Time flies when you're busy!

Tonight Joey is out playing basketball and the kids are asleep so I thought it would be a good opportunity to do an update.

On May 16th we had a birthday party for Miles. Miles talked about it for days! We setup a kiddie pool in the backyard and turned on the sprinklers. We also had a seashell hunt and a finger food lunch. It was a very little party--just three guests, but I think it was perfect. Just enough.
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This last weekend we went to Show Low, AZ to go camping at Fool Hollow Lake with Joey's parents and our cute little niece, Stephanie. Joey had been planning on going for months and I had been planning on spending a loooong weekend here with Hailey. I've never liked camping and had no desire to go camping with Hailey (the wilderness is not babyproof) but as the time approached I thought how long the weekend really would be if Hailey and I were home alone and I seriously miss Joey when he's gone so I decided to go.

Fool Hollow Lake, Show Low AZ

What a memorable trip!

Joey, Hailey and I were all going to sleep in a tent next to Joey's parent's trailer while Miles and Stephanie slept in the trailer with Grandma and Grandpa. Well, Hailey cried and cried for literally half the night. She hated the tent! I held her close to me the entire night, but she still cried. When she did fall asleep on my shoulder I had to be standing and if I moved at all she would wake up crying again. She refused to let Joey hold her. The poor girl was miserable. And after several hours, so was I!! Reed must have felt bad for us because around midnight he offered to take us for a drive to help her fall asleep. That worked, but by morning I think all of us woke up more tired than when we had gone to bed!

Luckily, Sheryl had a cousin in Snowflake. Her cousin graciously let Hailey, Joey and I stay at her house for the rest of the trip. Hailey slept SO MUCH better inside. So did I.

Snowflake, AZ is beautiful too!

I really love being outdoors--but sleeping outdoors just isn't my thing. Apparently, Hailey feels the same way! Maybe I'm a little overindulged in comparison to the pioneers or the Native Americans, but I'm accustomed to sleeping in a house.

The weather was great! It rained almost every day and it was cool. We saw lots of wildlife, bunnies, fish, lizards, birds and even a fox. Miles and Stephanie caught bugs with their bug catchers and rode their tricycle and scooter around. They enjoyed throwing rocks and pine cones into the lake. Joey is amazing at skipping rocks on the water--which I never knew. (It's almost been 6 years since we've gotten married and I'm still learning new things about him.) He tried to teach me, but I've got to practice! The kids watched movies in the trailer at night, took walks in the rain, and even helped grandma make brownies.

Another memoriable side note--Miles peed on lots of trees. I think we need to break him of the habit of doing his business outdoors. It was getting a little out of hand. The wildlife probably thought he was marking his territory!

I can't wait for our next adventures up north--Flagstaff in July and Salt Lake City and Provo in August! The heat is on here in the desert now, and any break we can get from it is going to be good!