A Grand 'Ol Time

All aboard the Grand Canyon Railroad!

We arrived in Arizona Wednesday evening. After a good night sleep & a delicious breakfast, we boarded the train for a 2 hour ride to the Grand Canyon. The train was a fun way to get to the canyon...we could visit, talk, sleep, eat, use the bathroom...you name it, we did it.

Noah & Emma were two peas in a pod...both listening/watching their iPods

After our train arrived...we were quickly sent to lunch at the Maswik Lodge. The buffet food was horrible, there's no other way to say it than to just tell the truth. After our "meal", we boarded our tour bus and began our tour of the canyon.

The Grand Canyon is just amazing. You really cannot appreciate the beauty unless you see it in person. It is a sight.

No matter where you stop to look out, your view is different. It depends on where you stand, the sun, the clouds...there are a lot of different factors.

I preferred to be looking where there were railings. Mainly because Noah would just go to wherever he thought would have the best view....a couple of times my heart literally dropped. It was just a little too close to the edge for me.

Noah with his Grandma & Grandpa

Harrison & Hank

Noah & his new bird. I laugh when I see this picture. I don't think we'll visit the Grand Canyon much in our lifetime...so we have these pictures & what does my son do....he has to have a picture with a dang bird. Whatever.

Emma was complaining that the sun hurt her eyes, so she just closed them!

Noah & Emma liked these "horses". They did not understand the difference between a horse and a burro.

We had a great time with our family....seeing the beautiful GRAND CANYON!

Preschool Promotion

A BIG DAY for our little guy. Today, Noah had his Preschool Promotion...no more preschool. This guy is moving on to KINDERGARTEN! A big milestone!
Each class performed a song & then there were a couple of group songs that were sung. Noah will sing during his performances but after he's done, he's looking around, making google eyes, doing anything & everything, except for sitting still.

It was a cute program....it was bittersweet.

Our little guy is growing up.....F.A.S.T!

Dad's Night

Tonight was Dad's Night at Noah's preschool

This annual event was scheduled originally in April, but the weather was unseasonably cold & rainy, so they had to cancel the event

Noah was pretty excited to have his Dad all to himself & go have fun with his friends from school

Noah loves his teacher Miss Melissa....LOVES her!! He talks about her all the time, tells me he loves her & how much he is going to miss her when school is over. She has an assistant in her classroom, Miss Kim. Noah loves Miss Kim just as much. He (actually we) have been so blessed to have these two wonderful ladies teach & love Noah. We will miss them!
This night was a Sports Night {right up Scott's alley!}...first they played BASEBALL. Scott's comment, "We need to teach Noah the rules of baseball, because he obviously does not understand it!" He said he hit the ball & then just stood there....Miss Melissa said, "RUN NOAH, RUN!" So he did. He ran to 1st base, than 2nd base.....than to a base on the adjacent field....Yes, we need to teach him the rules!

Next they had a jumper. What kid does not like a jumper?? This kid LOVES it! He just giggles, jumps & gets a little sweaty!

Third, FOOTBALL! Noah has a pretty good arm, he really liked throwing the football into the net.

There is never a party at school without picture taking.

Now we have to print this picture to put into this awesome picture frame that Noah made that night.

One of the best games they played....Scott said the kids all LOVED this...it was like volleyball, BUT, it was played with balloons, fly swatters & you couldn't see thru the net! The kids had a ball playing this. It was too funny!!

It was a great night for my two guys. They had fun playing, they had a great dinner & most important, they played together!

Memorial Weekend

Memorial Weekend was a first for us as a family! We went C.A.M.P.I.N.G!! And that included Scott! I think we won't call this camping, because we rented a trailer...so it was luxury camping!

Our friends the Ryan's organized a campout down at the beach at Campland on the Bay. It's right on Mission Bay, which is across the bay from Sea World. There were 9 families from our Ward that were there. A lot of adults and A TON of kids!!!

There are a lot of pictures...so bare with me.....

Noah eating lunch in the trailer This was so precious {you probably had to be there...} I was standing
outside our trailer & noticed a mama duck, with her ducklings go to the water faucet checking for water...but there was nothing. I slowly walked to the faucet & turned it out just enough to dribble out & ALL of them....they were happy, drinking & bathing in it. The kids thought it was the best!

CRABS, CRABS, CRABS! There were crabs all over & the kids were amazed by them. Noah & Abby just thought it was the coolest....she kept calling Noah over to see them.

The play time at the beach was great. It was a little cool, but the kids had fun!

Our friends the Ryan's had this fun water trampoline. They blew it up & threw it on the back of Scott's truck. A few pictures down is a picture of Scott & Todd carrying this monster thing across the crowded beach.

This was a crack up....Todd & Dave decided to take a ride with the kids on a paddle boat {to return the boat to the rental station}...they paddled & paddled & they were getting NO WHERE!!! It was quite funny. The funny part of the pictures is looking at the back of the boat where Noah is sitting....good thing he has his swim vest on!

Here's the carrying of the coveted beach toy!

A bunch of kids in the Ryan's trailer....it was a hang out!

The grillers! It was a fantastic idea to bring a grill down...it made our "camping" meals so much better than they would have been! We had the grill in the back of our truck....it was great!

Sitting around the campfire until late at night is always fun...

Playing lawn games & they loved it!

Group photo of all the kids...it was a task getting them together, but it was worth it!

Who can go camping without making SMORES?!

Noah loved the weekend & we had a great time. We think this will be an annual tradition!