Sender's Name: UTAH

The other day we missed the mail man dropping off a package.. and all it said on the pick up slip was "Sender's Name: UTAH." I was so bummed that I had missed it!! AND to make matters worse, it was on a Friday that he came, so that meant that I had to wait until MONDAY to go pick it up from the post office.. But finally Monday rolled around. :)

Turned out it was a fun filled package from my sister, Jessica! It was the BEST! Among the fun things were (to mention a few) MY VERY OWN BIRTHDAY BOARD(!!!), a Valentine's Day craft, a kit to make my very own super-cute St. Patrick's Day craft, a prayer rug (yes, a prayer rug), a wonderful pamphlet on the family--which all families should have and use, and check it out--- BATH TOYYYYYSSSSS!

For the longest time, Jess had heard me complain that poor Nathan had the most pathetic selection of bath toys. SO! To my surprise, she sent a plethora of bath toys for Nathan! What FUN!

He had so many toys, he didn't know where to start!
(This one is mainly so that you can see his tan arms-- I think he's got a bit of a farmer's tan going on...) But then the real fun began: BATH FIZZY TABLET THINGS THAT COLOR THE WATER!
He didn't know what to think at first... And he kept looking to Freddy and I with this same stunned look.

Then what do you do? You catch it.
Awww man! It was all done fizzing and Nathan wanted MORE. All. night. long. all he wanted was more. (In this picture he was signing "all gone" to us...) We had to put the package up in the medicine cabinet because he wanted more. He didn't forget about them. He still wanted more. In fact, every time we go into the bathroom he points to the medicine cabinet and signs "more." Funny kid--
But the funniest thing was that the next morning, he walked into the bathroom and--HEY!!! LOOK AT ALL THESE TOYS!?!!?? WOOOOWWWWW!!! CHECK THIS OUT!! MOM!! DAD!!! WWWWOWWW!! He discovered them all. over. again. :D AND! He's done it every morning since. Thanks, Jess!

Family Weekend, Part 3: Dough Ball 101

One of our new favorite restaurants is a pizza bistro called Oregano's. It's a really fun place, and even more important, has delicious pizza.

And to entertain the kiddos, while the pizza cooks, they bring out a dough ball for them to play with. So, for your viewing pleasure, Nathan's provided us with strict methodology on how to eat/use a dough ball properly.

DOUGH BALL 101

First and foremost: be very skeptical. Especially if it's your first dough ball experience, you want to proceed with the utmost levels of extreme caution.

Ahhh, what the heck?! Just jump right in with both feet!*
It's important to have someone near by, such as a dad or other responsible adult, to keep you from ingesting it all at once.
Particularly because you'll learn very quickly that raw dough is not every bit as delicious as it looks.
Thank you, Nathan, for sharing with us your firsthand knowledge of dough balls.

What a fun weekend together as a family.. :)

*This is, by far, one of my favorite pictures of Nathan. I can't look at it without laughing! It's got to be his tongue.. SO funny!

Family Weekend, Part 2: Dragon Boat Races

On Saturday, we went out to Tempe, right across from ASU, to watch the annual Dragon Boat Races. It was pretty incredible! Several of the teams were comprised of cancer survivors and their families...
And Nathan really, really wanted me to let him play in the water.
Who will win!? (You can see the ASU stadium in the background).
Nathan, look! Nathan... Nathan! NATHAN LOOK! {Rolls eyes.}

And, it was suuuper windy by the water.. hence, the hair. :\

We didn't stay for all the races-- they had like, oh forty-five or so just that day. But we did see enough to feel like it was worthy of posting on our blog. And that's plenty. (I just wished that we could have rowed with them. I was like, hey--- I want to play too.) And that's dragon boat racing. :)

Family Weekend, Part 1: Let's PLAY BALL!

To start off our Fun Filled Family Weekend of Adventure, we went to watch the Dodgers play the Colorado Rockies at Camelback Ranch, here in Glendale! Spring training goes on all of March, so I'm sure we'll be coming to more games in years to come, too. :)

The complex is suuuuper nice--- you'd have no idea you were in a hot, desert wasteland. ;-) And the game was that much better because the tickets were freeeeee! (My kind of pricing!)

We had to keep a close eye on Nathan though-- he kept wanting to throw his baseball onto the field. That's a one way ticket outtttta there.

Nathan and Freddy had tons of fun playing around...
It was a beautiful day to go watch a baseball game!
And the sun finally got to him-- he was out!And here we are leaving during the 8th inning because we were losing 0-5. Seemed like a good idea to beat the traffic out of the parking lot, right? Later that night I heard Freddy in the other room on the computer, "NO WAY!! You have GOT to be KIDDING me?!" Turned out the Dodgers WON, 7-5! They got SEVEN runs, all in the ninth inning. Boy, did we learn our lesson!

Fun day at the baseball game-- and the weekend was only beginning!