Audrey's week-long 6th birthday

With Audrey's friend party scheduled for this weekend, we just did a family lunch at Peter Piper Pizza on the big day. It was very low key, unlike the skating party this morning (I will post pics of that funess later... I mean soon!). This is Audrey learning to hold her birthday quarters in her eye sockets, another important lesson by Dad.

My parents sent a Fashion Designer toy. I think we all had one of these as a child - where you can switch up the skirt, top, shoes and hair of the model, then slide a crayon of the paper and make a rubbing... so fun! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!

My parents also sent this great bead kit - Audrey is a natural at designing beautiful necklaces!

Jeremiah also enjoyed himself at Audrey's party - he loves those pizza crusts. I can't believe he's already 8 months. He's not crawling yet and we're really okay with that.

Bennett before we gave him any pizza.

Audrey showing off the Tinkerbell watch we gave her.

We came home for cake and ice cream and the rest of the presents which was way easier than hauling it all with us.

Audrey has been so great to have at home for the last few weeks. She seems so much more grown up than when we sent her off to Kindergarten last fall. She's happy and usually finds something to read or a journal entry to write when she has some time to herself. She's also been extreemly helpful to me as Jeremiah's biggest fan! She's learning to change diapers (at her request) and is great at entertaining him. Audrey's on the YMCA swim team which practices every day and competes about once a week. So far it's been a great experience for her (more pics of that to come too!). Happy Birthday Audrey!!!

All we do is play at the zoo

Some may think we spend each and every day at the zoo. This is not the case, but the zoo is where we often remember to bring our camera. We caught about an hour of this zoo member appreciation night a couple weeks ago. There was a lot of waiting in lines and mud puddle jumping from all the water slide run off, but we had a great time - the kids had the chance to get dirty, which Audrey tells me is "there job" and Rob & I were happy to enjoy some free entertainment! Below are Audrey, her friend Emma and Bennett, waiting patiently to climb the steep steps up to one of the water slides.

Waiting again, after a couple runs. Imagine that, shivering in Phoenix.

Playing on the splash park near the live band pavillion... happy times.

First Haircut

Jeremiah had his first haircut on Friday. It's always kind of a sad event because of the whole growing up thing - but trust me, it needed to be done. He's such a fun baby; babbling like crazy, sucking on everything and smiling at anyone who glances his way.

We took these on the front lawn this morning but had to cut our photo session short when the ants started marching... and biting. Love livin in the desert!

Play Date

Princess Audrey and her friend Princess Sabrina had fun ruling the kingdom today. They graduate from Kindergarten this Friday. Where does the time go?

A visit from Grandma Swan

My wonderful mom was here for nearly two weeks and I can only assume we were too busy playing (which includes cleaning and taking care of kids) to take any pictures. A huge thank you to both her and my Dad for making the sacrifice for her to come visit. It was especially fun to take her with us to Yuma to celebrate a beautiful Easter with Rob's folks!

Another highlight from my mom's visit was when Rob and I left the not-so-good sailors with her and took the boat out again for a much more relaxing, less terrifying sailing expedition. It was important for us to "get back on the horse" shortly after our difficult first experience.
We had a great time at the zoo on one of her days here. We snatched Audrey from school for a family field trip. It was perfect weather once again (not trying to come across as bragging). Where is my mom in our group photo you ask? Um, taking the picture.

This is the Little People Discover Farm section of the zoo. It caters mostly to, well, the little people.

Now quack like a duck you guys!

Saaailin'.... takes me away...

Rob has had a dream for as long as I've known him to be a sailor. Actually, to sail around the world - but we're not going to address that just yet. I'm sure my brother Ryan influenced this realization of step one of his dream when we bought a boat a couple months ago. Ryan and his buddies bought an "ocean-going" boat not too long ago in which they plan to sail to Australia.

We had to start small... and cheap. Here are the first photos of the Overtime (the means by which we were able to buy our little vessel) She's a Cortez 16' and worth every bit of her $300.

There's been a lot of learning as Rob cleaned out and sorted through all sorts of odds and ends. We've kept most of it in case we figure out what it's for on down the road. Notice the dark yellow square of original color paint.

