Craft Stand

I came across this DIY craft from The Crafting Chicks. Sydney loves to paint and color and it shows around our house. It doesn't matter how many containers I purchase, they end up all over the floor. One day while browsing blogs, I came across this craft and decided I would head over to the local thrift store and see if I could find some cake pans and candlesticks. I picked up Syd from school so that she could help me pick out the items. From there, we headed over to Ace Hardware to let Syd pick out the color to spray paint the candlesticks along with some E6000 glue. We got home, cleaned everything, spray painted the candlesticks. Then, because I'm one of the most impatient people ever, we started gluing them together that night, one by one. One thing that annoyed me a little was that the glue melted the paint a little, it's fine because no one sees it underneath all the nick nacks Syd has in each of the trays, but it bugs me. The next morning, we had a finished 3-Tiered Stand. I love how they compare it to this $69 version from Pottery Barn (my favorite store ever). Ironically, the tally was probably just a little over $10 with spray paint, glue and the metal buckets included. Not too bad! Plus now it gives us a place to toss her items and it's also made her realize that the coffee table in the great room is her craft table.

All of our supplies, including the purple spray paint that Sydney had such a hard time choosing. Light purple or dark purple. I have to admit, I put the pressure on for the lighter one. She made me promise that if she didn't like it, we'd come back for the dark purple. :)

Don't mind the messy laundry room counter. I promise it doesn't look like that now. Caught me at a bad moment!

Cara & Ray Visit AZ

It's not very often that our friends come to visit, so it's pretty exciting when they do! Ray and Cara tease us with talks of moving out to AZ. We'd be so excited if they did, I'd probably stalk them. Hmm maybe I shouldn't say that before they actually decide on it. They marked it as being in their three year plan. Here's to hoping! They came down to Tucson from Scottsdale and we headed over to La Encantada for some sushi, gelato and shopping!

Some photos before dinner. Syd insisted she be in the photo too. She ADORED Cara.



Me and Cara (LOVE)

Chris and Ray getting gelato. Broke Ray's gelato cherry.



So cute!



Everyone needs to ride the turtles at La Encantada



Aww, not wanting them to leave!



One last sunset photo



Because we were so bummed, I took a day off of work and Syd and I went up to Scottsdale to hang out at the pool with Cara and Ray before they headed back to Chicago. Syd getting ready to get her swim on.



It's hard being THIS Hollywood



Syd scared to death since her previous time she went down, she was with Cara......who didn't lift her in the air and went straight under. Needless to say, she was a little shaken up. Cara decided she didn't want to go down with Syd again. Haha



Then she realized it's pretty fun when she stays above the water and Mom is the one that goes under.



We had sooo much fun, it was sad leaving. So, we prolonged it when we realized Syd left a blue crayon in her car seat all day. Came back to a steaming hot car with melted wax allll over. Was lovely. Ray and Cara saved the day and now, I never leave home without moist facial towels in my purse. Those babies got the crayon right out. Thank you Cara and Ray!!

So Much Cuteness

This kid is just adorable. Simply adorable!

Make it & Bake it

I remember doing these when I was little. The little Make it & Bake it suncatcher kits. I couldn't resist when I saw these at Michael's to buy for Syd. She had so much fun making her planet! It looks amazing up on our window. It was a little bit intricate, so I had to help her But she had a lot of fun doing it on her own!

Water Gun Wars

We gave away water gun's in the favor bags of Syd's birthday party at Pump It Up. Since then, Chris and Syd have developed this daily routine where one person hides and the other searches for them. When the person is found, it's a full on water fight. It's hysterical and Chris always says that she won when they're finished, yet every time Syd comes in, her head is soaking wet. Chris, however, is slightly damp. :)

Viva Las Vegas

Syd had been begging to go to Vegas for her birthday for the last several months. She's the only four year old I know that asks to head to this destination for their special day. Most are Chuck E. Cheese or a water park, just something more kid related. Yet our kid asks for Vegas. If you've never taken a kid there, then you may not know all the amazing things there are to do with kids. In fact, it's extremely kid friendly and so many things to do and see. We love it! Syd and I try to tag along on Chris's work trips there. Sadly, they aren't that often anymore. Hoping that changes here again shortly! This trip, was actually on our way home from Utah, so we paid for one night in Vegas ourselves. The great thing about this was that we had 100% of Chris's time. He didn't have to run off and work at all, so we were able to head down to the pool as a family.

As soon as we got to our room, we had to check out the balcony, which was rather bright.



The next morning Chris wanted to head over to the main MGM pool, Wet Republic. Relaxin in the super hot hot tub.



Mom and Syd dryin off. Holy, in need of a haircut, Erin (which happened right after we got back).



I went into a little frenzy about the big pool not having umbrellas. Sooo, we packed up and went back to our pool, which was doing the same $30 for an umbrella on the weekend. I love Vegas so much more during the week than on the weekend. Chris kept trying to tell Syd that the hot tub was all about relaxing.



She kept trying to tell him, the hot tub was all about washing his face/hair.



Chilly Willy



For lunch before we hit the road, we decided on Rain Forest Cafe. Syd started off scared, and it only got worse once we got inside. Sigh



After lunch, we headed down to M&M World. On the way there, Syd spotted Elmo. She exclaimed "Can I hug him?" So Chris brings her over and she goes right into a mini panic attack. Typical.



