4th of July

I was really looking forward to going to my old hometown parade. This is the parade our family was in every year growing up. We would get all the Karl Webb descendants and pile on the big flat bed trailer pulled by the logging truck. We would do things like play water balloon volleyball on the back and throw the water balloons out into the audience or hand out cups of homemade ice-cream.
It was so nice to wake up and not have to leave really early to save spots along the parade route. Anath's in-laws had parked their RV near the sidewalk and set up canopies and chairs the night before. All we had to do was show up in time for the parade.
I found some fun shirts at Walmart the night before that were red and blue and were perfect for our road trip. Everything really is better in Arizona, right?!

Before the parade even started Harrison had found the cooler of Otterpops and we spent the rest of the morning trying to hide them from him. After all was said and done I think he had eaten 6. James kept begging for Otterpops and wanting to eat his parade candy. My 3 yr old nephew Jarom threw up from all the junk he ate which I conveniently used to show James what could happen if we ate too much.

Something you would only see in an Arizona parade are the Indian Crown Dancers. They used to come to our Elementary school and dance when we were growing up. They were actually kind of scary when I think about it, wearing those hoods and lunging at young elementary kids.


One of James' favorite parade entries was the sanitation district and it's motorized garbage can doing wheelies.

The boys were both in awe of the race car driving by and revving its engine really loud.
Most of the floats handed out candy instead of tossing it. It usually resulted in the kids mobbing the person looking like panhandlers.

The Sonic Coney Dog didn't escape the attack either and all he was handing out was coupons!

After the parade we came home and cooked hotdogs and ate watermelon. We had four of my siblings here for the holiday- Maylene and her family (they live close by in ShowLow), Darrel and his sons from Las Vegas, and then Rollin and Anath from Gilbert. It made for quite the party.
We made two big freezers of homemade ice-cream which is a 4th of July tradition. My mom had big gallon bags of crushed oreos left over from my nephew Russel's wedding reception last week so we added them in. Amazing! Who knew cookies and cream ice-cream could be so amazing?! The recipe is simple- 3 cups sugar, 1 qt cream, 1 Tbs vanilla and fill to the line with milk. Then half way we added the crushed cookies. Harrison and James had fun helping me add ice to the freezer when it was turning.


That night we drove to Rollin's in-law's house in ShowLow because they live right behind the school where the fireworks were launched. Harrison fell asleep right before we got there so we just left him in the car. We lay out on the grass and had a great view of the show and didn't have to fight the crowds or traffic. As much as we do things for our kids like dragging them out late at night to see fireworks, James almost fell asleep and then only wanted to eat the m&m's Rollin's family brought. We changed him into his pjs before we left and he was asleep within minutes of getting in the car.
It was a long, fun day and it's so wonderful we live in the free country we do.

Always adventure at Grandpa Buzz's house

I am now 24 weeks pregnant and feeling great. The traveling really hasn't bothered me and I'm still out running (okay, more like jogging) three times a week. I went to my favorite chiropractor in Snowflake, Dr. Bowman, and he really worked me over. He kept asking how I was able to even walk in to his office since my hip and back were really out. Jeff was nervous of me going when I was pregnant but it was totally fine. I just wish I lived closer so I didn't just visit him once a year when I come to Arizona.


The day after we arrived my dad put Jeff to work helping him rebuild the water slide. Last summer the slide was just carpet over dirt with plastic on top with dirt built up to make the sides. This time my dad wanted to whole slide lined on the bottom with big wood boards he milled and then edged with scrap 2x2 wood pieces. James even got in on the action helping drill the holes to put the screws into the wood.
They went dumpster diving to find old carpet at the local carpet store and covered all the wood to pad it. The top was then covered with plastic and screwed into the wood sides.
My dad was hoping to have it done before we got here but he had a recent relapse and got really sick after he went to boy scout camp with my brother's kids. They were burning all sorts of plastics and cans in the fire and the chemicals made him really sick and he thought he might even have had a stroke. He was feeling much better when we got here which was a relief.

