Enchanted Island at Encanto Park

We went to downtown Phoenix last week for Logan's doctor's appointment. I figured since we were already down there it would be fun to go and do something new that we hadn't done or seen before. In my online research I found a place called Enchanted Island. It's an amusement park for kids, specifically for young kids. We decided to go and see what it was all about since it was just a few minutes from where we were going to be anyway. The Enchanted Island is built inside Encanto Park. The park itself was really pretty and nice. It had nice landscaping that included a huge lake in the middle that fed a river that surrounded the park. The amusement park is no Disneyland but Lincoln had fun. The rides are like carnival/fair rides and the entire place is really old. There were only about a dozen people there. The employees were really nice but they didn't even have enough employees to run each ride. Each employee ran two rides so you had to wait until one ride finished before they would come let you on to another ride. We made the most of it though and enjoyed our afternoon together.

Of course Lincoln wanted to ride the train. It was a small cute train but it was SO squeeky. I had to cover Logan's ears because I was worried it would hurt him. The train took us all around the park and ride area.

This was Lincoln's first time on a ride by himself. I think I was more scared then he was. He sat next to another little boy so that the boy could help him stay sitting in his seat. They went around 3 or 4 times and then he looked at me and started to cry. He was done. I was impressed that he made it as long as his did. They stopped the ride and and he was able to get off. He said it was fun and scary. I was so proud of him.

Lincoln sat in this little spaceship ride and the same little boy from the dragon ride came over and jumped in with him. I thought it was cute that he wanted to continue to take care of Lincoln. I look forward to the day that both Lincoln and Logan will be able to go together.

Lincoln loved the cars. He went on them several time, choosing a different car each time. I loved pushing the buttons. Each car had a different distinct noise.

Just us

After the rides we took a walk around Encanto park. The boys were troopers and just looked at the ducks, trees and people who were riding in the paddle boats around the river.

This picture was inspired by my friend Becky! As we were leaving the park I realized how beautiful the sky was. I had just seen Becky's pictures of the sky and realized that I wanted to try and capture it. We get such beautiful desert skies here. I think she inspired me to take more pictures of them. Thanks, Becky!

He Rolled

On Saturday, April 17th Logan and I were sitting on a blanket on his bedroom floor. I was folding clothes with Lincoln and Logan was doing tummy time. Next thing I know Logan is rolling over. I quickly move out of the way so that he can complete his rotation from tummy to back. I was so surprised. I had no idea he was ready to start rolling. I didn't have a camera with me because I wasn't anticipating such awesome moves from him that morning. He has since rolled over, all on his own, several more times. He hates tummy time so I think it's helped motivate him to want to get to his back as quickly as possible. He hasn't shown any interest in getting up on his knees yet. He would rather stand up. With his studly, chunky adorable legs, he has a solid base to hold him up. I think he will be one of those babies that only crawls for a short time. I think he will probably walk early. We'll see.

Time to Get Out the High Chair

We've been feeling really badly recently because Logan watches us so closely when we eat and he has been opening his mouth like a little bird hoping that we will feed him. Figuring that he's just a week shy of six months I bought him so baby food while I was at the grocery store last week.

Logan ate his first "real food" on Sunday. I gave him carrots for the first time. He did okay with them. As all babies do the first time they try food, he made the silliest and cutest faces as he experienced a new taste and texture. I expected him to spit out more than he did but overall he was a pretty clean eater. My baby boy is growing up. I have to admit that I'm excited to enter this next chapter with him. Soon enough we will be off formula all together. That will be really nice!

It's time to break out the high chair.

Learning the art of swallowing before your tongue pushes the food out.

By the end he started to enjoy it much more and he was eating like a champ!

Hiking the White Tank Mountains

Last Saturday our family took advantage of the wonderful Spring weather and set out to hike a trail at the White Tank Mountains. We had never been before but we thought it would be a fun family activity...and it was! We hiked the Waterfall trail which took us just shy of two hours round trip. At the top of the trail is a beautiful crevasse with a waterfall coming down into a pond filled with frogs. There wasn't much water coming down the fall but it was enough to be pretty. It's the first time the boys had been on a hike. I think it was a success. No bug bites, snake bites or sunburns. Lincoln said he wants to go again so I think we will. and we'll try a different trail next time.

