Ledger is happy doing the most simple things. His friend Trevin Brown is here doing the golf clinic and the two of them are just happy hanging out.

These boys are getting so good at golf. They love going to the clinic each day and then eating on the porch for lunch.

One thing that has been fun is that we have been spending more time reading chapter books each night. I have to admit that when I am home, come bed time...I AM DONE!! After running kids all day, eating dinner on the run, and doing homework in the car, I am ready for it to be over. Often times we don't get to just sit and read together. Each night I have been reading from a chapter book to the boys before they go to sleep. We have read, "Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing" and "How To Eat Fried Worms." Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing was good, but How to Eat Fried Worms, not so much. I am really actually surprised it is on the third grade list. It has bad words and words that I have never seen or heard of (my Mom and I were looking up definitions each night on her IPad Dictionary), The way it is written is difficult to read and understand. If you don't believe me, have you ever seen or heard these words? Cistern, troglodycrosis, apoplectically, deracinate. I especially wasn't too found of the part that talked about enormous pigeon-breasted women or when two of the boys got in a fight and called each other "bastard." Have any of you read, "How To Eat Fried Worms?" What was your opinion?

Brody loves doing salt dough creations at the rec hall.

One of Case's favorite activities is dodge ball. There are so many kids up at the rec hall that it makes for a fun game.

The rec hall has a whole critter area that houses frogs, turtles, mice, rats, guinea pigs, snakes, fish and rabbit. Ledger loved playing with the animals and watching them play.

Miss B. would swing all day if I let her. She is so happy here!

Watch out! It's a shark!

What did you do this week?

It's amazing how many activities you can do outside when the weather is so nice!

Brody the tennis player.

This morning my boys started another golf clinic at White Mountain Country Club. They love doing this and learn so much. This afternoon, we decided to try a new sport...TENNIS!! What the heck right? After we finished golfing, we ate lunch and ran up to Big 5 for tennis rackets. The tennis instructor wouldn't let Ledger play so just Brody and Case took the lessons. They LOOOOOVED it! Seriously though, how could you not love every sport when you're in the mountains? It is overcast and chilly all day long. It is absolutely perfect!

Case the tennis player.

Nice form Case!

Horseback Riding In The Pines

Today we took the boys horseback riding in the Pines. I am ashamed to admit that my boys have never been on a horse. I grew up on horses. My Dad took us riding all the time as kids. We would go on Posse rides for the weekend and have so much fun. Well, thanks to Cub Scouts, we decided to PAY (uggg) for the boys to go on a horseback ride today. Case and Ledger were too young to ride an actual horse, so they got a little ride on a pony. They were thrilled. Brody on the other hand got an hour long trail ride through the pine trees.

These little ponies were so dang cute. My four year old Ledger was taller then most of them!

Brody did great mounting the horse all by himself.

Brody got all the directions on how to steer and control the horse before he left.

Here is Brody before he left on his trail ride. Jeremy went with him...just in case!

Brody rode all by himself for most of the trail ride.

Brody loved his first horse ride. He is already asking when he can go again. I hope it is soon.