Random pics at the club

Here are some photos taken at the club when we were there for dinner one night.  Yes, chicken fingers and fries - just can't seem to get away from it!  Although Charlie only like the fries. Can't believe that this kid used to eat everything I put in front of him!

And look!  A hummingbird!  There was a water fountain right next to our table and the hummingbird actually landed right on the fountain to take a drink.  What a neat sight!

And yes, the hot air balloons.  That is actually quite a regular sighting out here in the east Valley.  It provided some entertainment/distraction while Bob and I tried to quickly chow down our food before one (or both) of the boys started to fuss.

When we were done, the boys ventured down towards the putting and chipping area.  They loved sniffing and touching the flowers:

And dancing around the lawn area:

And Graham found a golf ball so they were busy rolling it around the chipping green and putting it in the golf holes.

Obviously it got dark so it was time to go home.  Looks like the boys are comfy here at the club too!

Splash pad fun!

We had visited this splash pad quite a few times before but was never prepared for it.  This time we actually had the boys dressed for the occasion and brought their little bath buckets along!

The boys really do enjoy the water, although Graham is a little bit tentative.  He did enjoy putting the little bucket over the water spout:

... and just waiting for the water spout to turn it over.

But most of all, Graham enjoyed being on the other side of the splash pad - doing his own little thing... just scoop and pour, scoop and pour.

Charlie, on the other hand did not mind the water one bit:

This video probably sums it all up. He could have been there at the splash pad ALL DAY!

Moving week in Phoenix

It was Spring break for the boys last week so we decided it was a good time to head out to Phoenix. We had recently purchased a new place in Gilbert during our last visit there and fell in love with a house by a golf course. But before moving in, there's always the moving out part - which meant disassembling a few of these IKEA furniture!
The day-bed:

Charlie's crib - The boys helped out, of course:

And of course, coincidentally Bobby had to go back to Tulsa in the middle of the week for work so it was just me and the boys with some of the move.  Thank goodness for the minivan!

Ahhh... moving can be SO tiring!

But at least now, Graham finally has his own room and his brand new bed!  But of course, more IKEA furniture means more fixin':

Almost done...

Tada!  And what's best is Graham was able to sleep in his own bed in this new home from Day 1 onwards.

Happy Graham :-)

Charlie, on the other hand, now has to share his room with the guest bed. Thankfully he was able to sleep as well from Day 1 onwards as well despite the mess!

The closet door actually does close now after some cleaning and organizing.

The boys are definitely loving the new place, especially their new play area!

And it served as a good temporary eating area for the boys too.  I love it when they share:

As you can see, there is no space right now in this kitchen despite this nice big kitchen island!

Charlie almost always wants to be close to Mommy so most of the time he ends up having snacks in the kitchen on the stool:

Or... he'll do the "chinese" thing and just squat :-)

Moving day came and went and it didn't take long for the boys to mess up the living room again.  Here's where the couch cushions normally end up at the old/Chandler house:

And now, after - in the new Gilbert house.  The boys loved piling up the cushions and climbing up to those shutters!

And this is why we bought this house - there are these huge doors that open up to the outdoor area.
Love the fresh air that comes in (despite all the sneezing and nose-blowing we had to do)!

And here are the boys' play area in the back/side of the house - all to themselves!

And yes, can't escape the cacti out here in the desert but at least it's accompanied by the nice mountain view:

By the way, now that we are by the golf course, I could not resist but to buy this sign :-)

Speaking of husband... his first priority was to get the TV working:

Mommy's priority on the other hand was to get the dryer working. 3-prong vs. 4-prong plug... thankfully it was a quick and easy fix!

I'm glad at least one of the boys (i.e. Graham) was able to keep himself occupied:

And Charlie is now tall enough to reach the knob so he didn't have much of a problem opening up the pantry door. Looks like raiding for food will be just as easy at this house!

By the way, good news!  Our old place in Chandler is currently under contract!  Hope all will go well. Wish us luck!
And oh, almost forget... here's a video of the boys dancing at one of our favorite ice-cream stops in downtown Chandler. It's a much longer drive now to this location so hopefully it won't be our last time there!

Too funny! :-)

Sister's birthday weekend in MN

My sister celebrated a milestone birthday this past week.  She turned 40.  40!  I think I'm freaking out more so than her because in a couple more years, that's going to be me!
Well if there was any shock to the system, I was a shock to see how much snow there was in MN!

Yup... that's her mailbox.  And below you can see how far the snow has come up on a stop sign and to the right of that is yes, the little pole/stick to locate the fire hydrant.  Crazy!

And yes, it's true... -3F outside!!!

Nonetheless, we had a good time spending time together and of course, there was cake too!

Those are her little boys - Michael who turned 6 in January and Caden who just turned 3 in February.
And oh, another pic of more snow!

I was scheduled to come home on Sunday and this is what happened to my flight:

Yes, that is a loop... and yes, I did not make it home!  The plane ended up in Kansas City, Missouri and after refueling, the airline said that there was too much fuel!  And so instead of going to Tulsa, they were just going to send us back to Minneapolis if that's what we decided to do.
So... back to Minnesota it was!  I left for the airport at 1pm earlier that day and ended up back at the airport, waiting for my ride back to my sister's house at 9pm.  I had a feeling I wasn't going to get home to Tulsa that day but I didn't think it was going to be that bad.  I would have just stayed in Kansas City and driven home - it was only a 4-hour drive but there was another storm coming in that night.  I guess I'm glad I didn't opt for that because this was what I saw when I arrived back in MN.

Ok, back to -2F weather but take a closer look:

It's no wonder the plane couldn't land in Tulsa!  Were' right in between where it says Kansas and the 20, right where it's all blue.
Anyhow, when I got back to my sister's place, it was straight to the phone in an attempt to get rebooked for my flight home. Unfortunately there were no flights available coming back to Tulsa on Monday and it wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that I finally returned home.
Thankfully the trip on Tuesday was uneventful although I did come back to 3 sick boys! I'm guessing I was missed quite a bit:-)