Flagstaff - Sledding and North Pole Experience.

This album is of our 2 nights in Flagstaff before Christmas. We went sledding and also went to the North Pole! The album has a ton of videos because my camera was not working in the north pole:)

Hot Air Balloon festival

This was a fun free event.

Fall Festival & HALLOWEEN

Wow I'm behind on the blog so I'm back dating some of this and will keep the captions short and sweet.  Each year Liberty's preschool has a Fall Festival with games and a singing performance, etc.  She was dressed up as a blue ballerina.  We also went to Vertuccio farms with our neighbor friends The Gates. Henry was dressed a UA Wildcat but was sick on Halloween night so he didn't go trick or treating.

Air Show with Wyatts

We met up with the Wyatts in Sedona to go to the family day at the airport - air and car show!  It was so much fun and gorgeous up there as always.

Pickin' Peaches

We really like to pick peaches at the nearby Agritopia Farms rather than going all the way to Schnepfs Farm (the heat, the crowds, the travel)...so instead we had breakfast next door at The Coffee Shop and strolled over to get some peaches!  We might come back for Apples in a month or so...

Children's Museum of Phoenix

Nothing like an expiring Groupon to get your butt to the Children's Museum of Phoenix.  The last time we went Liberty was 18 months old I think - so it was definitely time to explore again!  My mom got to come along and it was a fun time!

Out of Africa Wild Animal Park

Fed the giraffe, saw the Tiger Splash show and visited lots of exotic animals up close and personal.  What a park!  Happy outing with Mom-mom too!

BIG GIRL BED, Peaches, Wyatts - Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend we went to pick apples and peaches at The Farm at Agritopia. This is right next door to our favorite - The Coffee Shop and it was 75 out! Glorious! We had a scone on the patio and Liberty went around to pet all the doggies at The Coffee Shop. After that, the Wyatt's came for a visit and we got a mattress for Liberty's new bed, build the bed, and played at the park. It was a great great visit on our last cool temp weekend. p.s. She slept through the night in her bed bed!!! Naptime the next day was rough since she kept messing with the window shutters and playing with her stuffed animals. Daddy worked on the windows (blackout and keeping closed) so hopefully today's nap goes better! It took her 1.5 hours to fall asleep last nap - but she never did get out of the bed at least:)

Fun Summer Weekend

BABY BUMP PICTURE! (12.5 weeks along). Liberty caring for a babydoll. Swimming in our pool. Pickin' Peaches at Schnepf Farms. We live a charmed life.

Zoo with Mommy and Daddy

Our ZOO membership runs out April 30th and we probably won't renew until fall 2013, so we've been trying to cram in as many trips to the Zoo as we can while the weather holds out. One particular Sunday was cool enough and we decided to go do everything we have never done before - like pet the Stingrays!, and ride the camel!, and ride the carousel (okay that one we do alllllll the time). It was a great time together.

Butterflies at Desert Botanical Gardens

A morning spent with 1000+ butterflies and friends. Not too shabby.

Feathered Friends Festival

We biked over to the Riparian Preserve for the Feathered Friends Event. There were lots of unique animals for Liberty to see: alpaca llama, parrots, anaconda, snakes, turtles, owl, falcon, armadillo, capybara (largest rodent), fennec fox, and some kangaroo-like animal I forgot the name of...

Liberty got to pet them all - with the exception of the owl, falcon and anaconda. We brought a picnic lunch and enjoyed the beautiful spring day together. She especially can't stop talking about getting to hold the baby tortoises.

Train Playdate and Random Pictures

We met up with my friend Chelsea and her kids Ella and Jack for a play-date at Desert Breeze Park and got unlimited passes for the Train Ride and Carousel. Oh happy day.

Also, there are some random pictures of Liberty after a nap and bonding with her "new dog toys" (she has earned 10 dogs for pooping on the potty and she insists we take them everywhere).

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated Valentine's Day all month long it felt like - so many crafts and so many sweets. But on Valentine's Day we went to the Museum of Youth's special event (can't believe it was all free!). They had face painting, parrots!, cookie decorating, a complimentary breakfast, valentine crafts, storytime, a helicopter in the parking lot and of course all the activities at the museum. We didn't even make it to half the events but Liberty did enjoy sitting very still to have her cheek painted (out of alllll the choices she picked a hummingbird which I thought was so cute). She also can't stop talking about the "purple parrot, sit arm" (that sat on her arm). We also had a lunch date with our Valentine, Cameron, at Pita Jungle. Liberty is very attached to the puppy dog stuffed animal Poppa and Jo got her and her "Puppy dog movie" aka LADY AND THE TRAMP that my mom & dad got her. I truly love this holiday - it's so nice to celebrate those you love.

