Top 10 of our Trip- #4

4. Spelunking
This was definitely not a top on my list, but the girls LOVED it, and after all this blog is for them, right?  We decided to do an all family hike, and Aunt Jenny found this "kid-friendly" hike that is about a mile round trip through a cave.  Ya'll, I am claustrophobic.  I've never really had a chance to get over my fear of small spaces because, well, I just don't go in caves, small places or even my beloved StL arch.  When we parked, I thought I could muster up the courage to go in there with the girls.  They were so excited about it, and kept talking about finding crystals etc.

This is the opening of the cave.  This picture does not lie.  Would you go in there?

Apparently, the entrance is the hardest part of the whole hike, and most of the cave was pretty open afterwards.  I could not go in.  I cried  tried, but I just couldn't do it!  So I sort of hiked around the area while my babies walked further and further into the death-trap cave.  They all came out safely and they loved it all!  So glad they could have fun.

Inside.  See?  Not scary!

Emerging.  Did I mention it was 30 degrees in there?

Later that day, I took Daria out for a run through my Uncle's gorgeous neighborhood and almost got mauled by 2 neighbor dogs.  I think that was just not my day.  But hey, I'll take one bad day among 9 glorious other days!!

Top 10 of our Trip- # 3

3. Hikes.
I am in LOVE with mountains.  They are so beautiful and so fun to climb.  We started the climb up Mount Humphries, which is the left most peak in the picture that shows Uncle Dave's view from his porch.  The peak is at 12,000 feet, and we made it to 10,000.  Chris got altitude sickness so we had to get down, pronto.  The hike up and down the mountain is 10 miles round trip and we did 6 miles round trip.  Not bad for us being out of shape!
Later in the week some of us girls went into Sedona and climbed Bell Rock.  It is basically a huge rock in the shape of a bell.

A before Picture

One of the many beautiful views

Taking a break.  Our pup was a champ going up and down that mountain.

Before Picture

Everywhere we looked there was a beautiful view!

Last pic we took before we went down.
We were getting nervous about that storm rolling in- you can see it in the top left corner.

Top 10 of our Trip- #2

2. The Grand Canyon
It is so stinking beautiful.  Its a little different seeing it with kiddos, though.  Sometimes you just aren't so sure the railings are going to hold, or that they aren't going to run away and slip off!  But everyone made it safely back to their cars.

That is Chuck's finger up top.
G was holding me so tight in this pic!

My little poser.

Top 10 of our trip #1

So a little back story...
Back in January when I went to my dear grandfather's funeral, I was talking to my wonderful, eccentric uncle Dave.  He is the youngest brother of my mom, and of course was always the favorite uncle of ours.  A few years ago at Colleen's wedding he suggested the idea of house swapping and we talked about it again at the funeral.  We sort of came up with a plan for him to stay at my in-laws house in Napa while we all stayed at his house in Flagstaff!  So that will start off my list.

1. Uncle Dave's house.
Honestly, I think we got the better end of the deal.  He has a beautiful house with a porch that overlooks the mountains and 4 acres with a small zip-line, playground, sand box, and a small Frisbee golf course.  (not that my in-laws house isn't awesome, tho)

View from the porch

Backyard

Front of his house, with all of us crammed on the stairs!

A Sneak Peak of our Trip!

Rowles' Reunion

Summer Time, and the Living's Easy...

Could there be any better job than getting paid to do whatever you want during the summer?  It seriously makes up for all the stress of the school year.  We have been having a great, laid back summer so far.

Reading, reading, reading!

Splash Park

Hanging with cousins Madison and Taylor

Pretty much swimming everyday!

Bike Riding Fiend!

Slurpees and Swinging

Shopping at our fave store

Dressing up

I love the last picture because it shows some more freedom in our house.  We put all the girl's cups, plates, and bowls in a bottom drawer in the kitchen.  So whenever I get the "mommy, I'm thirsty" comment, they can now help themselves.  With a footstool I brought home from my classroom, they can drink water all day long!  This also helps with setting the table, and emptying the dishwasher.  They can do all of their own dishes!
Stay tuned for our big summer adventure, our road trip out to AZ.  I'm sure I will have lots of pictures and stories to blog about!

Swimmy

I signed the girls up for swim lessons as soon as school got out.  So we have been to the pool every weekday so far this summer!  They both amaze me.  G's teacher said to move her up a level next summer, as did Elia's teacher.  With lots of practice in between.

Diving Board Day

I like this picture because it shows that G can handle the older kids- they were all in the same class!

This was Elia's first time, so she was a little hesitant at first.

Here is a video of them playing in the "square" pool, as they call it.  This is at our public pool, and this year is the first where both girl's heads are above water in the deep end!  I think it goes up to 3 feet.  Here they are practicing their back floating.

Last Week of School

I write this long after, but I cannot believe the school year we have had!  I grew so much as a teacher, and it was so wonderfully unique to be able to see Gianna everyday.  Next year is going to be even better in that arena, with both girls at the new school!  And though this new school I'm going to is ah-ma-zing, I will miss Spears!  Here are some highlights of the last week:

I had 2 mystery readers- Gianna and Elia! they were the stars of my classroom.
My students wanted their autograph and everything.

Huddles will be missed!  In April, G got to dance on the stage.

Gianna's best buddy, Brandon.  I have never met a more sweet, enthusiastic kindergartner!
They shared a lunch table all year, so I got to know him pretty well.

My end of year gift.  All of my kiddos contributed summer stuff, and put it in this awesome beach bag- gift cards, coozies, beach balls, floaties and goggles for the girls, crafts, towels, flip flops, and more gift cards.  I was SO spoiled.

We did a measurement Olympics, and my class represented Ireland.

If you want to see more, you can see my class blog, Passing the Torch, which is located on the sidebar of this blog.
I am so blessed!

Birthday Surprise, and Fossil Rim

Over Memorial weekend, the Marschners came to visit!  Shannon basically woke me up at 2:30 in the morning and totally surprised me out of sleep.  Their flight was supposed to get in much earlier but bad weather had them circling and their rental car situation went from bad to worse(no car seat for Brendan even though they had reserved one!!).  So Chris snuck out of the house with a car seat around 1:30 and got them back here to wake me up.  I think Tom, with Chris' help, had been planning this since March!  I honestly thought I was dreaming when she came in and sat on my bed.
There really is nothing better than spending time with my twinnie, but its even more special when we get to be together on our birthday!  We sort of just hung out and did fun kid stuff, like the splash park and walks around the neighborhood, but the highlight was Fossil Rim.  I have been wanting to go there since I heard about it a few years back, and it was pretty fun!  Feeding animals from your car?  Elia was in paradise.
With our awesome new minivan, we were able to scrunch all 4 adults and 3 babies in one car!

Love

Loving the new sunroof

Prob my fave pic of the day!

Little loves!

New Furniture!!!

We have been sitting on college furniture pretty much our whole married life.  So it was about time to buy us some good stuff!  Our couch and new buffet happened to come on my birthday weekend, so it was a pretty sweet bday gift.

Before

After

Don't have a before, but you get the idea!!