Birthday Fun

This time it was not our birthday celebration. Charlotte's birthday is the day after Noah's (let me add that Charlotte's brother was born the same day as Nate - yes, same year. no, not planned). She had her party at the Bounce Jungle and boy, did the kids have fun!

Family Bike Ride

It was so gorgeous this afternoon! We took a bike ride around the neighborhood and checked out all the Christmas displays. This was Nate's first bike ride and LOVED it!

Nate's joining in on the fun at the play area in the mall (well, sort of). I forgot to post that he scooches himself around via army crawling or doing "the worm". I haven't been able to take pictures yet because every time he does it, I just want to watch. But I will post some soon enough!

Meanwhile, Noah still thinks he owns the place and only allows certain kids aboard the bus/slide (requirements: must be boy, must be his age or preferably older). Trust me, I'm not proud of this. All we have to do is call his name. Then the troll moves away from the stairs and lets all the kids up.

Fun at the Mall

Does this look familiar? It should. Let me give you a hint: Grandpa and Grammy. When they were out here a couple of months ago, someone (Grandpa!) dipped Noah's little feet in this fountain as if it were a refreshing swimming pool. This little display fountain has become quite the attraction for Noah during EVERY mall visit.

My dad's advice: If reprimanded, play dumb.

On to the playground. This little and OLDER girl took a liking to Noah. He doesn't seem to mind, does he?

On Our Way

We were on our way to a neighbor's to swim. Jay was testing the camera batteries. Check.

Noah notices he's not in the picture. Time for a photo shoot.


He loves being in pictures as long as he can view himself afterward.
Check out this cute thing. Tell me, could he be any cuter????

Answer: No.

Love him to teeny tiny pieces!

My Little Loves

After another night of swimming, we cooled off with a cone.

Swimming

Sorry these pics aren't focused. We didn't realize the lens was only half open.
Swimming was a blast. Noah and Nate both loved it - but who wouldn't in 110 degrees!? This was Nate's first time in the pool and did really well. Noah swims now with his water wings. He is just starting to catch on that he doesn't go under because of them. It used to be a bit of a fight getting them on because he felt like they just got in the way. Now he knows that they're his life savers. He loves jumping in (over and over and over) and even likes to go under. At one point, he had the three of us holding hands and jumping in together.

Enchanted Island

This afternoon we tried going to Enchanted Island. We tried to check their website before leaving to make sure they would be open, but it was down. We thought, "Why wouldn't it be open on a weekend?" Well, since AZ temperatures peak from 1-5pm, they are closed from 1-5pm. What time did we arrive? 1:30pm. So we wandered around the property...


Nate enjoyed the breeze in his hair...

Noah could not get enough of the railroad tracks. (Have I mentioned he's in love with trains? Yes, he still is!)

Then he chased some birds...

And got angry when they flew away...

After exploring for a bit, we decided we'd come back AFTER 5:00 to check out the rides...

It looks like Noah's about to ride in the helicopter and rocket, right? Don't be fooled. As soon as Jay walked away so the ride could begin, our little boy wanted no part. We took him out and put him back in FOUR times. The ride technician (is that what they're called?) must have thought we were ridiculous. It's not our fault though. We'd take him out, stand back, and watch the other kids fly with grins from ear to ear. Of course, then, he wanted to be a part of the fun. So we'd get back in line, let him choose which one he wanted to ride, buckle him in, back away, and... then get him out. So we stuck with more basic rides like the train.


Noah and Daddy are waving and pulling the horn (?). Choo! Choo!
Noah is still pulling the horn (again, I'm not sure if that's what it's called) and yelling, "ALL ABOARD!!" in the deepest voice he can find inside him. It was so cute!!!
Then he rode other things like the carousel...

Again...

And again...

I won't bore you with all the pictures but I will let you know that he rode it four times - on the same pony - he named it Caramel - that's how close they became. Jay was a great sport.
He then saw this thing and ran away with wide eyes. Then he decided it looked like something from Disneyland and wanted to take a picture with "Pete the Parrot". We couldn't get him away from it. They acted like long-lost friends; hugging, laughing, high-fiving, all that stuff.

Oh,LOOK AT THIS!! All I had to say was Harold the Helicopter (from Thomas and Friends) and he grabbed that steering wheel.

And wouldn't let go.

Here we go again.

And again.

He looks like he owns this thing. He pretty much did. The ride operator (yes, that's it! ride operator) didn't make him get off. The rules state that you must get off and get back in line if you want to ride again but she saw how much we went through to get him on in the first place so he stayed on for 5 rides. Yes, 5.

Checking out the gear.

The only reason he got off was to board this rocket. He thought he was flying Rocket from Little Einsteins.

Meanwhile, here's Nate hanging with me. He loved all the flashing lights and music!