My dad had Jeff move the tractor that was holding up the zip line so we could extend the water slide. Jeff got a kick out of the method of popping the clutch to start it and even got to take the tractor for a spin around the field.


James was running around outside and having a grand old time. My dad had the thought to move his big iron stands he welded to hold planter boxes into the greenhouse before someone got hurt. BAM....James ran smack into the end of one and got his eye. It had a small cut and got progressively more purple but James didn't seem to mind after the initial pain was over.


So much dirt! The boys can't get enough of being outside and playing in the dirt. I've given up trying to even keep their faces washed until it's time for bed. Baths are mandatory each night to keep up with their black feet and all over filth. I even had to go buy a big bottle of stain spray just to keep up with their clothes.

Fresh Mountain Air

We left Gilbert Tuesday afternoon and decided to drive through Globe to get up to Lakeside since Jeff had never driven that way. We usually go through Payson since it's a wider road and doesn't wind around as much. However, Jeff was complaining about his eyes hurting so I took over driving and immediately he and the boys were asleep until we reached the Salt River Canyon so he missed most of the drive anyway.
We were about an hour away from Lakeside when it clouded over and we saw huge bolts of lightning. Then we hit a huge downpour of wonderful, refreshing mountain rain! That smell, that wonderful smell of rain here that is so unlike Oregon. I think it's from the rain falling on actual dirt, not like in Oregon when it rains on lush undergrowth. That smell brought back so many memories and I really felt like I was coming home. I wish I could bottle the smell of fresh rain and keep it with me.

This picture was taken at the Mogollon Rim overlook near my parents house.
We got in just before 7pm and my mom was rushing out the door to a Relief Society meeting where they were learning how to use digital cameras. I decided to go since we just got a Cannon Digital Rebel and I really don't know how to do anything but use the auto mode. It turned out to be really informative and I learned a lot about my camera. I did struggle to stay focused (and awake!) after an hour of sitting since I was so tired.

Splash Park

We took Anath to Costco since she doesn't have a card and it was a good excuse to get out of the house. We stepped out of the van into the parking lot and it was like the heat was just sucking the energy out of me. Just standing outside on the sidewalk would burn your feet.
On Tuesday, our last morning in Gilbert, we drove to the splash park at Tempe Beach near ASU. We got there before the water turned on so we had to take the kids on a super hot walk. They were pretty crabby by the time we got back to the park but the cool water was a great remedy.


Paige cooling off in a stream of water.


Anika loved to be dumped on by the big bucket. Only the older kids were brave enough to play under this water feature.
Jarom was fearless when it came to anything water. He didn't mind getting splashed in the face and loved to play under this spraying frog.
It took some convincing but we finally got James to run through the frog by bribing him with Smarties. Then he forgot about the treat and kept going through it.

I think you have to take your kids to places like this in the summer if you live here in order to survive the heat! I wish we had one in Oregon but it wouldn't see much use for 8 months of the year.

