I admit it...

...My name is Collette, and I am a TV-aholic!! :-)

***

And apparently, my children are too!

{Tucson Children's Museum}

We went to the Tucson Children's Museum today. I knew, from hearing from other people, that it wasn't very big so I'm glad I was prepared...because it was NOTHING like the Indianapolis Children's Museum, the only other one we've been to. The Indy one is A-MAZ-ING! Seriously, it's huge and even though we spent about 4 hours there, didn't even make it through 1/2 of it. Well, today, we were there for not even 2 hours and saw every square foot of it. Despite that though, we had a fun time with friends...until a meltdown resulted in having to leave early!

Sorry it's blurry...but Payton LOVED the firetruck! She screamed when I took her down!

And both girls loved the police motorcycle too!

Alexa enjoyed the art section as well. There was definitely more to see than the above...but apparently I didn't take anymore pictures after this! A fun day...but not sure if we'll go back!

Playgroup, Again!

Okay, it was so funny today...most of the morning after playgroup arrived at our house, several of the girls (mine included) kept asking to watch a show or watch a movie. But I kept telling them no, that they needed to just play. Well, finally, about 1/2 an hour before playgroup was over, I gave in and said "okay"...oh my, you should have seen how quickly 6 little girls bounded onto the couch and ended up like this! Seriously, less time than it took to blink! They were so excited...so we watched a show for about 5 minutes before they bounded off and did something else! Funny girls!

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'...

Happy Labor Day!! As you can tell, we celebrate in style!! We decided to head to the pool this morning and Alexa thought Payton definitely needed to try on some new shoes (when we moved into our house, our realtor gave us a huge box of clothes and shoes for Payton as she has a little girl exactly one year older than Payton). And so Alexa pulled out these cute brown boots...well, Payton LOVED them! She started struttin' as soon as they were on. And then, of course, Alexa had to be the same! LOVE these girls! What would I ever do without them???

:Updates:

So....I know some of you may be shocked and amazed, but I FINALLY updated my blog. It's only been a month and a half or so! No excuses really...just seriously lack of motivation, together with the fact that I'm almost never on the computer for longer than a couple minutes here and there, and you've got NO updates from me!! But here we are, totally updated...for now. I'll try and do better from here on out!! :-)

It's that time of year again...

...the time when I lose my husband to the world of College Football, and the NFL, and then College Basketball and the NBA....oh can it be spring again???!!!

****

Seriously though, I'm really happy for Kevin that we're back in Tucson. To say he LOVES the Arizona Wildcats is a HUGE understatement. He lives and breathes Arizona sports. And he's always been so supportive of my girls' nights out, etc....that I really am happy that he gets to participate in the sports he loves so dearly. Being out East, the games were rarely televised and if they were, they didn't start until 10pm or later. Eastern Time Zone bites the big one!! But now he can actually go to the games (he already has seasons tickets for football) and revel in the Wildcat spirit! Also, he gets to share his love with Alexa who was sooooo excited to go to the "basketball" game with him. Try as he might, he couldn't convince her that it was actually a FOOTBALL game they were going to!! (This was at the Red/Blue Scrimmage the football team had today..too bad it got canceled due to lightning).

It will surely break his heart one day if our kids decide to go to school anywhere but at the

U of A!!

GOOOOOOOOOO Wildcats!!

...:::Play Group:::...

Instead of doing preschool this Fall, we got a playgroup organized for Alexa and 5 other little girls in our ward. It works out perfect since we all live within minutes of each other AND the girls are so close in age - I think their birthdays range from October to March. And even better...I only host once every six weeks so the other 5 Tuesday mornings, I get time with just me and Payton. I know I only have 2 kids but it's amazing what a difference having one less child for a couple hours really makes! So thank you to the other moms who will have my Alexa in their homes. We love your little girls and Alexa is so excited to have so many friends her age!

****

Here are the sweet little ladies:

(left to right: Ally M., Ashlyn A., Becca B., Ashlyn C., Evie C. and Alexa)

As you can see...they had a lot of fun! We're already looking forward to next week!!

