drive-in movies

We have taken a recent liking to the Drive-In Movie theatre since we realized it was an easy way to take Jimmy to the movies with us. Before it got too wicked hot, we went a few times with John and Angela since the new addition to their family has also been keeping them away from the movie theatre. I would highly suggest the Drive-In to anyone with kids that hasn't been to the movies in awhile. I have a lot of fond memories of filling the back of my dad's station wagon with sleeping bags and getting lots of snacks and treats at the convenient store. I hadn't been in a long time since I had been and I wish I had thought to do sooner. Not only is it way cheaper than regular movies ($4 on Tuesdays), you get to see 2 movies (or even three on the weekend if you are a real trouper). Jimmy watched the first 20 minutes of UP before falling asleep and then we got to watch Year One (we did switch movie screens which may or may not be against the rules, but we weren't really sure). The first time we saw The Hangover and Terminator Resurrection and Jimbo was asleep immediately. The theatre we go to is the West Wind in Scottsdale . Go here for movie times. In a few months when it cools down, we will definitely be going again. I obviously recommend it.

apples

Okay, despite my son's love for bacon he actually eats really healthy stuff for the most part. He loves apples and will eat a whole one if you give it to him. In the grocery store he always wants to eat on while I shop so I just let him even though it is probably frowned upon by the store since they are weighed by the pound. All the old people in the store in the middle of the day always think it is adorable, especially the old men. They always make comments like, "That thing is as big as his head!" or "Wow! Look at that little guy go to town on that apple!" And knowing my love for cute old men, I eat it up.

youtube

Let me just start by thanking YouTube for saving me so much money.  I don't have to buy videos because I can find almost whatever I want for Jimmy on YouTube.  Let's not get into all the reasons that the internet is helping lead to our economic problems, etc, and instead just be happy for free videos.  Jimmy doesn't watch much real TV because I can sensor YouTube much easier and only have him watching things I want him to like- quality stuff like Disney movies and Sesame Street and not have him begging me to watch things I think are stupid. The video quality is of course not as good, but Jimmy doesn't mind.   I just wanted to use this opportunity to share some of Jimmy's favorites with everyone.  Emily wanted me to share them with her so I figured maybe some other people out there (if anyone actually reads this, I am not sure) may want to watch as well.  I will list some of them here with links to all the videos (if some of them don't work it is probably because they got removed which happens sometimes, but they always just show up again with a different name so just re-search for it). Please post any of your favorites in the comments box.  I love getting comments.

DISNEY: 

Mickey's Trailer

Mickey's Hawaiian Holiday

 Mickey's Moving Day

Mickey's Fire Brigade 

Cars Life is a Highway 

Heigh Ho

The Spectrum Song 

The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers

Winnie-the-Pooh Song

(Also you can find whole movies in 10 minute increments, so you don't have to wait for things to come out of the Disney Vault.  We watch the beginning of Bambi and Dumbo.  His favorites are Peter Pan, Winnie-the-Pooh, and the Jungle Book, but we own all of those.  

MUPPETS:  

Manha Manha

Beaker's Ode to Joy, 

Feist 1-2-3-4

Tilly and the Wall Alphabet Song 

Elmo and Andrea Borcelli

Elmo's Song

Rubber Duckie

La-la-la Lemon

C is for Cookie

I Love Trash

Furry Happy Monsters

bacon

We love Bacon in our house. I just had to write a blog post detailing my love. I know many of you share it and I want us all to come together here and tell about how wonderful it is. My family gives Zach and I a hard time about it and tells us we are clogging our arteries, etc., but we keep on making it and loving it. Our dear sweet son is taking after his parents bad habits. For some good comedic relief on Bacon watch Jim Gaffigan on YouTube.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Bacon!

ya you?

