Girly Girl

Makell is such a girly-girl these days. She always, always has to wear, what she likes to call, a spinning skirt. I can't ever get her to wear any of her other clothes and it is making me crazy! She only has a few skirts and most of them are dress up type skirts (the frilly, tutu like ones) so I think I need to get her some more. She also loves spinning shirts (dresses) and will often wear a skirt under the dress for quite the look. Her jewelry is another fave and she likes to put it all on at once, with a purse or two. She has so much personality and keeps us laughing all day!

Swimming Lessons

Now that I get to stay at home with Makell, I am able to put her in lessons and the first one we tried was swimming. She had kind of a love/hate relationship with it. She loved swimming but wasn't sure she liked someone telling her what to do while in the pool. She put up a stink most days about going but was usually pretty good once we got there. I decided not to enroll her in the next session because she didn't seem to really love them and then the week after they were done, she kept asking to go back. What a silly girl! We'll try again in March when the swim school opens back up. Here are a few shots of her last day where she swam almost half the length of the pool by herself!

Swimming with no help and her eyes in the water. That was hardest part for her, remembering to put her eyes in. 

Back float with no help

 Her underwater pic that they take each session

Summer Fun

We took a trip the famous Biosphere2 here in Tucson and while impressive just because of what they do there and how huge it is, was actually kind of a let down. I thought it would be much cooler. If you haven't heard of it, it's what the movie Bio-Dome (with Pauly Shore) is loosely based off. But more importantly is where they have tried to recreate Earth's biosphere in an enclosed space. They use it for scientific studies and such. There were 8 scientists that were locked in there for two years back in 1991 and they completely sustained themselves while living locked inside. Check out there website for more info and probably a better description: http://www.b2science.org/

The aerial view

Nick and Makell before our tour

We also have spent a fair amount of time bowling and discovered that Makell loves it! She asks to go pretty much once a week. If it weren't so pricey, I would probably take her. Also it is a little boring bowling by yourself with a three year old in the middle of the day. Those bowling alleys are quiet!

This was her first time and she pretty much only wanted Daddy to help her. We went with Nick's sister and her 4 kids and had tons of fun!

Our score board after three games. See the score by the little J? Yep that's me and I won! By far my best scores ever. 

This was our third time and she still just wanted Dad to help. She also insisted on wearing those purple striped socks (her feet are too small for shoes) and I thought they matched her dress so well (NOT)!

Children's Museums

We have been to three Children's Museums since our move and Makell absolutely loves them! The first one was in Phoenix with my sister in law and niece and everyday after that for about a week Makell asked if she could go again. She loved the "grocery store" and the "kitchen" where you could make your own pizzas. I discovered that Tucson had one so we tried it out one weekend and while smaller then Phoenix, was still lots of fun and they had a grocery store and juice bar! The last one we went to was in St. Louis while visiting my mom this past month. It was the largest and the coolest! If you have never been, I highly recommend them! They have stuff for kids of all ages!

In Phoenix with my niece. She was such a trooper to hang out with a 3 year old all day!

 In Tucson, riding the big fire truck

 In St. Louis-Grammy Debbie at the Van de Graaff generator

 At the water table in St. Louis

 Climbing down the three story "Jack and the Bean Stock" vine, in St. Louis

The International Wildlife Museum

Nick is really enjoying his new job and one of the perks is that their schedule is set up to have every other Friday off so we have been traveling up to Queen Creek to see our family a lot and we have been doing some fun things around town.

One weekend we went to the International Wildlife Museum. It is a small museum filled with all sorts of preserved/stuffed animals, kind of like a taxidermy zoo. There were some neat animals and Makell had a good time so it was a day well spent in my book. Here's a peek at what we saw.

Despite what you may think, this is an insect, not a leaf. I loved all the bugs that are super camouflaged. I just couldn't get over how much they looked like leaves and sticks. Makell, however, was not a fan of the bug room. 

 She also was not so sure about this wild boar

 This is a centaur skeleton that according to the plaque is not fake, but was found whole somewhere. I was kind of confused about that cause I though these things only existed in Greek mythology. Hmm.... It was cool to see though!

 Giraffes are HUGE! (especially compared to our little stinker)

 This face cracks me up!

 We are pretty sure this woolly mammoth was a replica. I wanted to believe it was real but Nick didn't think so. :)

Mt. Lemon

Shortly after we moved here, we decided to take a trip up to Mt. Lemon. It's about an hour drive to the top of the mountain range and is a one run ski hill. When Nick suggested going up there, I was expecting a smaller version of Estes Park (from our Colorado days) but that was not the case. There is one restaurant  that is kind of the ski lodge, a gift shop/rental store, a candy store, a parking lot and that's it. It was not what I was expecting but it was a beautiful drive and  it was nice to get a break from the hot weather. 