The Desert Museum

We took advantage of another overcast day to head to the Desert Museum. It's a pretty cool place with lots to see and do!

***

The girls LOVED looking at all the insects and reptiles.

(They definitely didn't get that from me!)

We saw coyote, javalina, deer, bears and mountain lions...to name a few!

I HAD to put this picture in because it made me chuckle...I fear Alexa gets a lot of these "looks" these days!!!

My loves....aren't they all adorable??!!

{LOVE this girl}

The Tucson Zoo

We ventured to the Reid Park Zoo here in Tucson today. It's our 2nd time going since we moved back and the girls really love it. Especially Payton these days...she's discovered animals and loves LOVES all animals, so it's a lot of fun to see her joy. She makes a "ruff ruff" noise for every animal she sees and calls everything a "puppy". It's pretty cute.

***

Anyways, this is what we saw when we were walking into the zoo. Do you think Tucson is a BLUE state or a RED state???!!! :-)

Here's a closer shot of the sign! I think it's hilarious...there were about 12 of these spots next to the handicap parking spaces. RIDICULOUS if you ask me!

Anyways, it was a fun day...a bit overcast, so not too terribly hot. And Kevin even got to come with us so it was a fun family outting.

Oh and I fed a giraffe!! Their tongues are HUGE! We had a free coupon for getting a membership to the zoo and Alexa was all pumped to feed them, but when it came down to actually doing it, she preferred to stand back and let mommy have the fun!!!

The girls loved the Polar Bear...he was swimming and putting on a show!

We're looking forward to many more zoo trips once the weather cools down a bit!

["Auntah Beeta's" Visit and July Recap]

So VERY last minute, my sister, Benita, decided to come for a visit. She called me on July 11th and flew down the next day. I decided to surprise Alexa since Benita was due to arrive right after naptime. Alexa was sooooo excited that "Auntah Beeta" was here to visit again! We had a lot of fun with her here. The girls absolutely adore her...and Payton didn't play shy at all this time, it was GREAT!

On the 17th, we had a party at our house with almost all of the residents that Kevin is doing his residency with. He only works every day with one of them, Sarah, but he sees the rest of the residents each Tuesday when they have their class together. We're super excited that there's another family who are also members of our church AND their kids are the same ages as ours...it was meant to be!! :-)

I've totally got some movie star babes on my hands! They LOVE their shades!

I love these next two pictures...it captures Payton to a "T"...she LOVES to torment her big sister!

Do you think my child likes to eat???

We do a lot of this around here...dancing and playing! I especially love it when the girls get along while playing together...their laughter when doing so is music to my ears!

They love to hang out on the couch together too.

Okay, so Benita and I only got a couple pictures of us together while she was here...I thought this one was cute of both of us but I know she's gonna kill me for putting it up! But hey...it's MY blog, I can do what I want. Plus, I think it's the cuter picture of me anyways!! :-)

We ventured to the mall play area one day with Auntah Beeta! The girls had a blast.

I just absolutely LOVE this picture! I sincerely hope and pray that my girls always love and adore each other and stay the best of friends!

Benita got to experience some monsoons while she was here. Yes, it DOES rain in the desert! And doesn't our grass look great??!!!

On July 24th, sadly...we had to take Aunta Beeta back to the airport. Her visit was over. But we had a great time while she was here. We even took advantage of a free babysitter and so Kevin and I got to go on a couple dates. It was wonderful!!

***

Bye-Bye Beeta...we miss you!

Before taking Benita to the airport, we stopped in at Kevin's sister, Becky's house for a visit. Alexa loved playing with her cousins that she doesn't get to see that often.

And last but not least....we can do PIGGIES now in Payton's hair.

YAY, oh happy day! Isn't she a doll baby???!!

****

She's also 15 months old now. We had her 15 month well-check yesterday and she got FOUR shots. What a little trooper she is! She's weighing in at 23 lbs and 31 inches - 50th percentile for both. We just love and adore this little lady.