Why is peek-a-boo so hilarious to all children? Since before he was 1 year old, Jimmy has hid under a blanket and said, "Ya You?" (aka: "Where Are You?"), signaling us to repeat him and act surprised when he pops out. Months later he still is very entertained by this. Every time he crawls on our bed he wants to play. It hasn't changed much, but he has started to mix it up a little bit. Sometimes he will hide a stuffed animal instead, or lately he has been pretended to be a lion or a bear hiding under the covers and then he reassures us that it is "Just Jimmy." A video would probably capture the moment here a little better, so I will try to get on that, but these pictures give you the idea just in case you have never seen a child play peek-a-boo.

our nation's birthday

Jimmy already loves the American flag and likes to point them out every time he sees one ("tag" to him), so getting to carry two around all day and waving them was very exciting for him. We went the the Arcadia Neighborhood Parade where they had lots of kids with decorated bikes, cool cars and floats, a band, and most importantly: a firetruck. Jimmy mostly just wanted to look at it, but the fire fighters had the hoses out and were spraying down all the kids. We got the tail end of it walking back to our car and all got soaked. We were still housesitting at the Balints so we just had a nice leisurely day relaxing by the pool and eating lots of yummy food. We could see a few fireworks from the backyard, but Jimmy prefered sleep at that point. All in all, it was a good day.

phoenix children's museum

When Angie was in town, we all got Culture Passes to get into the new Phoenix Children's Museum for free. It is really amazing and the kids all love it. For more pictures check out Em's blog here.

In the background is a sculpture made of old cds tied together.

I think it is really cool.

These tubes suck in scarves and balls and things and then shoot them out in other places.

I love the origami birds as well.

The little boys could have done this car-wash part all day. One of the only problems with the museum is that the kids could just stay at one exhibit all day and be happy. How do you explain to a 1 1/2 year old that there could possibly be something more fun to see?... Actually the Noodle Forest was probably the highlight, but you will have to see Em's pictures to get an idea what I mean.

The hands on Arts and Crafty stuff if great.

This was originally a wood house that is now covered in so much paint that it looks like this. There used to be a window in the middle there.

The Grocery Store may be my favorite part.

take me out to the ballgame

When we got back from DC, Zach's sister Angie was in Phoenix for a wedding so we got to spend a few days with her doing fun stuff. It felt like our vacation just kept going... except for the killer heat. We went to a Diamondbacks game. It was Jimmy's first baseball game so of course we had to let him eat a hot dog (not like it was his first... he would eat them everyday if I let him). He learned a little more about baseball and kept telling me, "Pitcha...throw ball," amung other pieced together phrases about balls and bats and hitting. He did pretty well seeing as he was still adjusting to a time change, but he really prefered to spend most of his time at the kids play place. Oh, well. He also was excited because we got to ride the light rail (aka: "the train") to the game. Just watching them go by is fun enough so actually riding them is extra cool.

farmapalooza

The other half of our trip was spent at our friend Teddy's family's farm on the Chesapeake Bay. It was a UD reunion of sorts.

The Main House

Jimmy and Josephine playing pots and pans. Who needs toys?

View of the house from the bay.

With Dad

With Mom

My grill master husband making ribs.

Jimmy's only boat ride.

The porch where we hung out most of the time.

This was sort of the standard view of how things looked... lots of people lying around and lots of kids on the floor in a mess of toys to fight over.

The little boys: Michael, Jimmy, and Henry.

They can all be buddies some day at UD... no pressure.

The pool.

The Whole Crew

(minus a few... sorry Charlie, Adam, Kate, Tocci, and anyone else missing)

Don't we look like we are at summer camp?

It was just as fun as summer camp.

The nearby town of St. Michael's.

Where we bought crabs.

Eating Ice Cream in front of the Toy Store. What could be better? I love that having a little boy allows me to do the things that I would want to do anyway.

Katie Pryor was by far Jimmy's favorite. When I asked him who his favorite was at the end of the week, he shouted, "Katie!" While she did bribe him a little with chocolate and chips, I think the main reason he loved her is because she is so darn fun. Here is the proof:

Here are all my girls. It was so good to hang out like old times. I miss them so much (as well as all those that didn't make it there). I wish we could get together more often, but at least we still have some occasions.