Arizona -- Thursday

What a great day we had on Thursday! We packed up snacks and water and headed out to Catalina State Park (a short drive from Tom and Susan's). We took a great walk along the wash and found frogs and a strange looking fellow with a lot of legs (hmmm... glad we didn't step on that one). The kids had a great time with Josiah and Ezra -- they are great frog finders!!

Arizona -- Wednesday

Tea time in Tucson with Grandma and Grandpa -- what a great memory for Benny! While the girls were at AWANA with their cousins and Greg and I were out walking, Ben was enjoying a super evening with Grandma and Grandpa! The big hit was the side dish of fudge for dunking :)

Wednesday ended up being a day of relaxation. We all needed that after the marathon day of traveling that we had on Tuesday. We figured out that we hit the pillow at 4:00 DC time! I think that helped us to adjust to the 3 hour time difference. We enjoyed the company, the warmth, and the hummingbirds -- great 1st day of vacation!

Arizona -- Tuesday

Off to Arizona today! Couldn't pass up a great deal flying out Baltimore into Phoenix -- so fun and sun here we come...

Flying

Okay, so here are some pictures of the kids leaping. For some odd reason I find a challenge in trying to capture them midair. Poor kids have to jump, and jump, and jump. They are very patient and willing participants :)

Taylor and Ben

Yesterday Taylor and Ben hung out together while -- well, Abby read, and read, and read (you get the picture)! They made signs, pencil coverings using straws, and later that night had a "show". Those two are like peas and carrots (especially when Taylor is in charge) !!

Sunday -- Store Day

The kids busily made products and opened their "store" on Sunday night.

Ben had his own store with a sign, but he graciously shared his space with Abby. Greg and I purchased each of the items for $.01 each (what a steal)

Taylor made her store in the living room. Abby purchased the flower before we arrived at her store!

And here are a couple of poems that we purchased from Abby.

Greg and the kids

They are all just as cute as punch:)

Glasses

We picked up Taylor's glasses today! It is official --

we all have glasses now!!!!!

Yucky

I felt yucky yesterday (as a matter of fact my tummy is still not happy today). The kids were GREAT to me! They made me get well cards, made supper for themselves and Abby completed 2 math lessons (only a homeschool mom would appreciate that gesture). I am on the mend -- thanks to my 3 sweeties:)

Mickey Mouse

Here Benny is sporting his HUGE Mickey Mouse tattoo! He received it from a waitress at Grotto Pizza -- his birthday treat from her. We celebrated Ben's 5th birthday at Dewey Beach in September -- the tattoo finally found a home on Ben's belly 6 months later!!!

Salamanders

While sledding on Thursday the kids found some salamanders! They named them Wiggle and Waggle (Waggle is the one missing part of its tail). This weekend we are setting them free...

Snow, sledding, and supper!

We had a great snowfall on Monday -- at least 4 inches of snow!! Taylor was sick, but Ben and Abby had a great time playing outside in the white stuff.

Today we went sledding -- forgot my camera :( It was sooo much fun!

After our history lesson (we learned about Copernicus and Galileo) the kids made supper for me. It is all about presentation...

Beautiful students

I woke up to a surprise this morning! Abby and Ben made me a banner "Thank you for being my teacher" and Taylor made a sign saying the same thing. What a way to start the day :)

Tubing

What a day we had yesterday! We met up with the Hansings and Williams at Ski Liberty for 2 hours of tubing. Ski Liberty is in PA just outside of Gettysburg. It was a beautiful day. After spending two hours in the snow we followed the Hansings to their hotel in Gettysburg and spent some time in the pool and hot tub. What a change to go from wearing coats, hats, and gloves to wearing a swimsuit! (Lynnea, if you are reading this... we saw the 3 forms of water -- solid (snow), liquid (pool water), and gas (the steam from the hot tub) -- it was like a continuation of our science class from Friday!)

This morning we woke up to snow! We are expecting 4-7 inches of snow today into tomorrow (we'll believe it when we see it -- the DC meteorologists have been wrong before). We are dreaming of sledding...