The day Benny died!

Every quarter the bulk trash crew swoops into the alley with their "backed open" garbage truck, as the Boy calls it, and "Benny", yet another personified digger from "Bob the Builder". This event is anticipated with almost as much vigor as Christmas. Sometimes we see the garbage truck crews at the Burger King down the street and the Boy lights up with excitement and questions about when "Benny" is coming. he almost passed out with joy last week when we saw a parade of garbage trucks with their Benny counterparts on trailers behind them headed to our neighborhood.
Well today was the day they came. But it was a little different.
The whole clan went out there to watch the huge pile of junk that I have thrown in the alley over the past week and then it happened. Benny broke down. He just failed right there in front of the Boy. He was a little distraught with how Benny was just left behind but I assured him that he would be fixed.
About an hour later when we had just sat down for lunch a new truck grumbled down the alley and the Boy went running from the table. He rushed back in and asked if he could eat outside. It was well over 100℉ by now. He was allowed to go out and put lunch on hold. I bet the two guys working on the loader would have liked the Boy to stay in and have lunch as they were fielding questions for about 20 minutes. Mickey got in on the interrogating too.

What have we gotten ourselves into?

Last night was one of those nights where I had the thought, "what have I gotten myself into with these kids?" Let me set the scene . . . .

It's the end of a VERY LONG work week, dinner is being served, and the kids are running around the house wearing capes (blankets chip-clipped to their clothes). Suddenly there is a *BOOM* as the boy hits the ground and erupts in crying. It appears he slipped on a stuffed rabbit that was left in the hallway and has hurt his head and back. I try to console him but he doesn't really want to be held or touched so we tell him to "buck up," stop crying, and get to the table to eat.

JP takes a stab at being compassionate and decides to check him out . . . . It seems I missed the two large scrapes on his back and the large growing knot on the back of his head. Now when the Little Guy is hurt he does not like us to touch his wounds or come near him so it was tough to truly gauge how bad he was hurt but we got some ice and all seemed to be well enough for dinner. Dinner was pretty normal which for us means that at least one kid was crying and/ or yelling; it just so happened that it was the elder child. He alternated between eating and whimpering.

We make it through dinner and get Pickle successfully in the bath tub where she happily plays for a few minutes. I grab the soap and shampoo and get ready to clean her up when I peer into the tub to find . . . POO! Yes, I did just share this lovely information. With a team effort I get her into our shower and cleaned up while JP disposes of the bath toys and other foul elements left behind. And my VERY LONG work week ends with me scrubbing the bath tub.

But then we tuck them into bed and get to gaze on their sweet sleeping faces and it is all worth it.

House elf

Pickle is a bit of a house elf. When I return from a ride I can remove my riding clothes and she will scurry about and take them away. Away does not always mean the dirty clothes though. Many times the clothes end up on her as is evident by the socks in the pictures.


She also really enjoys the empty cabinet on the back side of the bar. The other two cabinets have velcro straps on them to prevent her from getting the contents and destroying them. This one has been left empty and she has commandeered it for her own. She puts her toys in it and then climbs in to play.

The Grand Canyon

Living this close to the "large hole in the ground" is a real treat. Pickle is not yet 2 and she's been twice! It is always an adventure and it NEVER loses its grandeur. This time we used the shuttle bus system which works great and you're not wasting time looking for parking spots. We also took the shuttle to the bus only section to the west of the train depot area which was a section of the park that we had never been before. The views were magnificent and it was like you were on a completely different rim. At the first couple of overlooks you could look back on the Bright Angel Lodge and El Tovar and get a great look at the Bright Angel Trail which takes you down to the river. The viewpoints at this end also seemed to bring you closer to the Colorado River and you could look up the canyon and see so far.

