Fun in Phoenix

This time we actually went to Phoenix because Bobby had to work there!  Who in the right mind would leave California for Phoenix in the summer??!!  Thankfully the weather wasn't too bad a couple of weeks ago.  The REALLY hot weather did show up after we left.  If I am not mistaken, it was up to 117F last Tuesday!

Another sprinkler leak in the backyard!  Bobby woke up in the morning and said almost the entire backyard was flooded.  We have had so many leaks this year!!! :-(

I dug up the leak and it was actually caused by a tree root.  Woah... that is impressive!!!

 And looks like this cactus is trying to "escape" to the other side of the fence??!

Okay,... back to the fun stuff instead.  Pool time at the club!  These boys are definitely spoiled:

Ice-cream break!

I had to take a photo of this... 100F at 10pm!!! Sheeesh...!!!

Driving out and there is a corn field that is almost dried out.  I wonder if it's because of the lack of water or according to Bob, the crop is intended for feed instead??? Seems like a waste of good corn!

While Bobby is out at work, I take Graham and Charlie back to the I.D.E.A museum in downtown Mesa.  We were there during the last trip but couldn't use our discount (free entry) voucher.  Thankfully it worked this time.  We spent over 3 hours in this tiny little place!

There were very similar things to play with like at the Discovery Bay Museum in San Francisco:

Graham loves to build and invent!

This "Make your own Lego Movie" was actually quite fun!

I managed to get Graham to make his own movie too:

Here is Graham's video called "Chew Chew".  I thought that was a pretty clever title :-)

Graham and Charlie learned to play Checkers.  I think this is the perfect size for them :-)

I tried to draw... ;-P

We make little figurines:

What an exhausting day!!!

On the weekend, we are all out to play golf.  I really love it now when Graham and Charlie join Bobby and I for golf:

I would say Charlie is "Best Dressed" today.  Check out those socks - Pineapple with blue sunglasses!!!

And Graham made his first official Par on a Par 3 from the Ladies Tees.  Check out this follow-through.  LOVE IT!  His swing has really come around.  Somehow, he has figured out how to turn better (despite all those lessons I tried to give him).  He seems very technical... like his Mommy.  Ha ha!

The next day, it's "Kid's free-day" at the Diamondback Baseball game.  Woohooo...!!!

And the boys got a Bobblehead too, of Jake Lamb.  But Lamb wasn't even in the line-up that day. Hmmm....  Nonetheless, not like it bothers the boys too much.  We start with some hot dogs, then followed by massive ice-cream bowls, then pop-corn and nacho chips.  What's not to like about baseball games!

Graham and Charlie did get a little bored towards the end.  Thankfully I grabbed a couple of the programs and the boys were matching the players at bat with the roster:

What a fun day! Although the Diamondbacks did lose to the Rockies by 1 run.  I do love this baseball park as the roof is covered and it's nicely air-conditioned :-D

Game is over and there is a long line out.  So Graham and Charlie decided to climb over the seats to get a closer look at the field:

Graham with his new D-backs cap. Shiny!

After about 5-10 minutes, it is finally clear.  Time to go home!

We love being in Phoenix, although this time around - when we would get out of the car, I would hear Graham say "I'm tired" and Charlie would say "I'm hot".  Tough crowd!!!

Sleepy Charlie

I can't remember exactly what we were doing that weekend, but poor Charlie was so tired!  He feel asleep in the car so by the time we got up to the apartment, he plopped himself on the loveseat and fell right back to sleep!

And then, it was close to dinner time so we decided to wake him up.  Charlie woke up just enough to walk by and come sit with me, but then proceeded to fall asleep again.  Too funny!!!

People always say the kids grow up too fast. So I was definitely cherishing this little Charlie-and-Mommy moment!

More golf

Seems like it's been forever since my last post!  Graham and Charlie have completed their 2nd golf camp probably a couple of weeks ago now and have started on a new camp this week.  That has worked out quite well because my golf tournament is next week!  It's the Long Beach Women's Open.  Wish me luck!

Here are some photos from the last golf camp.  We are taking a drink break with fizzy flavored water.  Graham and Charlie always thinks that is such a treat!

