Rainbow Connection

Sydney is obsessed with rainbows (and hearts). When she gets stickers at ballet class or at school, they're rainbows. Face painting at parties...rainbow. She wants us to draw something on the sidewalk...rainbow. She's actually gotten really good at drawing them herself. Monsoon season has been good this year and she's gotten to see a lot of rainbows outside. One of her drawings she did with her Dad that even includes a pot of gold under the rainbow! She's mastered the art of soaking her chalk in water and then drawing with them to get more vibrant colors. Smart cookie. (don't ask about the fly swatter, she loves that thing. It came in handy when we had a weird swarm of bees in the yard for a few days)

SHE FINALLY DID IT!

We've been struggling for the longest time with getting Sydney to put her face in the water. Even in the shower or bath, if her face gets wet, she HAS to dry it off on a towel. So, when it came to swimming, she did everything with her chin above the water. This has been a real issue with swim lessons. As you saw in the very first post, she screamed for the first three lessons. Well, we've been making very slow progress in the area. It started with her not screaming in lessons when they'd dunk her or show her how to dive into the water. She learned that she kinda liked it. Still at home, she refused. I bought goggles, several goggles....nothing worked. One day we were in her closet and I came across a random pair of Ariel (from Disney) goggles. No idea where on earth they came from, but she was bananas about them. So I told her the next time she went swimming, she could try them out. Well, holy moly. Chris took her swimming and suddenly Chris was screaming for me to come outside. I came out and she was SWIMMING! Finally face in the water! They'd draw on the floor of the pool with chalk and she'd look at the drawings underwater with her goggles. YEAY!! So proud of her!!!

SOO EXCITED. Face IN the water!

The Felty's Come Through Town

We were so excited that Jamie (Chris' cousin), Brad and Mae decided to drive through Arizona on their way back home after picking up Brad from their old California digs. We met them up in Prescott and headed to Jerome for one of the days. The guys had fun golfing in the mornings and while up in Jerome we hit the infamous candy shop again and ate at the Haunted Hamburger. They were on their tenth day of car travels by the time they got to us. They spent time going down the coast and hitting sites along the way. It's a long trip from San Diego to Prescott! It's always so much fun seeing them and even more exciting that in two short months we'll see them again in October when we head to Wisconsin for their Grandfather's birthday. It'll big a big ol' reunion.

The girls giving each other big hugs.



While waiting for a table at the Haunted Hamburger, we wasted time at this little park right next door. Taught Syd how to ride one of the horses. I used to LOVE these when I was little.



Jamie, Syd and Chris at the park. Ironically overlooking the Bartlett Hotel that I blogged about a few weeks ago on our last trip to Jerome.



Superman!



There were hundreds of dandelions in the park, Syd thought they were beautiful flowers. I decided to show her one of my favorite things to do when I was little. Pick the dandelions, make wishes and then blow the seeds into the air. She loved it!



On Sunday before we all left, the girls decided that it was princess time. It all started with a crown, and then a pettiskirt next thing I knew Jamie was pulling princess dresses and crowns from their car trunk! How handy is that. The girls had the best time spinning and dancing around.



We had so much fun with the Felty's can't wait for October!

Bonfires and Cake

Chris was out of town for work on my birthday, so we headed up to Prescott the day after. My mom made me a gluten free cake with raspberry filling. So yummy! Before we sang and cut the cake we decided to go outside and roast marshmallows and sit by the fire. Mom and Dad's fire pit didn't arrive yet, but Dad got creative and used the bricks laying on the side of the house to make a fire pit. So crafty!

Sydney pretty much mastered this. Even though it still makes me so stinkin nervous!



Making sure it catches fire quickly.



Chris helping her blow out the marshmallow flame



Because apparentely marshmallows aren't enough for us, we lit the candles, sang Happy Birthday to me. I made my wish (please come true) and blew out the candles. Everyone enjoying the cake Lala made.



Lala snuck off to the other room and we asked her if she wanted a piece of Syd's cookie. She said "No thank you" then about two minutes later, Syd came running out of her room saying "Lala told me to get her some of my cookie" I had to bust her sending Syd on a run to get her some cookie :)

Sydney vs. Markers

She's adorable, no other words for her. The best daughter we could ask for. This cheeky smile that she has, instantly changes our moods. Always wearing her dresses. It's always a good night when she finds this nightgown clean. Not often that she can wear a dress to bed! Hmm maybe I need to buy her more nightgowns. (I can hear Chris screaming "NOO" in my head as I typed that)

But, let me tell you, you should never take your eyes off of her. Just when you think she's quietly coloring her book while laying on the ground, I ask if she's doing ok and when she turns around, I see this. I'm so thankful I caught her in the beginning stages versus in another two minutes. This girl can do a lot of damage in 45 seconds.