From 2012_2_14 - Valentine's Day

Zoo with Grandma Jo and Grandpa Ted

For Christmas one of the gifts we gave the Wyatt grandparents was tickets to come down and do the ZOO! Liberty had a blast and keeps talking about the carousel ride and the camel's pooping. I was so happy to have the Wyatt's with us this particular weekend because it unexpectedly coincided with Cheetah Girl's surgery. Our cat had a blocked intestine (her fault for eating one of Liberty's bath foam toys) - and she had to have emergency surgery. It was really helpful to have the Wyatt's around so Cameron and I could take care of Cheetah and not drag Liberty to the Vet more than I already had!

Saguaro Lake Boat Cruise

One of our gifts to Gpa for Christmas was a boat cruise out on Saguaro Lake. And look who he brought as his guests? - us! Liberty was jazzed about the boat ride but also clapped when she thought it was over (only at the HALF WAY point) so 1.5 hours right at nap time wasn't the brightest idea...but we had a good time enjoying the Arizona sights, being on the water and hangin with my dad.

Zoolights

We promised Liberty we'd go to the zoo only to find out it closed at 4pm on the day we wanted to go at 3:30...so she accepted a trip to cosmo dog park instead. While we figured out the Zoo was closed we also discovered it was the last night for Zoolights (Jan 8) so we said what the heck, we are members, let's go. It was better than I remember it being and Liberty liked it (but this is coming from a kid who enjoys free dog parks).

First Movie - HAPPY FEET 2

We took Liberty to her first movie today! Disclaimer - I'm the one that is into penguins and actually wanted to see this movie. Liberty doesn't sit through movies or even a TV show - which is fine by us (healthier even). Anyway, she was excited to see singing and dancing penguins. This musical movie has been out for weeks and we went to the 9:30am showing Sunday morning. We were the only family in the theater besides 1 other couple with a baby. THANK GOD because Liberty wanted to get up and dance and sit on the stairs - which she did a lot. The previews were terribly long and we just stayed for 1 hour of the movie. Don't recommend the movie either - HAPPY FEET aint so happy. It should be called UNHAPPY FEET. We still had fun. There were Chipmunk figures in the lobby and a huge poster of Beauty and the Beast that caught Liberty's eye.

Musical Instrument Museum (MIM)

We headed up to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix and played a lot in their "experience center" room. We did a small portion of the actual museum which was so neat - unlike any other museum I've ever been to. The 2 hours we spent here flew by and we had to leave because it closed at 5pm.

Tip: Bank of America customers get in free the first weekend of each month ($15pp savings).

Lots of very short videos in this slideshow...I had to capture all the MUSIC!
If you aren't in the mood for multiple 30 second videos may I suggest this collage...

From Collages

Thanksgiving 2011

This was our first Thanksgiving celebrating with only one of our families...and in a new city. As our family grows and moves locations we are trying to adjust into an alternating holiday thing...which is a big CHANGE for us having been spoiled with both sets of parents in the same town for so long. So this year we had our Thanksgiving meal with the Wheelers in Fountain Hills. The morning of Thanksgiving we went to the Fountain Hills local parade (the only Thanksgiving Day parade in Arizona!) and then we hung out until the big meal at 2pm. Charlie and Liberty napped during the meal so the grownups could sip Asti in peace. We got to speak to Patrick via phone. All the Black Friday Deals went LIVE online on Thanksgiving day, so I shopped via the computer too (and yes I feel bonding with family and shopping can co-exist). Friday, I spent a birthday gift card at Ann Taylor Loft (thanks mom!) while Cam and Liberty did the San Tan playground area. Cameron and I met up with some brand new friends (and their 15 month old) from our neighborhood at the Motor Trend Auto Show at the PHX convention center. We aren't in the market for a new car just yet, but we're pretty sure my Pacifica will die within the next year or two. Saturday, I hosted a baby shower for my sister at my mom's house. Nineteen family & friends gathered to see 33 week pregnant Kelly and her baby girl. The guys went out boating on Saguaro lake. Later that evening my mom babysat Liberty so we could go to a game night with our cool next door neighbors! Sunday, Cameron did some brutal chores (drip irrigation ditch digging anyone?) and then we relaxed and set up our Christmas Tree after an interesting Mass at St. Tims (new translation of the Mass). Hopefully I'll look back at this post next year and think - 2011 was a year of changes...but change can be good.



My cute pregnant sista:

From Kelly's Shower