Watching a movie on the drive up

 The view (way more green than I ever expected to see in Arizona)

At a look out point

Where I Live

Yep, that's my exit...we are about a half mile from the federal and state prisons. I like to tell myself that at least they are all locked up!

I am getting used to Tuscon more each day but it is a change from nice quite Clarkston, MI and to be honest a little scary sometimes. We do like it though and found quite a few fun things to do this summer. Hopefully, it will continue to grow on us and we will love it as much as Michigan. The amazing weather is helping that process along!

Welcome to Arizona

So we have been here in Arizona for about a month now and have been officially welcomed by scorpions, monsoon season and a broken air conditioner. It has been an eventful month!

First, I was stung by a scorpion at the pool one Saturday and it hurt so freakin' bad; I would not wish that on anyone. Actually, the initial sting doesn't hurt and is hardly noticeable but it's what comes after that sucks. I was fine by the end of day but it was a rough couple of hours. (No picture for this part because those things are just too creepy, but if you want a look, click here: Bark Scorpian

We are right in the middle of monsoon season and we have gotten some pretty awesome storms here. I love the rain so I am actually a big fan of the storms. However, that pouring rain is really scary to drive in. One storm took out our power for the night and the next morning we realized that it had knocked down six power line poles right outside of our neighborhood.

Driving into a storm (It looked darker in person)

 The lovely, clear sky behind us

Lastly, our air conditioner broke two weekends ago and was out for 4 days. It was 89 degrees in the house which is hot and yucky. Thankfully it got fixed as quickly as it did and we are good to go now!

Thanks for the warm welcome Arizona!

Moving

Right before Nick graduated, he got a job offer in Tucson, AZ. It was a great offer and we felt it was right for us so we took it and are now residing in sunny Arizona! Nick started his job the first week in June and Makell and I came down at the end of June. It was a long month apart but we are glad to be back together and living in our first house! We are just renting but it is great to be out of apartments, especially since our last experience was so terrible. The best part of it all is that I get to be a stay at a home mom! I am thrilled and loving it. It has been torture to send Makell to day care for the last three years and I am elated that I won't have to do that again. I am so proud of Nick and am excited for our newest adventure!

Here is Makell on moving day, waiting to go to the airport. She was such a trooper through the whole process.

Painting

I found a cool Pin from Pinterest for making your own sidewalk paint. We tried it out and Makell loved it. You should try it too:
 http://domesticcharm.blogspot.com/2011/05/liquid-sidewalk-chalk.html

 This picture is just 'cause she is so cute!

Graduation!!

Yay!! Nick graduated from U of M on April 29th with a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering! This has been a long time coming (we took the scenic route) and we are so thrilled. On to bigger and better!

The Great Flood of 2012

I am a bit behind on blogging but I wanted to post about the awesome (not really so awesome at all) flood that we had in April. Our upstairs neighbors decided to break their toilet in half and then go to sleep while water was gushing out of it so we ended up with:

• a night of no sleep due to incredibly loud dripping water, and maintenance in and out of our apartment all night long
• a soaking wet apartment
• 4 very noisy fans running for seven days straight to dry the wet apartment
• having to move many of our belongings including large furniture twice in two days (once to stop from being ruined by water and once to have carpet replaced)

I think we have bad luck with apartments because this happened to us once before. We so glad to be done with apartment living! 

The first time we moved it all out of the bedrooms. 

 The second time we moved it all out so they could replace the carpet.

Easter

Ok, I realize that Easter was uh, 4 months ago but I really wanted to post a pic of Makell's Easter basket. I made her one this year based on a Pinterest Pin and I think it turned out super cute. Since it took a bit to make, I think it will be her basket for the next few years. She loved it and carried it around for several weeks after Easter. 

The basket with her Easter goodies

 Giving her new Bath Time Baby a nice bath in the sink

Just for fun

Makell ate a chocolate treat in the car on the way from church one Sunday and when I went to get her, this is what I found. She was covered in it. Note to self, supervise chocolate eating!

She made this dino hat in daycare and wore it at home for several days. She just loved it and it was pretty cute on her!


Mani-Pedi
I painted Makell's finger nails and she painted my toes. Aren't they cute?

I've been busy

SEWING!!

I love to sew and had a few projects in mind. My mom came to visit so naturally I asked for her help and here's what we made:

2 super cute pillow case dresses

These are a little long but will last for a while and can be worn as more of a long shirt when Makell is bigger.

1 tshirt dress

Please excuse my bad picture and lack of a full body shot. My model is slightly spastic and has a tough time standing still for a good picture. You can still get the basic idea though.

1 crayon roll

My inspiration for these can all be found on my sewing board on Pintrest. I think my versions turned out pretty cute! Thanks Mom!!