Needless to say, the kitties have been very curious. Lots of great smells from sitting in a field for the last 3 years.

Last Thursday we laid plans for a maiden voyage and put the crew to work scrubbing the deck and waxing the paint. We were concerned about fancy boat owners who might poke fun at our fixer-upper.

Remember that dark yellow square?

That night, after the kids were in bed, we hoisted the sails - still in our driveway - just to see how much Rob could remember from his sailing days as a youth. The rigging still seemed pretty uneven and mixed up, but we got the general idea.

We were unable to document our camping trip in the wind storm that nearly swept away our three little children in the tent as we set up camp just before dark Friday evening. Let it be said that there's a good reason we're not co-sleepers with our darlings. We were all up with the sun, packed up and on our way to the other side of the lake where the boat shop is before 8. Rob and the boat repair guys spent several hours fixing the rigging and replacing rusty parts before we launched around noon. Here I am with the kids after successfully getting underway without sinking (my biggest fear being that boat would not be water-tight) and just before all "you know what" broke loose.

With hardly any wind to get us out of the harbor, we were hoping to be able to fill the sails just a little. Within a matter of 15 minutes though, the winds started to pick up. Jeremiah was not loving his lifejacket or the sun, so I sat in the very little cabin with him crying - Audrey and Bennett climbing in and out - in and out. Then suddenly came the gusts of wind and some quick learning of the term "prepare to come about" or just "coming about!!!" as we jumped from side to side to balance the boat. In the end we learned that both of us were needed to control the boat in high winds and perhaps a few more hands to help the children - or maybe no children would be best till we get a bit better in our sailing skills. At one point we leaned far enough for water to spill in from the sides. It was then that we moved quickly to pull in the sails and then hoist just the jib to bring us back to shore. Not a day that any of us will soon forget!

It's a zoo around here!

Here's our outting to the Phoenix Zoo a couple weeks ago. It was absolutely beautiful out - a pleasant 65 and hardly any people to maneuver around. This has to be in my top 3 favorite pics of Jeremiah - not too shabby for a camera phone.

Yes, his eyes really have lightened to this beautiful blue! He's getting so grown up already - Happy 4 months today Jeremiah!

We must be living in the desert to have such a charming slide at the zoo. The kids came shooting out of it like a cannon.

We stopped to watch the lions for quite a while. They were just napping at first but then she wandered over and nuzzled her boyfriend till he got up and gave her a bath. He seemed pretty grumpy at first, but then sweet.

This momma kangaroo was by the wallaby walk-through exhibit... it was fun to see them hop around so close to us!

And finally... Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas, although celebrated a few weeks back like yours, is finally being posted. I love this one of our Princess Audrey with her new My Little Pony and squinty morning eyes. Thanks for the beautiful Sleeping Beauty dress Mom - she loves it!

Bennett donning his new Batman jammies The Santa hat shows that he was the present passer-outer (at least till he got too anxious to find his own presents and someone else was assigned).

Yes, we know Jeremiah was a bullfrog, but he's very versatile - he can also be a reindeer. Thanks Aunt Debby!

Remember Christmas time?

The Kindergarten classes performed 5 precious songs for the their "Christmas Around the World" concert. Audrey loves school and we're so grateful for her teacher, Ms. Peoples. A good teacher makes all the difference.

I think this is when they sang the Dradle song. It was by far their favorite and sung with a lot of enthusiasm.

My cronology is a little off, but the weekend before Christmas we met Rob's folks over at the Mesa temple to see the lights after they did a session. This was before Audrey wandered off (to see the baby Jesus again) causing us to split in 4 directions to track her down for a scary 10 minutes. Surprisingly, we still let her go when Mom Bailey asked to take her home to Yuma for a few days. She loves to be spoiled by her grandparents and to swim in their pool. The new wardrobe was also fun for her since they snatched her up with no warning and only the clothes on her back.

I feel like the hat needs some explanation. Rob crocheted it a couple years ago. He and Bennett are the only ones who have been excited about wearing it since then. We kind of think he looks like mush mouth from Fat Albert. This is 3 generations of Robert Bennett Baileys pic.