Birthday Weekend at Marriott Starr Pass

Chris was in Colorado for work this year over my birthday, so we decided to celebrate the weekend before. Chris reserved a suite at the Marriott Starr Pass here in Tucson, just up the road. Betsy and Jay were sweet enough to watch Syd for the night, so that we could enjoy the hotel on Saturday night. We got to the room (which was upgraded to a mountain, city and sunrise view, balcony suite) and there were the most beautiful red roses with fragrant lilies in the room. I'm typically not a flower girl (because they die so fast and cost a ridiculous amount), but they were such a wonderful surprise. I adore them (and my hubby). We made reservations at the Grill and ordered practically every appetizer they had on the menu. So much fun! They brought out a piece of chocolate cake with a candle on it for me to make a wish on. After dinner, we walked outside, sat by the fire for a few minutes and then walked the grounds outside. In the morning Chris had an "open tab" for me at the Hashani spa with Miya. She's seriously the best massage therapist ever! Betsy and Jay brought the kiddos to the hotel in the morning to enjoy the pool, lazy river, slide and splash pad. I cut my spa time after a 50 minute massage. I can't help it, I was missing my baby girl so bad! After a long day in the sun and water, we headed back home and took our family nap. It was the most perfect birthday ever.

The beautiful flowers that were in our room when we walked in.



A dozen long stem roses and 6 lilies



An attempt at taking our own picture out on the balcony before we headed to dinner.



Some reason I woke up a little after 5 am and saw the most brilliant sunset right outside our balcony. Unfortunately we never got back to sleep after that. The colors were much more vibrant than the photos show.



Sydders having fun at the pool



Seamus and Uncle Jason



Splash Pad!!



She had so much fun soaking her head



Double Trouble



I'm so in love with the ceiling in the main lobby



Syd relaxing after her bath, waiting for Chris to get our car so we can head home.

Mani Pedi Day for Syd and Mom

I had the day off of work, so I decided to make an appointment for Syd and I to go get some pedicures. Well, I got a pedicure and Syd got a manicure and pedicure. Her nails are just so much faster to do than mine. She was a little scared at first, but then she saw all the fun designs, and especially GLITTER that they could put on her nails and she was sold! Well not really sold until they found a girl to do her nails. She's a wee bit scared of men she doesn't know. Takes her a little while to warm up.

How cute is she just sitting there getting her toes done. I snoozed on her getting her nails painted. I didn't have a good shot from my pedicure chair.



After a whopping 5 minutes, she already smudged one of her toes. They were nice enough to fix it again for her.



Sparkly purple fingernails



Her sparkly (and smudged) toe nails. Please notice her stamps from gymnastics class.



After we had our nails done, Betsy and Seamus met us for lunch out at Frankie's Philly Cheesesteaks. So yummy! Luckily Seamus was home too since he finished camp. Perfect timing to meet us on my day off. The kids had so much fun.

If you're wondering, we got in the car and five minutes later, she peeled the polish off of three fingernails and two toe nails. Sigh.

Chris at the Range

Chris headed North with our neighbor Sean to repair a few water stations of his that were broken into. After they repaired two stations, they decided to stop in the middle of a field to shoot a few guns that Sean brought along. This was Chris's first time shooting a gun of any type, so it was quite an experience for him. Sean broke out some wood, sawed two edges of it, hammered them together and made a target for them to shoot at. Pretty MacGyverish to say the least.

Chris shooting a 45 Caliber Carbine Rifle



Shooting the AR15 or M16





Shooting a 45 Caliber Handgun

Ballet Lesson: week two

I talked my girlfriend Ada into bringing her daughter Kylie to dance class with Syd. I thought it would be fun for them to have a little buddy in the class. Syd was so excited to go to ballet again. She's been practicing how ballerina's point their toes ever since class. It's so stinkin cute. This week they learned a few new moves and then at the end of class, they put all the moves together into a mini recital for the parents. So hard to get a decent shot in there without using flash. So bear with me.

Starting off with the hands on the knees



I absolutely LOVED this turn that they learned. So graceful and beautiful. Nutcracker, here we come!!!



We headed out to a Greek restaurant for lunch after class. A nice shot of Syd putting Kylie in a choke hold. Always a nice thing to do to a friend.



The Ballerinas

Swim Class Update

I haven't posted about Syd's swim lessons since that dreadful day of her first class of our last session. She cried that entire lesson after getting dunked. In fact, she cried straight through the next three lessons. We decided to tough it out. Last year she did the same exact thing and we pulled her out thinking it was traumatizing her and waited until she got a little older. Lesson learned, we should've just stuck with it. By the fourth lesson, she walked in on her own and was laughing the entire time. Slowly she became more at ease with letting them dunk her in the water and now, she actually has fun! We started the second session, so I wanted to post a few more pictures showing the progress she's making. She dunks her head (while holding her breath), does the back float, monkey walks like a pro and is starting to get more nerve with jumping in from the side.

Using her kickers and swimming across the pool



Doing the back float. She's just learning how to right herself up from this position.



The dive from the side of the pool, head first into the water




Jumping in the pool....love how she hunkers down as low as possible prior to jumping in.

The take away for us is that consistency is what works with this kiddo. So proud of the progress she's made in just one session.

Nemo Splash Pool

So, what would a water day be without spending the morning at Brandi Fenton and then coming home to Nemo's Splash Pool? Not sure where Chris picked this pool up, but I think he added this to her gifts for her Birthday. We finally took it out of the box and blew it up. She's had such a blast on this thing. She grew more couragous on it as she learned it wasn't going to hurt. She's our nevous nellie.

She takes a running start, hits the slide...



...and splashes into the pool!