I purposely waited to post about her birthday party until after school started (her bday was the 2nd day of school).  But then, she lost a tooth so I posted about that.

Kaylynn had a tea party with a few of her favorite girl friends.  We had yummy tea party food.  They played games and dress up too.  I think the highlight of the party was that the girls got to decorate the bday cake with all sorts of pink candies (yes, they were artificial dye and artificial flavor free).

Happy Birthday, sweetie!  We love ya!

Kaylynn began 1st grade this morning!  She was so excited that she almost forgot to say goodbye.

is August 1-7, 2010 this year. 

I promise not ramble about the benefits of breastfeeding, but I will leave you with a cool picture from Kaylynn’s 5th bday party last year (’09) at Peter Piper Pizza.

And did you know there is an international symbol for breastfeeding…it was designed only a year or two ago.  YEAH!

I promise not to harass everyone all the time about this, but I am super excited about what I’ve been working on.  Today I have my very first giveaway (and a few more in the works)….please check it out.

Also, please consider following the blog and passing it along…I’m trying to grow it a bit and get more readers.

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I have been totally slacking at getting the pictures off of my camera and onto the blog.  I’m not sure how many people take a peak here, but I enjoy posting what we are up to anyway.

Fourth of July

Our church often hosts a huge fireworks show in the East Valley. We don’t normally go because it is just too hot (especially with two little ones).  This year it was in the low 90′s which is really unusual, so we packed up the kids and went to the show.

It’s no surprise that Kaylynn spent most of the time watching from inside the car.  She did eventually venture out and sit on my lap for the last part of the show.

Gavin sat with Daddy most of the time.  He really wasn’t too sure about the fireworks until about half way through…then he started cheering and clapping for each one.

Playing Office

The kids are playing nicely together with their toy laptops.  Hmmm…you’ll never guess what Mommy was doing on the couch.  Yep, I was on my laptop. 

I won a drawing at IKEA

We were at IKEA one Saturday and I just entered the drawing for this kids chair just because we were standing near the box and Kaylynn was looking at the kids rooms….well, I WON!  I WON!  I WON!

This bear chair is so cool.  It’s adjustable and the kids just love it!

We decided it was time to take the kids on their first camping trip.  We waited until Gavin could walk because I didn’t want to deal with a little one crawling all over the dirty ground. 

We went up near Prescott for a one night camp out.  We went hiking, ate yummy food, had a fire, ate s’mores, and watched the stars.  It was so much fun.

Kaylynn quickly made some friends and they ran and played for hours.  I am so thankful John was following close by because the kids ended surrounding a rattlesnake…not even realizing it was there.  Praise the Lord no one was hurt.

There was a lot of excitement the first day.  A guy in a spot just two or three over from us “accidentally” caught his spot on fire and fire started racing down the hill.  It spread so fast.  One second everything was fine, the next the whole hill was on fire.  The forest service fire guys were so fast that by the time I got to my camera (which was still packed in the car), the fire was already under control and flames were no longer visible to us.  The fire dept and sheriff’s office showed up soon after.  It was scary for about 15 minutes!

After we went camping, we met up with some of my online GCM friends for a big meet up in Prescott Valley.  The kids played for hours and we grilled hot dogs for supper.

What a fun weekend!

Yesterday, Kaylynn and I did a free activity at AJ’s Fine Foods.  She decorated a cookie, made a card, and made a vinaigrette for John.  We had a little time to kill when we were done, so we sat on the patio at AJ’s eating cannolis, one of our favorite treats.

WOW! I can hardly believe that it’s been 12 years (as of May 27th).  I’ve waiting on posting this because I didn’t want to trump Kaylynn’s Kindergarten graduation with our anniversary or this trip.

John and I take turns planning something for our anniversary.  Some years it’s small, some years it’s huge, or anywhere in between.

Well this was John’s year and he out did himself!  He planned a road trip through Southern AZ, hitting places that both of have been wanting to go.  Oh and he kept each destination a surprise until we arrived.

First up…a small outdoor restaurant in Tucson, AZ.  We saw it a few times featured on the Travel Channel.  El Guero Canelo is know for their Sonoran Hot Dogs….and I’ve been dying to go.  Let me tell you that they were delicious!!!!!  John even went back and ordered a second one.

Second stop…on the outskirts of Tucson (heading South) is the Titan Missile Museum.  John had been wanting to take the kids for sometime, but I always talk him out of it.  It ended up being really cool. I guess I didn’t realize what it was.

  Kaylynn was allowed to turn the key to set the nuclear missile.  She thought that was neat (not really understanding what that meant).

Third stop…a resort in Southern AZ (about 10 min from the Mexican border).  Why did John choose such a far away place….cuz one of our favorite cooking shows is filmed there.  The Primal Grill on PBS is filmed at the Esplendor Resort in Rio Rico.  It was beautiful!  The kids loved the swimming pool and John and I ordered room service (mango margarita, beer, and chocolate cake) while the kids slept.  We set out on our patio watching the stars, bats, and the city below.  It couldn’t get much better.

Last stop….was Tumacacori.  A 300 year old mission.  It was beautiful and well maintained.  Too bad the spice shop next door wasn’t open (that was to be the last stop).  Kaylynn was deeply saddened by the grave of a baby that had died several hundred years ago.  One of the pictures in the collage is Kaylynn standing next to the grave with a sad face.

What an awesome road trip.  We’ve decided to make this an annual or semi-annual thing!

Last week all of the kindergarten classes put on an end-of-year show.  They sang all the songs they learned, talked about the cool adventures they went on, and even mentioned some of their favorite topics they learned about.

(Kaylynn is in the front row with pigtails)

Some of Kaylynn’s favorite things about kindergarten:

-going to the butterfly garden

-going to the petting zoo

-learning about Washington and Lincoln

-dressing up for the Halloween parade

-recess, lunch, and coloring

She is officially a 1st grader now!!!