Syd went bananas when she saw the wall of M&M's. She asked if she could have a bag and started filling it up with her choice of colors. Chris turned his head for onnneee second and BAM the bag was a quarter of the way full. If you're curious, we'll show you what a $25 bag of M&M's look like.



On the way to Prescott, Syd asked if she could rest her eyes. This is what Vegas does to a girl who doesn't nap anymore. Love how she still weaves her fingers through the holes of her blanket.

Zion National Park, Utah

Chris went to a big golf outing for work our last day in Utah, so Syd and I decided to check out the Zion National Park. Everyone kept saying how beautiful it is and that it's a must-see tourist stop. Right up our alley! Zion is Utah's first national park. What's amazing is how beautiful the towering cliffs that completely surround you as you stand in the small narrow canyon. These unique sandstone cliffs range in color from cream, to pink, to red. They could be described as sand castles crowning desert canyons. It's absolutely beautiful and is extremely hard to even relay in photos and words. I was pretty bummed that Syd and I didn't have any time to take the tour to all the waterfalls and scenic views. Next time.

Syd at Zion National Park

Super happy that she was able to purchase a book all about the weather and how to read the clouds, I got her to pose for me before we had to leave.

Syd was starving, so we stopped at this adorable little sandwich shop that sold healthy little meals. I loved it! Can't really complain about the view either.

Syd even made a friend. They hung out and played with the little girl's puppy. It was adorable. So adorable that Syd didn't want to eat until the little girl went home.

St. George, Utah

Syd and I tagged along with Chris on a work trip to St. George Utah. No work for Syd and I though, just a much-needed vacation. Was extremely exciting for Syd to meet a few of Chris' co-workers and to see a little bit of what her Dad does when he's gone. They had a huge truck convention going on, so Syd and I stopped by. Syd got an awesome "I love trucks" pin that Chris put on her dress and she instantly became the hit of the convention. Everyone that saw her went bananas over it.

After the convention, we headed over to the Dinosaur Museum in town. The St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm displays some of the oldest and best-preserved tracks in the world. Dinosaur tracks were discovered on the farm in February, 2000. The site is in the early stages of scientific study - so far more than 1,000 tracks have been found within a 10-acre area. Most were made by Dilophosaurus-like creatures and are three-toed, 13-18 inches long. There are also some smaller tracks and researchers have identified skin prints and impressions made by tail drags and swimming movements. The tracks were found in large slabs of sandstone from the Moenave Formation, dating back some 205 million years to the beginning of the dinosaur era.

Most of the tracks are actually "negative impression" casts that appear as bumps on the stone. The area was the bottom of an ancient freshwater lake in the center of the super-continent Pangea. Footprints left in the mud filled with silt and sand, and more sand was deposited over the top. The mixture eventually solidified into sandstone and mudstone, forming the casts. Now, when the slabs are flipped over, the casts appear, much like Jell-O popping out of a mold.

They have one set of actual dinosaur bones in the museum and were hosting a contest to name it. Syd submitted her entry of "Rainbow" surely we'll be notified shortly that she won.

Here are the swim tracks

The 52,000 pound block directly in front of Sydney, is the largest single-track block in any museum in the world. The block has 49 individual tracks on it but more importantly, many of the tracks are in rows - made by a single animal walking in a line. These footprints are called trackways and they provide information about how the trackmaker moved.

 

All this dinosaur talk had syd itching to go dig up her own. So off to the dinosaur sandbox we went to find some bones!

After the Museum, we went past the St. George LDS Temple. Syd kept calling it a castle and couldn't understand why we couldn't go inside. :)

After the temple, we decided to go head-to-head with a little mini golf. Syd had such a blast playing (and cheating).

An example of said "cheating" or maybe we'll call it "practicing"

Hot Rollers and Strawberries

I bought some new hot rollers and Syd was begging for me to try them on her. Since they're rather large, they just added a little wave to her hair. She loved it though and kept staring at herself. She headed out into our garden and picked a handful of strawberries. I washed and cut them all up for her and she insisted I take her pic, so here it is! :)

Sydney & Dominic's Goodbye Date

Spring of 2010 Sydney was in a class with Dominic at school. Something with these two just clicked. She came home from school talking about him all the time, calling him her "boyfriend." Then last summer in her cubbie at school, there was an invitation to Dominic's birthday party. The two were absolutely adorable together the entire afternoon. They swam, they splashed each other in the pool, they laughed and they got shy. Dom stopped going to her school, but they never forgot about each other. It was kind of crazy because Sydney forgets people she meets a few weeks later, but Dominic makes her blush even if I haven't said his name in weeks. I use his name when I really need her to give me an adorable smile, like school photos. Works like a charm.

We've had a few play dates with Dom and Syd, but then heard that Dom and his family were moving to Pittsburgh pretty quickly. When I broke the news to Syd, she was hysterical. Huge alligator tears. We quickly arranged a play date a few days before they moved so that the two could hang out one last time and say their goodbyes.



On their last playdate, Dom busted out his wheels and took Syd for a (slow) ride around the house.



Syd & Dominic





A little wrestling before head out for their dinner date



This photo cracks me up. The look on Dom's face is priceless



The kids had so much fun at dinner, just talking, sitting close and being with each other.



All good things must come to an end and when the dinner was over, it was time to say goodbye



Syd was so sad when we got in the car, she was crying hysterically. At least she was able to sneak a last smooch in before he left.



We're going to keep in touch and write Dominic a lot of letter. Hopefully they'll get to see each other again soon.