Happies and Crappies

It's Summer. It doesn't get much Happier than that! 

Happies

* We FINALLY SOLD OUR NEW MEXICO HOUSE!! It doesn't get much happier than that! We closed on it on Thursday. YAHOOOOO!!! 

* The kids & I had a fun playdate at Breakers water park with Ami, Mary & Jen. I was very nervous about this since Reese was going and she has no fear of the water and Jaxon has a tremendous amount of fear. I wasn't sure how I was going to manage these two but, Jaxon gained some phenomenal self-confidence and didn't need me by his side. And just like I thought, Reesey was fearless. She was sliding down the kiddie slides like a champ. No kidding. Arms up, smile on her face and down she'd go! If she fell, head first, in the water she would simply pull herself up, again with a smile on her face.  It was surprisingly stress-free. Pics to come once Ami sends them to me... no pressure Ami :) 

An attempt at a group shot

Playing with Autumn in the wave pool

* I started CrossFit this week. I'm super excited to get back in the gym and hopefully shed the couple lbs I gained in the last month I didn't work out. I'm even more excited that I can bring the kids. 

* Ami & Mary are moving out of their classrooms into rooms next to me and we finally moved the last load on Wednesday! Yippee! So now, to help Ami organize her room, which will hopefully be more fun than actual moving. 

* During Operation Move-Two-Classrooms, the kids (Jaxon, the triplets & Brinley) played really well together.  Minus Reese. She isn't allowed at school yet. :)  Now that the 'big' kids are 4 & 5 it is so nice to let them play in a classroom while we are productive.

* Courtney and her husband, Matt, came over for dinner Friday night. It was a nice evening filled with baking, sparklers and drinks. One that will have to be repeated before school starts again.

* Reese has making progress in speech. While she isn't saying more words, she is 'talking' more during her speech sessions. She even said a new sound yesterday, /ga/. Her therapists seem very happy with her progress, albeit slow, at least for me. The first part of her session includes the therapist showing Reese 5-7 picture cards. Each card has a little sentence and Reese is supposed to fill in the missing word. This week she named 3 people in 3 pictures... 'Lala', 'Baba', and 'Dada'.  She has yet to name 'Mama' in a picture, but whatever.

* I also got a girls night out with some new friends. Yay for me! I have not been out out without the kids in what seems like forever. I think the last time I went out was with Brian when we had our mini-getaway in March. And a girls night? Who even knows?!

We went to a cool art bar called Creative Juice. It was so fun! It is something I definitely want to do again! 

The final masterpiece :)
"A Tucson Starry Night"

* We ended the weekend with an afternoon swim. Holy moly am I proud of my kiddos! Jax decided floaties would be ok to wear and he was a 'swimming' fool! It's only 2 weeks into summer and he has made some huge swimming gains. Although, he says he will stay in floaties until he's 7, then he'll be brave enough to swim alone. 

Don't worry after 2 times going down with her head going back, we I held her hands until she hit the water. She could not get out of the water fast enough and back up the slide. The child is amazing! 

Crappies

Not a one! :)

What? No Wings?

Brian has been spending a lot of time in Albuquerque for work lately and we haven't had a chance to see much of him. The first week of summer vacation Brian decided to have the 3 of us join him in the Duke City so we could spend some family time together, when he wasn't working. 

This trip meant flying. With the kids. By myself. No big deal if it were just Jaxon, but Reese was involved. And we all know Reese isn't exactly as well behaved as Jaxon is. Needless to say I was a bit nervous.  By nerves led to being ultra prepared.

Jaxon was SUPER excited!! He couldn't wait to be on a plane and he couldn't wait to see his ABQ friends. All of this went in my favor. He was so helpful and cooperative. He made me so proud. 

People in the Tucson airport were also amazing. At least 5 people offered to help me. I guess having two cute kids helps and that Reese can be pretty charming. :)

If looks could kill...

My big, responsible boy. 

Waiting to take off.

And we're off. The pacifier was a life saver.

Enjoying some peanuts

Snacks & an iPad, life doesn't get better for Jaxon

She just made herself at home

As the flight came to an end, she started to get antsy

Overall, I was quite impressed with Reesey's behavior. Any longer than an hour flight and I would have had to start drinking. :)  There was no screaming which was priceless!

Since they were both so well behaved I thought for sure one of the flight attendants would give them wings, but alas they didn't. I was bummed. Reese definitely earned them. Maybe on the trip home?

We went from the airport directly to the pool for some Memorial Day fun & to meet up with some friends, of which, I took no pictures.

We stayed in our old house and I was a little apprehensive about staying in a practically vacant house, I mean, it would be kind of like camping, except for the running water and electricity thing, but it was surprisingly fun and relaxing. It almost makes me want to go camping. Yeah. No. Scratch that.

On our first day we went to the aquarium after Brian had to some work. 

There's a bunny living in the backyard.
Not sure he'll be back after Reese scared him away.

Chasing the bunny

We were amazed at how much this tree had grown.
I have a picture somewhere of Jax as a baby & me in front
of the same tree. Except everyone was much smaller.

Day two took us to the zoo. We love that zoo. It is so great. We even saw exhibits we had never seen in all the times we went while living there. 

She was sooo excited about each animal!

My favorite part. The baby orangutan named 'Reese'

Do you see what is happening here?
She's trying to get out to swim with the ducks.

Two exhausted kids mean Brian & I had a quiet lunch in the car.

The trip home was a little more eventful than the entire week. Our stroller tested positive for a chemical found in bombs. Super. So I had to have a full body search. While holding Reese since she freaked out every time I'd try to set her down. It was quite the experience and not one I'd like to repeat, especially not having to answer Jaxon's questions afterward about why the lady touched me  all over my body and what was she looking for? And why did he have to sit in a chair.... Ugh. 

I love how he chooses to read Nat Geo magazine.

Reese wasn't feeling herself so I enjoyed an hour of cuddles

She DOES have sweet moments!

She's getting into the selfie thing. 

Oh. And no wings on this flight either. What the heck?! Two quiet, peaceful well-behaved kids and I have nothing to show for it. What a bummer.

That pretty much concludes our mini-vacay to ABQ. We had a really nice time and are looking forward to our next trip out there. Maybe for Balloon Fiesta?