Weekend in the Woods

Luckily we got to leave the 110+ degree days and spent the weekend in the Kaibab National Forest in northern Arizona. We left early on Saturday and drove to a cute little cabin in the forest right outside of Williams, AZ. The plan was to stay in Flagstaff but the cabin was actually closer to Williams than to Flagstaff but it turned out okay. We were not aiming for wandering the city and just wanted to have some relaxing family time with JP's mom and her husband. The cabin had a tire swing . . . and lots of dirt . . . so the kids loved it.
I seem to have more pictures of Pickle than her brother, but he spent a lot of time out of the cabin on various adventures either train watching or searching for elk. We will get more pictures from the weekend from the Grandparents and I'll share them. They got some great ones of The Boy!

Weekend in the City

This past weekend was one of those times that lived up to what people always say, "if I lived in a big city, I would . . ." We've lived here almost 9 years and we have done a pretty good job of taking advantage of all the wonderful things that the city has to offer like sporting events, museums, theaters, etc. This past weekend I was lucky enough to see Wicked - the Broadway play based on the novel about the Wicked Witch of the West. It was actually my second time to see it and it was great!

On Saturday night we took the Little Guy downtown to see a baseball game. We rode the new Light Rail all the way down Central and got off right near the baseball stadium so it was perfect. He had a fabulous time of course and the Diamondbacks won which made it even better. He was probably most excited about the fact that he got a new Bobblehead! Our seats were in a new section called "All You Can Eat" and it was on the suites level so the location was good and the price was right for all the hotdogs, popcorn, peanuts, and soda we could eat. I think we did a good job getting our money's worth!

The Boy truly amazes me with his ability to remember players names and information. I asked him "what is Miguel Montoya's number"and he could tell me; then I ask him another player's number and he knew that one too. So I ask him, "how do you remember their numbers?" And he tells me, "I have a thing up there that keeps them straight." Funny kid . . . and so smart!

My New Favorite Power Tool

The Swiffer Vac is the perfect accessory with our new floor! I love it. This picture also shows an up close shot of the floor.

North Platte, NE

Why did JP and son go to North Platte, Nebraska? A train trip . . . .
Did they ride trains? No, they're just watching trains. Hmmm . . . .

This was a common conversation with my friends when JP and the Little Guy took off at the end of June for North Platte, Nebraska. It was the 2nd annual Train WATCHING Trip with all the males in the family. Little Guy, JP, his dad, grandfather, uncle, and cousin went to Winslow last year and this year it was to see the Largest Train Yard.

From Wikipedia:
Bailey Yard is the world’s largest railroad classification yard. Owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad, Bailey Yard is located in North Platte, Nebraska. The yard is named after former Union Pacific President Ed H. Bailey.

Of course they had a lot of fun and the Little Guy even got to hear his first tornado siren . . . definitely a memorable trip. JP didn't take too many pictures but he got this great one of the Boy talking on a CORDED phone . . . definitely something for posterity. He took it with his phone so one day I might remember how to get the pictures off the phone and I'll share.

Where Have We Been?

Working long hours . . . me.
Laying floor and traveling to Nebraska . . . JP
Jumping off diving boards and finally saying Mama . . . Pickle
Playing with friends and traveling to Nebraska . . . Little Guy

We've had a busy couple of weeks as JP has been working hard to finish the floor, but hasn't done much since he returned from their trip to Nebraska. I've been working insane hours as work is VERY busy. I'm on my computer and phone so much during the day that I have not had the desire to turn on the home laptop and blog.

It was nice to have a three day weekend and spend time together riding bikes and going to our favorite store (IKEA). We also enjoyed some pool time with friends and our 19-month-old daredevil enjoyed going off the diving board again and again and again. I wish I had pictures of it but she was just loving every minute of it and never wanted to stop. Please understand she would climb up by herself walk to the edge and step off - ALL BY HERSELF. JP or Jer would be there to yank her back to the surface and then swim her to the side where the process would begin again.

The summer is finally becoming insufferably hot and we are all looking forward to getting to cooler temps with a short trip to Flagstaff this month and then our longer trip to Colorado later this summer. I promise to have several posts this week and through the weekend . . . come back soon!