On the way up Lincoln wanted to rest in the little house. It was actually just a covered bench area. I gave Logan his bottle and Lincoln got some snacks and a water break.

Lincoln isn't too interested in just hiking straight up and back down. He liked to take in the experience of everything around him...especially the rocks.

Daddy and Lincoln taking a water and snack break.

At the top of the trail. Lincoln like to explore in the little crevasse area.

Ricky saw this gross purple spider. We saw some pretty wicked looking spiders on the trail.

Lincoln found a lady bug that he was determined to catch.

Daddy was kind enough to let Lincoln rest his legs on our hike back down the mountain.

There was a beautiful view from the top of the mountain trail. It was so cute to see father and son hiking together and holding hands. Precious moment.

About half way down the mountain I spotted this snake on the side of the trail. I called for Rick and Lincoln to come back and see it. Luckily we weren't any closer to it then we were and it left us alone. While it was fun to see it, I was a bit nervous with Lincoln and Logan there.

Lincoln's Encouragement

Lincoln is great at giving words of encouragement. When I was in nursery last week with him and it was time to clean up the toys, I of course helped the kids pick up the toys. Next thing I know, Lincoln came over and told me, "Good job cleaning up, Mommy. Good job!" It was super cute.

Rick was in the bathroom yesterday and Lincoln was trying to go in there with him. I explained that daddy was in there going pee pee in the toilet. We've been working to potty train Lincoln and he's gone to the bathroom quite a bit in the toilet, so he's familiar with the process. When Rick came out of the bathroom Lincoln told him, "Good job Daddy. Good job going pee pee in the toilet." We just laughed. He is so adorable.

The last couple of weeks we've all heard quite a bit of encouragement and praise from Lincoln. He can be such a sweet little boy.

A Surprise Visit From Tutus

We got a call last Saturday from Grandma Tutu saying they were on their way to our house. We were so excited! Lincoln LOVES when they come to visit. It was a nice treat for me because Ricky had gone on a motorcycle ride with his friend Marc so I was home with the boys. He left early Saturday morning and wouldn't be back home until Sunday evening. Grandma and Papa Tutu stayed with us from Sunday through Wednesday morning. They took the boys on walks, played in the backyard, ran some errands with Lincoln and just hung out. They also watched the boys Monday night and Tuesday night for us so that Ricky and I could go out. It was SO nice to be able to go to a peaceful dinner and a movie. We always enjoy their company and look forward to seeing them again this summer.

While Logan was sleeping they walked Lincoln to the park to go play.

Fun with the water sprinkler.

When they weren't playing with the water table they played soccer, ate a picnic and Papa Tutu took his nap outside on the grass.

Logan, like his brother likes to be outside so he was happy sitting with Grandma Tutu on the back porch.

I love this little guy and his adorable cheeks!

Thanks Uncle Roo!

Uncle Roo sent Lincoln some Star Wars toys that Lincoln absolutely loves! He was so excited to open a box of Star Wars stuff...it was like a gold mine for him. He got some walkers, a battle droid, some guys (not sure what their specific names are), a snow speeder and a few other things. Later, Tutu brought down a huge walker that shoots and makes noises! Surprisingly of all the toys Lincoln has really taken to the snow speeder and the two tiny little orange guys that go in it. Some walkers have already had to be super-glued back together because they've gone through battles and didn't survive. They are for sure his new favorite toys for now. Thanks Uncle Roo!

He immediately lined all the toys up and created a little battle scene.

The battle droid has been a favorite too.

He quickly found (with Papa Tutu's help) the buttons that make shooting noises.

Nothing like a toy that's almost your size.

Something I've Never Wanted to Do

What happens when the nursery leaders at church can't (and or don't want to) handle your two year old?? You get asked to work in the nursery. Yep. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I actually don't know yet why I've been asked to work in the nursery. It's definitely something I've never wanted to do. I'm sure it's exactly why I've been called. I jinxed myself. There must be something that I need to learn from it. There are three nursery classes in our ward and I got asked to work in Lincoln's class. I'm not sure how well that will go over with Lincoln but we'll wait and see. His class has about 15 kids on average. Looking on the bright side...at least I will get to know the people working in the primary and the parents of the kids in my class.

Happy Easter!