Sweltering HEAT

I just don't understand how anyone would choose to live in the Phoenix area. My sister said living through the hot summer months is worth it for the pleasant winters but I don't know if I buy into that logic. We happened to be in Gilbert the week the temperatures soared and got to 111 degrees. We pretty much stayed inside with all the blinds down in the air conditioning. Thank goodness Anath has a pool because we would have gone stir crazy being stuck inside all day every day.
The day after we got to Gilbert we met up with Jeff's Aunt Janice (his mom's sister) and her husband Von. We went out to lunch at La Pinata which was really yummy Mexican food. She was so great to even go to Carolina's and pick us up fresh tortillas for us to have since eating there would have been difficult since we had kids and it was the lunch rush. Carolina's is a hole in the wall kind of place but supposedly it's THE place for Mexican food. If their tortillas are any indication of the food I believe it, they were so yummy!
We hadn't seen Aunt Janice and Uncle Von since our wedding reception over 5 years ago. They had fun meeting our kids and getting a kick out of James and his antics. Needless to say we stuffed ourselves with delicious food and had some fun laughs.
Anath has a dog named Cricket and Harrison loved to play with her. He would always try to feed her anything he was eating and would giggle if she licked his hand. He kept playing with the water bowl in her cage and one morning he actually crawled inside. I'm thinking we should invest in one of these.
On Monday for Family Home Evening we had a Pizza Pool Party with my brother Rollin and his family and my niece Emily's family. We did build your own pizzas and then grilled them on the BBQ. The kids were in heaven because with it being potluck we ended up with three desserts- strawberry shortcake, chocolate frosted chocolate cake, and super fudgey peanut butter brownies.The whole gang cooling off in the pool.James' favorite thing to play with was the big bucket for the water toys. Karli loved for him to dump her into the pool. James is getting so much more confident in the water and doesn't need anyone to hold him like did last summer.
Emily and her baby Addyson. They come swimming at Anath's house a few times a week so even being so young Addy loves the water.
Harrison really wasn't a fan of the water and if you had him anywhere near an edge he'd try to climb out. We finally just let him play on the deck and he loved to throw the baseball to people, especially Uncle Rollin for some reason.

Silly neices- Anika, Karli, Emma and Makenna strking a pose for the camera.

Last Day

We found out we could check out of our hotel room but keep our car parked in their lot until 3pm so we didn't feel so rushed to hurry back. We were late getting going in the morning after we packed the car and checked out so Jeff grabbed a bagel and went to stand in line at the gates while I fed the boys. Our plan was to be at the gate to meet Jeff at 8:30am (the park opens at 9 on Friday) but right when we were leaving James had to go to the bathroom, of course! It turned into a pretty long potty break so by the time we got there Jeff had to let people pass him because they had already started taking tickets. We decided to take advantage of the Ride Max tip and walk through the shops that all connect and end up in the store right at the front where the rope is. About 50 other people knew of the same tip so we all stood packed by the doors waiting. It worked great because there was a pretty short line at Peter Pan when we got there. While Jeff and James rode the Matterhorn I raced all the way down to Splash Mountain and picked up Fast Passes. I just kept collecting Fast Passes right when we were eligible (you usually have to wait one hour) so we could get all our big rides in since we were planning to leave at 1pm. We rode Buzz Light Year for the last time and Jeff had read on the internet about a secret place to zap Zorg on his chest to get lots of points. He ended up with a score of 1, 094,900 when we had been averaging about 300,000. He was ranked 6th for the day for the entire park!

James and Harrison outside of the Alice in Wonderland ride. Jeff and James made it back from Big Thunder Mountain just in time to hop in line with Harrison and I. It was the only time all week that we had been line cutters so we didn't feel too guilty.
Harrison loved Casey Jr. Train and riding in the cage car.
Harrison and I spent a lot of time riding the Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh ride since it was right across from Splash Mountain which we couldn't ride. By the last day Harrison didn't want to sit on my lap and was brave enough sitting by himself next to me.
We tried to eat a quick lunch but it took us a long time to decide on a place since I really wanted a sandwich and not another burger. The crowd was extra big today and we found out it was the first blackout day of the summer for season pass holders so this was the first big day of the summer. I didn't feel so bad leaving early since it was hotter today than it had been all week and way more people. My feet really hurt as well from wearing shoes and not my comfy flip flops. I made Jeff stop on our way out at the shops and buy our buys t-shirts so we left with some sort of souvenir for them.
We were so tired and ready to just be on the road to Phoenix. Then we hit Southern California traffic! What a way to start our 6 hour trip by sitting in stop and go traffic for an hour and a half. We got through that mess and both boys took long naps and the rest of the trip went pretty smooth. We stopped at the border at Blythe and ate at McDonald's. We just let the boys run around and the indoor playland and not worry about them eating since they had been cooped up in the car for so long. It was a pretty weird town and we saw some crazies while we ate. One guy up front with long, scraggly gray hair was holding a conversation with himself. Harrison drank so many caprisuns that he had wet shorts when we took him out so he was running around in just a diaper. We looked like a pretty ghetto family so maybe we fit right in!
We got to my sister Anath's house in Gilbert at 10pm taking us about 7 1/2 hours. We stepped out of the air conditioned car and into the extreme Arizona heat but at least we had arrived.

