Going Wild

Dexton has begged and begged to go to this aquarium we heard about. So over spring break we finally made the trip. From the moment we got out of the car all we heard was "Can we see the sharks now?" We made our way over to the sharks and Dexton walked right passed them. They were only the little reef sharks not the bigger sharks shown on the website. Suffice to say Dexton asked again "Can we see the sharks now?"

Dee took Dexton and Connor on the log ride while we were there. They had a blast. It takes you into the aquarium underneath all the fish, when you come out you go down the water slide. They really lucked out not getting soaked like the others I saw go down.

The boys also got to feed and pet the giraffes. I never knew they had such long tonges. We had a lot of fun that day. And who knows maybe we'll go again.

Violets First Tooth

Violet got her first tooth on March 25th, the day she turned nine months. I guess she is just a late bloomer, what can I say. She has also discovered the stairs, she has only attempted to climb four, thank goodness. Violet also went swimming for the first time and she loved it. I guess it helps when the pool is heated. She is a very good splasher. And darn if she doesn't look so cute in a swimming suite. I just wish being chubby was that cute as an adult.

Fishing at Roosevelt

Dexton and I decided to take time out from school and work to do a little fishing with Trevor and Grandpa Danny. It was a perfect day to fish, not to hot and no wind. This was the first of many fish that we caught that day. Even though Dex wouldn't hold the fish for the picture he was completely mesmerized with each catch. He kept meticulous count of how many fish that each person caught and also who caught the biggest one (I led both categories). I didn't think anyone enjoyed being on a boat fishing more then Danny but Dex is a close 2nd. We were on lake for at least 6 hours and he never once said he was tired or wanted to go home.

This is toward the end of the day after the sun had gone down. Dex settled down right underneath Trevor's backside. He learned pretty quickly were to stand or sit on the boat so he wouldn't get hooked by someone casting their line.

Time to take a break from fishing and have a snack. We stayed on the boat the entire time. We didn't even stop for bathroom breaks, so Dex learned how to properly (go) out the back of the boat without falling in the water. Its actually more difficult then you would think, another reason we didn't bring any girls.

One of Dex's first casts caught me right in the back of the neck, luckily the hook came right out without any effort. We didn't get a picture of it because I wasn't in the mood to pose for the shot. At the end of the day we all caught a fair amount of fish and had a lot of fun visiting with each other.

Presidents Day

We thought we would honor our past presidents by sledding at the sand dunes. Despite how cold it looks, it was fairly warm. Dexton explored several different hills with his friend Clay while Connor made an enormous snow ball with Marley. You can see here that even the older kids got a little sledding time.It was a nice day to sled. Although there wasn't a lot of snow, it worked out really nice because you didn't get bogged down in deep snow and get too wet. It was also entertaining to see kids sledding down a steep hill and if they went far enough they would hit the sand and topple head over heels but they kept coming back for more. Connor as usual wore out quickly and was trying to talk the others into leaving but didn't have much luck.When everyone had their fill of sand and snow we headed back to the suburban to sip hot chocolate and have a snack before the drive back to Grammy Sue's.We promised the kids they could roast marshmallows by campfire out at the dunes but apparently you can no long build a fire out there. So we improvised and had a fire right outside the back door of Grammy Sue's house. It worked out well except for the rain, however that didn't stop anyone from burning a few mellows.After watching all of the kids have a good time we dared each other to go down a few hills.

Im ready for my close up

Every so often it will rain in the desert and the boys take full advantage to soak it up. They usually spend most of the time jumping on the trampoline until they are completely drenched then they will retreat inside to a warm bath. Connor likes to give a puppy dog look when he knows he is about to be scolded for tracking wet socks threw the house.

Connor Takes a Dive

Shelly and Grammy Sue came to town to hang out with us. The Mesa mall has a nice water fountain that Connor got a little too familiar with. It all started out innocent enough, Grammy Sue started splashing Dex then Connor wanted to join. When he bent over to splash Dexton he lost his balance falling in head first and completely submerged in the water. When he finaly popped back out of the water he was startled but more upset that we were laughing after we knew he wasn't going to drown. Shelly tried to calm him down with little success. By the time we got him home he back to his usual playful self. Even though its been months since it happened he still gets defensive when we pass the fountain and playfully remind him not to fall in again.

Family Pics

The whole family came down to phoenix to have the yearly family picture. While we were doing the picture Jaret fell on some granite rocks and got some pretty good cuts on his head and face. He was covered in band aids but he was running around with his cousins 10 minutes later.

After the pictures we all walked over to the zoo and let the kids play around and learn grooming techniques from the baboons.