We've had a great Easter weekend. I feel like we were all able to enjoy the holiday even more now that Lincoln is old enough to participate in the festivities. I look forward with when Logan will be able to join him.

I got off work early on Friday and we had a family night. We picked up Ricky's favorite Dominoes thin crust pizza and decorated Easter eggs! It was really fun. Of course, Logan just sat and watched, Daddy took pictures and I helped Lincoln color the eggs.

Lincoln's job was to drop the eggs in the colors and then when they were done I would get them out and he would put them in the carton.

He liked that this last egg had his name on it.

Our city does a huge Egg-stravaganza event every year for Easter. They hold it on the Spring Training Baseball Fields. It includes egg hunts (done by age group) that total 50,000 eggs. I took Lincoln and Rick stayed on the side with Logan. I forgot the camera so I don't have any pictures of the egg hunt itself but Lincoln had a ton of fun running all over the field collecting treat filled eggs and candy. After it was done he wanted to examine everything he had collected in his basket.

As always, Logan was a trooper. I look forward to next year when they will both be able to collect eggs.

The city had set up another field that had a dozen bounce houses, food booths, face painting, clowns, balloons, and local businesses giving out information and goodies. Lincoln loves bounce houses. He got to go on a couple of slides and a tot obstacle course.

This morning when Lincoln woke up he immediately realized that the Easter Bunny had been to our home and left him some treats. I continued a tradition that my mom used to do by leaving a trail of eggs from our rooms to our Easter baskets. Lincoln decided that he wanted to eat the jelly beans in the eggs before he went to the next one. After a little convincing he finally followed the trail to his basket. Logan and daddy followed him. We can't ever get Lincoln to eat breakfast but he was just fine having jelly beans and Easter candy first thing in the morning. I guess that's just part of Easter.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs he yelled, "look mom, a second blue egg!" He was so excited that he didn't pick up the eggs. He ran straight to his basket and retrieved the eggs later.

The plastic eggs turned to the little chocolate eggs as he got closer to his basket.

This happy little guy was excited to play with the bath toys Grammy sent him and to pull everything else out of his basket.

When the boys woke up from their nap, we went to the backyard for an egg hunt. I had taken all the eggs that we colored and hid them in the backyard for Lincoln to find. I was so surprised how excited he was to find the eggs. He ran around the yard as fast as he could. When the basket got too heavy to carry he put it on his water table and brought the eggs back to the basket as he found them.

He thought it was cool that there was an egg in the tunnel.

After they collected all of the eggs we counted them to sure we didn't miss any. Notice Logan...this is the first time that he's ever sat up on his own. It only lasted for about 10 seconds but he did it!

Happy Easter!

On a side note...I'm sitting her writing this blog and I just felt a huge earthquake. Our house shook pretty good for about 45 seconds. The news is saying it was a 6.9 out of Baja California. Thought we were done with earthquakes when we moved out of California but I guess not.

Precious...

In a world of busy days and chaos all around, I've been reflecting on what's precious to me.

My Husband and the love that he has for me. Aren't these flowers that he got me just beautiful!?! I love tulips!

This boy and his sweet personality...

his smile...

This silly boy and how he makes me laugh...

his innocence...his sense of style...

how a younger brother admires an older brother....

and the opportunity to be a wife mother.

These are the people I love most and just a few of the moments and memories I cherish.

Practice Makes Perfect...

...and I'm definitely not there yet. I just completed the last of my cake decorating classes that I've been doing over the last four months. It's been a lot of fun and I've learned so much. The boys were all very supportive which made it a lot easier. Rick watched the boys while I made the cakes, icings, and went to class. Lincoln loves to eat the cake....well actually just the frosting. Logan loves to watch what I do and was good at testing the cakes durability. I had a great teacher who even invited me to join her cake club. I don't think I will ever make & decorate cakes as a business but it's definitely something I enjoy doing. I look forward to being able to make the boys birthday cakes and cakes for friends and family.

This was my final cake for class. It's fondant covering, fondant border with gum paste daisies and carnations.

My first fondant cake.

My main cake tester.

Logan and Daddy watching what I'm doing.

He couldn't resist any longer. He finally was able to get close enough to grab it and he didn't waste anytime. Poor guy had to watch his brother eat some and he couldn't have any. He was pretty determined to pick off the dots!