Happy Birthday to Me And A Few Other Things.....

So we are sitting on our back patio, swimming, doing the blog and listening to the reports of tornados in our old neighborhood in Denver.  We are once again happy to be back in Tucson!

We will just jump right into things here- I have a lot to report!

We had a nice three day weekend last weekend at Aravaipa Canyon.  It is about 3 hours from our house and the only perennial stream running in Arizona.  The Nature Conservancy owns an old ranch house on the banks of the creek and we stayed there with three other families and had a fabulous time.

Mom was all excited because we had to cross the creek several times to get to the cabin- exactly the thing her Subi was designed for.  This was much better than driving in snow drifts.  Yee-haw!

We got there around 2 and made a bee-line for the creek where we spent hours and hours trying to catch minnows, tadpoles and gross things that looked like giant water ticks.  Those grossed mom out completely and somehow, our pail full of gross water things got "accidentally" knocked over in the night.  Hmmmmmm.

These are the ladies out enjoying their wine....

while the boys are in the kitchen whipping up dinner and enjoying their beer.  All was right with the world!

On Saturday, we managed to get everyone rounded up and out the door for a hike.  This hike is almost all in the stream which was absolutely perfect because it was 96 degrees.  The water made everything better.

Dad even found this cool cave opening for us to check out....

 We got back early Sunday afternoon- just in time for dad to pack up for his first work trip since we moved back.  This trip was to Dallas which is awesomely close compared to Norway.  Dad was talking to some of his old co-workers in Denver and since we've left, they have been to Norway twice and Australia once.  We're feeling like we dodged a bullet on those.

My last day of school was last Friday and it was a fun day.  We said all our goodbyes, made plans to see each other over the summer and then ran off on our merry way.

Here are some more pictures of Devil Dog, Ginger.  We seem to be making some progress- mom hasn't had any fits in the last two weeks and Devil Dog, Ginger seems to be settling down a bit.  We have had fewer days when mom wants to hang a sign around Ginger's neck that says "Free to a good home" and put her on the corner and more days when she thinks we might actually keep her.  She is kind of cute...

We took her to a "puppy kindergarten" on Sunday where she got to play like a mad woman with other puppies her age.  It wore her out for the rest of the day, which is always a good thing!

So now- the important stuff!  Me!  And my birthday!  On Sunday, I officially turned 8!  I had my friend Lily spend the night and we went to Pinnacle Peak for steak, then to play miniature golf and finally home for cake.  Mom and I found this awesome Kit Kat Cake and ordered it for my birthday.  It is a two layer chocolate cake with Kit Kats all around and mini M&Ms on top.  It was delicious but even dad may have met his match when it come to chocolate.  It was a little over the top but totally worth it.

Sadly, it looks like my birthday month is coming to an end but it was totally cool while it lasted.  Hope everyone has a fabulous week and we'll see you in a few days!

Birthday Month!

It's May and you know what that means- it's my birthday month!!  You know how we like to extend our birthday celebrations around here and we kicked it off this weekend.  

Nana D and Mr. Walker came into town on Friday afternoon and met me at school- a very good start to my weekend.  Friday night, my school had their Fine Arts Night for the lower school.  We did a short musical called Hats and it was very cute and fun.  I did awesome, holding down the top row of bleachers even though I told mom I was going to have stage fright.

On Saturday, we were all up bright and early because I had a 9 AM softball game across town.  We did well and won even though I only got to bat once.

After that, we came and rested for bit before heading out to the first of my 4 birthday celebrations.  I talked mom into letting me have my party at the climbing gym near our house and IT TOTALLY ROCKED!  We were all a little tentative at first but once we got going, there was no stopping us!

After my party, dad and Mr. Walker and Madeline's dad Mike all went for a night time mountain bike ride so Nana, mom, Madeline and I came back to hang out and swim for awhile.  Nana and mom enjoyed a few adult beverages too so it was a "win-win" for everyone!
Sunday was Mother's day and Nana and Mr. Walker headed back home.  Dad tried to make it a special day but he was having so much tooth pain from an ill fitting crown that he could hardly stand up.  He ended up with an emergency root canal on Monday morning and is feeling much better.  So mom is going to ask for a do-over on her Mother's day.  Just kidding- everyday is Mother's Day around here.....

So we haven't mentioned Devil Dog,  Ginger, yet.  It has been a two steps forward, one step back process with her.  Mom has had two nervous breakdowns since we brought her home because of puppy behavior but then Devil Dog rebounds with a few especially good days that makes it all better. Today is not an especially good day as you can see by her kennel cover......
It gets better, right?

The Jordan and Ginger Show!

Greetings from the land of sleepless nights and crazy, busy days.  Our lives were humming along so very nicely and smoothly and we had a great routine established for our lives.  So what better time to bring home a puppy??!!  Egads!  Daisy died two years ago and she and I were pretty close.  Ever since then, mom and dad promised me a puppy because Haile kind of just tolerates me and I really need something to dress up and lay on.  Apparently, they decided last weekend would be a good weekend to do it but as dad noted later, perhaps Sunday afternoon isn't the best time to make such a drastic change.

Ginger did great her first night home and slept from 10 PM to 3 AM.  The next night however, she busted herself out of her crate twice so mom figured she was lonely and ended up sleeping on floor with her Monday night, then dad on Tuesday and so on.  But.  Ginger being the smart girl that she is, figured out very quickly that if she made a little noise, she got a trip out side to go "potty potty!!"  Woo-hoo!  Doggie party time!  Every hour and half, someone was taking her outside all night long.  Mom and dad were kind of delirious by Thursday night and so after consulting with a puppy expert, our sweet, smart Ginger Monkey was put on puppy tough love and allowed to cry it out with potty privileges once a night.  Things have improved and mom and dad can see straight again.

It has been very much like having a toddler back in the house- Ginger is constantly putting stuff in her mouth she shouldn't be, nipping, crying and then being amazingly sweet and cute.

We started puppy classes tonight and mom is feeling better about things now that she has a little guidance on this whole thing.  We are all happy this baby phase only last a few weeks.

So that has been our life for the past week and we are so far behind in so many things and will try to catch up next week......

We did manage to get a picture of our saguaro in bloom.  About a month early but very cool.