Jonny's 1st Swimming Lessons

Jonny loves the water. Maybe a little too much for his own good. Thus, we felt it necessary to enroll him in swimming lessons so that next time he jumps into a body of water with reckless abandon, he may be able to stay afloat. We are still be fans of fences, floaties and adult supervision, we are just trying to cover all the bases.

His lessons took place at the Surprise Aquatic Center which boasts a lap pool, a diving pool, a play area, a kiddie area, a "vortex" pool and 2 slides all for the bargain basement price of 2 buck for adults and 1 for the kiddos.

Jonny quickly mastered the "noodle"...

and quickly won the heart of Miss Paris whom he constantly shower with compliments such as "you are pretty", "I like your suit", and "I love you". This flirty at 3! I fear for his teenage years.

And I'm sure it will surprise no one that he spent his fair share of time on the wall for being, shall we say, too enthusiastic. That's our Jonny!

HAPPY 35th BIRTHDAY!

Luke Air Force Base

For Jonathan's birthday dinner, he wanted to get fast food and drive to the AF base and watch the F-16's. We found a spot not far off the base where we could pull off the road and watch them take off and land.

It was a MUCH better view than from our apartment.

We even got to see some formations!

And lots of touch and go landings.

And Jonathan was pretty pleased with it. (He may even be convinced that I need a new zoom lens for my camera so that we can get some real detail!!)

the desert has creepy bugs

We had our first encounter with scorpions today. I found this delightful little creature under my towel this evening as I got out of the shower.I loudly requested that Jonathan come quickly and was teased for the next half hour by those who thought I over reacted. The kids saw this as an opportunity to have a pet, and mulled over names such as Billy Bob, Yog, "Jorj" (George for those of you who don't know kidspell) Washington II and Shane. Ellie neatly compiled the names onto a list which she presented me with while our curiously little Jonny couldn't keep his hands off of "Shane's" new home, which resulted in him dropping it, us panicking and ultimately deciding that a scorpion was not an appropriate pet for 3 little kids. Fortunately, the kids were not too attached and were just as by fascinated watching Shane swirl down toilet (because all drains head to the ocean of course) as they were watching him crawl around in his jar. So no trauma. Well, very little anyway. I was somewhat traumatized despite the fact the fact that I had a pet one as a kid. Finding one under your towel is never a welcome sight.

First Day of School

Dressed and ready. They have new clothes, but chose old favorites.

Ellie found her seat and reluctanly smiled for the camera.

Anna had no trouble settling in and wouldn't even look up as I said good bye. (I remained brave about her first day of Kindergarten and didn't even shed a tear... until the parking lot that is and no one was even there to witness it so it doesn't even count!)

So far, things are actually going better than I expected. Anna loves school! She may be having a little trouble following directions, but who didn't expect that? She'll figure it out pretty quickly. Ellie is still a little shy and nervous, but is making friends and learning her way around. I'm sure that in a couple of weeks they will be all settled in and doing wonderfully!

SUNSET

This is a view of the sunset behind the mountains from the back deck of the house we have an offer on.

Swimming: before, during, after

Goggles n' Noodles

beautiful pool

Take off my floaties? No way!

See those 2 black specs in the sky?

They are F16's. We live near an Air Force base and they fly over all the time. Even after 2 weeks, Jonthan still runs outside to see them almost every time they pass over. They are super loud, but totally awsome to watch!

THE POOL!

After a year and a half of planning, we finally made it to ARIZONA! We have settled in a teeny tiny apartment in Surprise, a little town NW of Phoenix. We are loving the sun, the heat, and especially THE POOL!

Jonny is a little to fearless for my taste.

Despite the 100+ degree heat, Anna and I still enjoy the hot tub.

Ellie is reluctant to pose for me...

but is more than willing to take the plunge. Over and over and over again.