Day 4- back to Disneyland

We headed back to Disneyland and were the first in line at opening again. However, today was an early entry day for those with Magic Morning passes (we already used ours) so we had to watch as what seemed like tons of people streaming through the gates. We wondered how this would affect our Ride Max schedule but we found it was right on the mark. We were in front again for the rope drop and were amazed that Magic Morning people were just barely getting there and wasting their whole extra hour in the park. At the rope drop the happy song "Time of Your Life..." played and we waved to the cast members wearing their big puffy Mickey Mouse glove. It just felt so fun and exciting and magical, not like what we experienced at California Adventure.
We were on our way to beat the rush to Peter Pan when all of a sudden my flip flop didn't feel right. I looked down and the middle strap between the toes had pulled through the rubber so there was nothing holding it secure to my foot! I just picked it up and speed walked with one shoe on to get to the line. While we waited for the our ride I tried to figure out how to fix it but there was no way. I didn't want to spend $9.95 for cheap Mickey Mouse flip flops that I would never wear again so I figured out I could walk with one shoe off to the ride and when it came time to board I would slip it on and shuffle. I did this all morning for 4 1/2 hours until we went back to the hotel. Needless to say my foot was pretty gross and needed a good soaking in the tub.
All week our kids never asked or begged for anything. I started to feel bad we hadn't bought them a single thing other than basic lunch and dinner so I got suckers for each of them. They were the unicorn pops that twisted around the stick. They went to town and had stickiness all over their hands, faces and shirts but they were super cute!




We spent the morning riding all our favorites like Peter Pan and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad before the lines were too crazy. We were all exhausted so we went back to our room and everyone slept for 3 hours again. I wish James would take naps like this regularly! At 4pm we headed back to the park and were told Disneyland would be closing at 9pm to accommodate a Graduation Night event. What a bummer to have our last night close early! I was hoping to take advantage of the crowd watching the Fantasmic show and leaving the ride lines shorter. We still rode all of our favorite rides thanks to the Fast Passes I would collect while James and Jeff rode things I couldn't. We even rode the little rides we previously skipped like the Storybook Canal boats, which were actually pretty cool at night. I was surprised at how much I liked the little kid rides like Casey Jones train since I rode them a lot with Harrison while we waited for Jeff and James on the bigger rides.
We got out of Buzz Light year and had time for one more ride so we waited for the Astro Orbiter in Tomorrowland. The fireworks started and from where we were we had a great view of the castle and saw Dumbo and Tinkerbell fly across the sky. James really loved the fireworks and was so animated talking about it. We were the last group to ride the flying spaceships and it was neat to be up high and see the lights of Disneyland at night. We were even lucky to catch a random light show at the nearby grotto area where the Tinkerbell meet and greet is held. Different colored lights came on and off to music and even the trees lit up in twinkling patterns. Disney just has a way of adding a special touch to everything and those who happen to catch them feel extra special too.
It was a great conclusion to our last full day at the park. We rushed back to the hotel and threw the kids in the tub for record fast baths. I was tempted to just put them in bed but Harrison had matted ketchup in his hair from lunch and I knew we wouldn't have time in the morning. You know your kids are tired when they immediately go get in their beds on their own after their pajamas are on!
These are the Mickey Mouse pajamas I made them as a Disneyland surprise.