There is a new furniture store by our house and we stopped in during their opening weekend. They had tons of stuffed animals around the store. Depending on how much furniture you bought, you got free stuffed animals with your purchase. Zander walked around the store picking up stuffed dogs, lions, and tigers as we leisurely window shopped for furniture. Too bad it would have cost us $3000 to get these animals for free. They were cute.

Sedona

The long Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer. We wanted to go on one last summer road trip as a family and thought Sedona would be the perfect place. Too bad everyone else had the same idea. With a two lane highway into town, it took us over an hour to travel 10 miles to our hotel. Slide Rock State Park was completely full too, but we didn't let that damper our time. We stayed right on Oak Creek Canyon and had the best scenic view of the red rocks. We also found out that a room with a balcony and a 3 year old don't mix. With both Devin and I in the bathroom, we thought it was unusually quiet in our room for Zander. Devin found him out on the balcony perched on top of a chair looking over the railing. Talk about scary! We brought all the balcony furniture in our room after that.
We went to Slide Rock, Oak Creek Canyon, and took a hike during our stay. It was the perfect getaway to close out our summer of road trips.

Mom, I swimming! - Zander

First Day of Preschool

 While I have loved his sitter, I was ready for a change for Zander. I wanted him to do more during the day instead of watching tv and playing outside. I thought he could learn more by having a structured day full of activities with kids his own age. For the past few months, I have noticed that his speech is lagging behind others and a stutter starting to form.  After touring a Preschool down the street from our house, I knew it would be perfect. A mix of fun and learning for Zander.
 He had a great first day in Intermediate A with his teacher, Miss Lauren.

Utah - family, a wedding, and the outdoors

Provo Canyon

Devin & his cousin Jarron

This summer has been full of trips and here we are again packing up our little family to head to Utah. It has been a year since our good friend Mario passed away and his wife  Kassidy was getting remarried. We were so glad that our friend had found happiness after going through such a heartbreaking loss.

Swim Lessons

 

Zander loves the water. We go to the pool and the lake a lot so I thought it would be wise to put him in swim lessons. At first it seemed promising and he was so excited before we got there. As soon as he got dressed and saw the water, he was not having a bit of it. For the 4 weeks we had lessons, he spent the majority of the time crying on the sidelines and didn't want to put his face in the water. With a little one on one time with the instructor, he became more comfortable in the water to practice his strokes and kicks.  During one lesson, he was jumping up and down on the stairs and jumped into a deeper part of the pool where he couldn't touch the ground. Since the teacher was with another student, I basically had to jump in the pool to rescue him. We only did swim lessons for 4 weeks as he was starting Soccer in September.

Devin's Birthday

He's 29 and feeling fine! With his handlebar mustache, we celebrated his birthday at Jesterz with the whole family.