The Children's Museum Adventure

When I was little and living in Florida, my mother would take us to the local children's museum on a regular basis. I remember how much fun I had, and I can still remember the exhibits to this day. So, even though Kate is only 17 months old, I've been wanting to take her to the Phoenix Children's Museum. I looked on their website and saw that on the first friday of every month the museum is open to the public for FREE. Score! So last night we went.

Now I'm going to say this: It was awesome, but NOT on free friday! It was so incredibly packed that it sucked all the fun out of it.  There were so many people that it just made it stressful! So if you're planning a trip, definitely pay to go during regular hours and don't be a cheapo like me. We could barely navigate around the rooms, it was hard to take pictures, and it smelled of bodies and stinky feet. The next time I go, I will definitely go during a school day during normal hours, so Kate can actually enjoy the museum and have time to play with everything she wants. So, with all that said, I think the kids still had a great time.

The first room we went in was the 3 and under room. This was the most fun room of the night (it was the least crowded). There was stuff to climb on and through, slides, and play houses.

The next room was a play grocery store.  I was sad we couldn't get one of the cute child sized carts to play with, but Kate was okay since she quickly found the most entertaining part of the grocery store.  The beans.

We moved on and explored the museum...

until we came upon the sand table.  Kate loves anything to do with dirt and rocks so this was her favorite!  Until she decided to taste the sand, then she decided she didn't like it so much.

Our last stop was the crazy climbing thing/jungle gym/maze/death trap.  I don't know why we thought it would be a good idea for 4 adults and 3 small children to attempt this but we did.  Well, it was quite an experience!  The adults could barely fit through the little crawl spaces, we kept climbing upwards but there were only dead ends, and Kate and Jaylee did not find it fun at all.  Plus, it was so crowded in there! 

Well, we survived and made it out with all our children.  And after only an hour and a half in the children's museum we were more than ready to leave!  So we packed up and headed home.  It was a fun night (sorta) and we'll have to visit again at a less crazy time.

The woes of a hairdressing momma...

Being a hairstylist by trade, I have been waiting patiently for the day when Kate would have some hair I could play with. Well, that day isn't completely here, but I did get a little antsy lately.

Episode One:

I busted out my curling iron. I know I'm crazy! Kate actually thought it was very fun, and laughed when she saw her hair.  It only lasted about 30 seconds, but it was cute!

Episode two:

I cut her hair. Kate is definitely a victim of the baby mullet, so I evened it out a bit by trimming the back. She still has no hair in front, but at least it looks a little better!  I wish I had gotten a picture of her getting her hair cut, but since I'm the hairstylist and the photographer, it was just humanly impossible.  So you'll just have to imagine Kate sitting on my bathroom counter top with a yellow cutting cape on and playing with momma's makeup to keep her entertained.  She was very good and sat still the entire time!  And if you can't tell...

She's really excited about it.

Kate and EmmaLyn

Dress up

Kate loves to dress up! Every time (never fails) Dustin or I leave an item of clothing lying around, Kate puts it on! She thinks it's so funny...and I have to agree!

Peek-a-BOO!

Babytime

On Monday Kate and I took a trip with my friend Karyne and this little guy:

to the Queen Creek library for an activity for babies we had heard about there. Overall Kate was a little too old for it. There was a lot of singing and holding still, and she just wanted to play! So when playtime finally rolled around, she went a crazy!


Whew! I'm tired Mom!

Next time I'll put her in the toddlers class!

Labor Day Weekend

Not only was last weekend Dustin's 29th birthday, it was also our niece, Emmalyn's baby blessing. We had so much fun this weekend hanging out with family and friends.

On Saturday, my sister-in-laws and I went to Snowflake's Sweet Corn Festival. This is the same festival that we had a booth in last year. Last year it was so rainy and miserable, that we had a horrible turnout. Well, we wish we would have done a booth this year! There were so many people, and the weather was beautiful. I found Kate this adorable little backpack, and my mother in law bought the girls these squeaky shoes. Yes, these shoes have squeakers in them and Kate thinks they are hilarious!

We went to lunch at Eva's. Our family has grown so big they put us in our own room. It was perfect. The kids could run around and have fun, and I could enjoy possibly the best chicken burrito I've ever had in peace.

That night we celebrated Dustin's birthday! We ordered pizza from Papa Johns, and his mom made him Better than Sex cake. I've also heard this cake called "Ooey Gooey Cake" and I referred to it as "Abstinence Cake" in college. It's basically chocolate cake, with caramel and sweetend condensed milk poured over, and whipped cream and toffee bits on top. I'm sure you've all had it before. It's heavenly.

For his birthday I got Dustin a Super Mario Yahtzee game, an expansion pack to our favorite game Killer Bunnies, a 30th anniversary Rubiks cube (not pictured because Jaron stole it) and I pre-ordered him NBA Jam for Wii. He also received a Simpson's shirt from Sherice, some nice clothes from his mother, and his dad got him a new golf club. It was a great birthday for him, and we're all looking forward to the big 30 in Hawaii!!! Hopefully.

I also couldn't resist busting out my camera to take some pictures of Kate. She was in love with Grandma's piano and I couldn't get her out of that room!

Kate and Maddock are so funny together. These two are going to be so mischievious!

I also tried to take some cute ones of her outside, I only ended up with two, becuase she was just not in the mood to take pictures!

The next morning was Emmalyn's baby blessing. Sherice and my mother-in-law really worked hard to make sure everything was perfect-- and it was! The food was absolutley delicious, and everything looked cute, especially baby Emma.

Shortly after the baby blessing pictures were taken, my camera battery completely died! I'm just so glad I got pictures of Dustin and his Grandma Watson first. I don't have any pictures of the rest of the weekend, but this is what we did in a nutshell. Later that night after we had eaten dinner and all the guests were gone, we played a hilarious game of catchphrase, and busted out Dustin's new Yahtzee game. On Monday Dustin went golfing, and I got to spend some time with my family! My siblings took me to Ray's for wings and the biggest hot dog I had ever seen, and I colored my sister's hair. After that we got all packed up, and we headed home. It was such a fun weekend, I only wish it was longer! I am not wanting to clean my house today...

Today

...I woke up
...got Kate out of her crib
...curled my hair AND put on make up
...made breakfast
...baby sat
...went to lunch with a good friend
...put Kate down for a nap
...learned stuff about photography
...thought about tonight's Project Runway episode
...read some of my lighting book
...checked People.com for the latest gossip
...stalked people on facebook
...cleaned my kitchen

...the most exciting thing I did today? I taught Kate to say "CHEESE!"