Phoenix Zoo Lights / Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, we wanted to take Graham to the zoo during the day so he could see the animals.  But when we arrived at 3:54pm, we were told that the zoo was closing at 4pm and re-opening at 6pm for Zoo Lights.  So after a nice early dinner at a friend's restaurant, where Daddy devoured his olives:

We headed back to the zoo and discovered that it was a member-only Zoo Lights preview! Poor Graham! We didn't want to disappoint him twice so we asked one of the zoo members in line to purchase our tickets and he did.  How could he say no to a face like this!

Ha ha! So, ok... Graham didn't make that face but I had to fit that picture into the story somehow :-)
Meanwhile, back at the zoo - there was lights:

The carousal, but Graham did not want to ride in it because he said it was going too fast:

 More lights:

 A talking giraffe:

 A new toy for Graham (This one barely lasted a week!)

 And even more lights!

The lights at this part of the zoo is actually synchronized with music. Check it out!

Our camera ran out of battery, so that was all I could record.

For Thanksgiving this year, we decided to just order in the meal.  And look! A picture where everyone is awake and looking at the camera!

This Thanksgiving, Graham discovered cranberry sauce:

Anyone wants turkey with their cranberries?

After dinner, Graham helped Mommy bake some yummy pumpkin cheesecake pie:

 What a handy little helper!

What a great trip to Phoenix this was.  On our way home on the plane, I got to dress Charlie in his new onesie outfit. He's such a cutie pie without even trying! :-)

We weren't sure if Graham was actually going to take his nap as the plane took off right about his naptime. He did eventually get himself comfortable and slept for about half the flight time.

Then, he made sure he knew what to do during an emergency:

And then, he passed some time by taking a few pictures:

Or more like a 108 pictures! Thank goodness for digital cameras!  Both boys were so well behaved on the flight that some of the passengers sitting close by complimented on their good behavior.  Now as parents, that made Bobby and I very proud of our two boys! :-D

More time in Phoenix - Part 2

During our 3rd week in Phoenix, Mommy decided to tackle the yard.  The cat's claw keeps coming back and right before leaving the last time, we poured some root-kill on it and it's still not dead!  So I bought a new shovel and went at it.  Graham helped too:

... with his bulldozer, of course! He couldn't have been happier playing in the dirt and gravel.

(and yes, those are Hello Kitty pajama pants :-)
That weekend, we went to our first rodeo.

We made sure Charlie was able to catch some of the action as well:

But their attention span only lasted so long and we ended up at the nearby play farm. Yes, daddy too!

Mommy wasn't so good at conking the crow. Graham, on the other hand, had pretty good form!

The baby sling was probably in the way :-)
During the weekend, we also decided to head back to Papago Park.  We were trying to find this same rock that Graham played peek-a-boo with the last time we were there.  But first, some pics of Charlie:

 Close-up!

 Nice sunny day!

Daddy and Graham further up on the rocks:

We didn't see the "rock" on our way up so we decided to head down the trail until we saw this rock.  Graham did not want to participate in the peek-a-boo and decided to sulk next to the rock instead:

If looks could kill...!

 All better!

 Graham got quite some "air" going down the trail:

 I think we finally did find the rock!  Peek-a...

 BOO!

It's never that easy anymore to take a family picture:

 Or to have everyone awake:

 ... and looking at the camera!

Oh well, at least everyone was happy, especially when it came to feeding the ducks again :-)

More time in Phoenix - Part 1

We spent most of November in Phoenix.  The weather was so nice there - it was really difficult to come back to Tulsa!  We drove from Tulsa to Phoenix and looks like Graham is starting to be quite a road warrior:

And Charlie was happy as long as he had his binky close by:

The minute we arrived after our 2-day journey, Graham headed straight for the backyard to play with his construction trucks!

 While Charlie decided to just lounge around on the couch:

While in Phoenix, Graham started a new routine of eating his breakfast at the kitchen counter while standing on his step-stool:

There was almost something going on every weekend while we were in Phoenix (or Chandler to be exact).  During an art festival, we found a park nearby with an excavator!  Graham was waiting patiently to get his turn. Unfortunately, it was rather heavy but Graham enjoyed being on it anyhow:

 The boys even had a chance to get on the see-saw together:

I'm not sure if Charlie enjoyed it too much:

And as usual, we have to go feed the ducks. It's so cute to hear Graham say... "Here ducky, ducky, ducky!"

Meanwhile, back at home, I tried to get more pictures of the boys together.  This one almost looks as if Graham is saying "I didn't do it!"

Ahhh... a little bit better :-)

This one was taken by Troon Golf Club - at the Four Seasons Hotel. Bobby was there to give a presentation and Mommy and the boys had a chance to roam around the property.  Thankfully, Graham was very good about not going off course into the desert.

Arizona Women's Open

I decided to play in the Arizona Women's Open, which was held at the Foothills Golf Club in Phoenix last week.  It was my first golf tournament back since giving birth to Charlie.  Thankfully, we were able to use carts although I did walk on the first day, using my new fancy push cart.  But phew... what a work-out!

For the 3-day event, I shot 75, 73, and 74 and finished tied for 33rd out of 70-some players.  Not too shabby I guess, for not really practicing all that much.  I did start out my Day 1 with a 4-putt double bogey on the first hole. I putt, I miss... I putt, I miss...  Thankfully I was able to keep the rest of the day under control :-)

Since Bobby had to travel back to Tulsa during my tournament week (otherwise, I would have put him to work on the bag!), the two boys had a babysitter.  Thankfully Graham enjoyed spending time with the babysitter because it was 3 long days for her!  He even continued to play with some of the games they had drawn out together when I got home.

Charlie is 3 months old

Charlie is getting to be quite my chunk of love!  He turned 3 months old end of last month (yes... I'm a little bit behind with my blogging).  He's been smiling and now laughing more, which is so cute to see.
This past month, we introduced Charlie to the jumpy-jump. Not quite touching the floor yet!

 Here he is on the Bumbo chair.  Still needs some practice on it:

 Can't forget to get on the little tractor! :-)

In the meantime, brother Graham still enjoys sitting on Charlie's bouncy chair.  As long as he doesn't break it!

Trip to another pumpkin patch

Back in Tulsa, we decided to visit the same pumpkin patch that we had gone to last year.  Graham wore the same pumpkin outfit that I had made for him.

When we arrived, we had to wake everyone up!

And then, we were off!

 Graham headed straight for the playhouses, just like he did last year.

He just loves to play in these houses:

 And he's off!

My hopes of taking some nice family pictures basically just faded away. So instead, I decided to take some pictures of Charlie:

Oops!

 That's better :-)

 Moving on to the haystacks:

 Almost looks like Charlie is growling at me. Ha ha!

We were trying so hard to get Graham to sit/stand by the pumpkins so we can get a nice picture, but nope... moving on to the next thing!



 Meanwhile, Charlie has fallen asleep... :-D