Charlie is going down the line of coaches and giving high-5's on the last day of camp:

Charlie got a Silver medal this time during the putting competition!  Graham probably would have won Bronze but he 5-putted the last hole??!

After camp, I decided to take the boys out for a round of golf.  We are sporting the new push cart.  Yay!!!

Charlie got his hands on the camera again.  Action-cam!

It was such a sloooooow day starting out and we are already waiting on the 2nd tee-box with 2 other groups waiting as well.  Time for a we-fie!

More selfies:

The boys get creative with their wait time.  I think they were trying to stick their clubs up in the tree???

By the 9th tee-box, Graham definitely has the right idea:

Charlie is busy with my range finder.  I am glad the boys didn't break it!  Hopefully it won't run out of battery during my tournament next week!

It took over 3-hours to play 9 holes.  How is that possible!!!  I don't understand why these public golf courses allow fivesomes (5 in a group) to play.  That is just ridiculous!!!  Anyway... I had to vent.

On another day, I take the boys out to a small little Par 3 course.  It was small for sure!  All of us only carried 2 clubs each!  I had a wedge and my putter and Graham and Charlie each had their 7-iron and their putter.  And 2 golf balls for them in case they lost one!

Might have been worth to pay a little more to play elsewhere I think.  Although the boys did enjoy it!

Or perhaps they were just more excited to finish up and play at the playground right next door??!

Here is our first official score card!

Might have to go back there again next summer to see how much the boys have improved :-)

Virtual reality

Graham and Charlie are so into these virtual reality rides:

What's funny is they will play this game in the car - imagining they are in a virtual reality machine.  They will even close their eyes for effect.  It's so interesting to listen to what they are saying and experiencing :-)

Happy July 4th

We were invited by a neighbor of ours who used to live downstairs from us.  She has since moved out to the Air Force base not too far away in San Pedro.  I miss her being downstairs because it was so easy to ask for an egg or a cup of sugar when I ran of it during my baking sessions!

First, an apple pie.  Bobby was very patriotic :-)

The fireworks were off the San Pedro harbor.  It was spectacular!  Boys were going oooohhh and aaahhhhhh at almost every bang:

Graham and Charlie really enjoyed it as they were still talking about it the following day!

There was so much traffic leaving the base (25 min to get to the main gate which normally only took 2 min!) and there were cops at every intersection leaving San Pedro.
Thanks Linda for letting us grill at your place and for the perfect view for fireworks!

Recent happenings

Charlie went to a birthday party a couple of weeks ago and they had "Make your own tie-dyed shirt". What a great idea!  Charlie really loved it but looks like perhaps he could have used more dye on a white shirt:

Charlie is getting SO cheeky!

Toys R Us is closing (actually has closed now at this point) and we end up buying more toys than we need to as everything is at a discount!  Graham and Charlie are happy with these fighting robots whose heads pop off when the middle/chest piece gets struck by a punch.  Anything to keep these boys off their tablets!  At last for a little while:

Bobby finally meets the guy that I used to date back in my working days in Phoenix.  I am so glad they got along really well!  They are laughing here as both are trying to suck their tummies in. Ha!

Charlie works on some painting - loves his bat!  He copied it from a YouTube video. Not sure what that other thing left to the bat is...? Okay, just confirmed with Charlie... that thing to the left is a giant log that is falling on his giant bat.  Abstract for sure! And little person is him. Too cute!

I take the boys to help me get the car wash.  $6 automatic wash plus my "manual labor".  Not too shabby!!!

Oh, did I post this photo yet?  A branch decided to fall just as our car was driving by along the Pacific Coast Highway.  The crash scared Graham as it was on his side of the window.  And it made these terrible scratches!!! Booo hooo.... :-(

There's a heat advisory this past weekend.  It was 108F in LA itself and 100F on the top of the hill for us. So glad our apartment is down the hill along the coast.  Phew! Although no air conditioning is a tough one with the heat, especially trying to sleep at night!

So happy with these new bucket hats that we recently bought for the boys.  I saw them during our visit at the Bay Area Discovery Museum in San Francisco during Memorial Day weekend.  And of course, I had to ask the mom where she bought them:

Almost always the perfect view out here! :-)