Laura Experiences Park Day

Laura was lucky enough to catch a park day while she was here visiting (she is now, as we speak, back in the bosom of her family).

This particular park day was at Papago Park in Tempe, just across the freeway from ASU.

If you look closely enough, you can see "A" Mountain on the right and the ASU football stadium on the left.

I managed to convince Laura to climb high enough on the rocks to see the view.


The boys, however, climbed a bit higher than we did. If you squint just right, you can see my two boys and their friend, Walden, high up on the side of the hill.

After park day, we all ended up at our favorite vegan restaurant, Green. Julie was celebrating her 14th birthday (it's actually today), so a bunch of the teenagers came along. Laura actually seemed to kinda like her vegan meal ("It's not what I expected, but it was good").

The kids got a little crazy, but in a good way. We commemorated Julie's pre-birthday celebration dinner with a group photo. That's Julie in the middle with the green water bottle.

It was a nice way to end Laura's visit. I'm busily planning for our trip to Houston next Spring!

Knitting

My mom and sister are really good at all the crafty stuff. I, unfortunately, did not get that particular gene. Michael and Annie have wanted to learn how to knit for a long time, and I have not been able to teach them (Jay, apparently, does not have the crafty gene, either). Anyway, Aunt Laura turned out to be a very good teacher

They actually started and completed their projects during Laura's short visit. They each made a pouch. Michael's fits his Magic Cards just right and Annie's turned out to be a pouch for her doll to carry. If you look really closely, you can see the finished pouches in the next picture.

Laura made all of us gifts. She made ponchos for Annie, herself, and me. She made caps for the boys. They are all quite nice!

Michael really likes his cap. He's thinking here about how warm his ears will be when he goes skating and to Jay's hockey games.

Unfortunately, Jay's cap was not quite finished. I'm sure he'll cheer up when he receives his finished cap in the mail in a couple of weeks!

Fun with Sisters

So Laura and I decided to go to Old Town Scottsdale to look for some turquoise jewelry for her. After shopping for a while, we thought it would be nice to go for dinner at AZ 88 at the Civic Center to celebrate our birthdays (mine just past, hers coming soon).



As you can see, it was a lovely evening. But Laura really did need to check out the bathroom before we left.



It was a kind of strange bathroom, don't you agree? I mean, you could watch yourself from every angle doing . . . whatever it is you do when you're in a bathroom. And in pink, no less. And yes, that was Laura opening up the stall door on some poor, unsuspecting, older lady from -- was that a New York accent? You may just have to watch the video again to decide.

More fun with Laura

Laura asked for me to take her to the Desert Botanical Gardens today and I was more than happy to do so.

Since we had just been there on my birthday, the boys decided to stay home.

The monarchs display is still going for another week, I think. No butterflies landed on us today, though.


We had a girly lunch at the cafe (strawberry chicken salad for Laura, hummus and roasted vegetables for Annie and me, lemonade for all) and then continued with our walk.

Annie and Laura even got to pet a king snake.

Now we're on to knitting lessons. It's movie and pizza night, too. I don't know if Aunt Laura will be able to stand all the excitement around here!

Sister Love

We've been looking forward to this trip since July, I think. Aunt Laura is a big favorite with all of the Gardner-Hajeks and she hasn't been to visit us since Annie was really little (that's not to say we haven't seen her, because we have -- just not in Phoenix)

Annie saw Aunt Laura and got the first hug of the visit! The plane was actually 30 minutes early, so we met Laura at the baggage claim.

Here's Laura finally getting her suitcase.

Tim and Jay went to the ASU football game, but the rest of us went for a walk around the neighborhood and then out for Greek food. Then the kids watched a movie (Laura says she watched it, too, but there was a distinct snoring sound coming from her couch, so I don't know what to think). Then some sister talk before bed.

Life is good.

Puppy Love

For my birthday last week, Tim told me he thought it was time for us to get a puppy. We wasted no time looking! My requirements for a dog is that it must not shed, it must be smart, and it can't be a tiny dog. Standard poodles seem to fit all of those requirements.

Annie quickly found her favorite. She's the smallest puppy of the litter. Her mother is quite petite, too. She actually would probably be a perfect size for our family (not too big, yet big enough)


Michael dove right in and started holding the puppies. I think he played with all of them.

Both of the boys also liked the little girl, too, but Annie wouldn't let anyone bother her once she fell asleep in Annie's arms!


We wore them all out!

They will be temperament tested next week and we will finalize which one we will bring home. We will be able to bring one home in early December.

For Schmutz

This is the scariest music I have.