Friends, Family and the Ostrich Festival

On Friday night we went to the Ostrich Festival with our friends so Max could ride the rides with his friends.








I had to go on a couple rides with Max since he wasn't tall enough to go by himself. He was mad and started yelling "I don't want to go with you, I want to go with my friends." Uhm...ok kid. Not my rules. This was a sign of him growing up and this was bittersweet.


Grandpa J and grandpa V arrived on Saturday to visit and this was a perfect day for their arrival because Andy and I went to a charity event at the Children's Museum with our friends. This was a fun night out with our friends while supporting a good cause.


I even got Andy on the dance floor. This is something you don't see...ever!



On Sunday we went back to the Ostrich Festival so Max could ride the rides with grandma. It was crazy busy on Sunday so the lines for the rides were insane. After standing in line for one ride we were over it. There was no way Andy and I wanted to do this all day long, so we went and bought "fast passes" for Max and my mom. They got to pass all lines and were always first to ride the rides. Granted this was not a teaching moment for Max, but more of a keep mommy and daddy sane moment. We will teach him "waiting his turn" on a different day.








What a great weekend with family and friends. Max can't wait to go back to the Ostrich Festival next year.

Friends, Soccer and Ducks

Two of our really good friends were in town on vacation and we got to have dinner with them on Friday night. Since we couldn't get a babysitter Max tagged along with us and then we went back to our house for drinks and laughter. Max was very well behaved and that made for an enjoyable night. I wish we had pics from the night but we were more focused on catching up and laughing a lot. Ross and Tracey are so much fun and I wish they lived here so we could hang out all the time just like in the old days.

Saturday morning we went took Max to a park in Gilbert to feed the ducks. He thought this was hilarious.






Saturday afternoon was Max's last soccer game for the winter season. Max loves playing soccer and is super bummed that he has a few weeks off before the spring season starts.










He got his medal for playing hard all season and that was exciting for all of the kids. For the spring season we are trying to get him back with Coach Brian (his last coach). We really like him and would be very excited to have him coach Max again. We felt like Max did a lot better learning from coach Brian than he did with this coach. It looks pretty promising that we will be back with his old team and we are pretty excited about that.

We spent the rest of the weekend just playing...a lot. Enjoying the beautiful outside weather that we have here in AZ.

Soccer, Trains, Jelly Beans and Exploring

We "kicked" off the weekend with a soccer game. It's the second to last game of the season.


After lunch we went to Train Days at the Chandler Railway Museum. We weren't sure if this would be fun or not, but thought we would check it out. Max had a blast. He loved going through the old trains and checking them out. His favorite part was blowing the horn on two of the trains and ringing the bell. This was fun just to see his excitement.












Max's 100th day of school is on Wednesday so we had some homework to do. Max had to count 100 items to put in his 100 bag. He chose to do jelly beans and we counted 10 piles of 10 jelly beans and then we counted to 100 while he put them in his bag. Besides counting them he also had fun tasting all the different flavors. His favorite is the blueberry jelly bean.






On Sunday we got outside to explore a different park. We decided to do an easy park/hike because Andy is sick. While we were out exploring we saw a black bobcat (looked like a baby), ducks and four bunny rabbits. Max thought this was pretty cool!

Exploring outside wore this kid out!

Oh The Things...

It was my turn to volunteer in Max's class last Thursday. No matter how much fun I end up having this still gives me anxiety leading up to the volunteer day. It didn't help this time that Max was super concerned with how I was going to look for volunteer day. He wanted his mommy to look good. Here is how this went down:

Max: Mommy, how are you going to do your hair for school tomorrow?

Mommy: Why?

Max: I just want to know.

Mommy: Well, I am planning on doing a pony tail.

Max: OR, you could leave it down, OR you could do a sock bun.

I was seriously confused because I thought this kind of behavior (being concerned what your parent looks like showing up to school) happens in junior high. So, I went downstairs to tell Andy and filled him in on our discussion.

Daddy: Max, why do you care what mommy's hair looks like for school?

Max: Cuz I want her to look good.

Daddy: Doesn't mommy always look good?

Max: No

Daddy: When does mommy not look good?

Max: When she gets home from work and puts on comfy clothes and puts her hair up.

Ugh....OH, the things kids say! Well, with that said we had a great day at school while I helped the kids make a Lorax. Max was super excited to have me in class that day. He loves it when it's his mommy's turn to be in class and help.

Exploring Outside

When we lived in North Phoenix (and before Max was born) I used to get out and hike every weekend. I loved it. It was my thing. I haven't hiked since I was 7 months pregnant and I miss it. So, I decided it would be a good thing to introduce Max to hiking and maybe he will like it just like me and we could go hiking together. This past weekend we went hiking as a family. Max was super excited to go as a family and use the "camelback" he received at Christmas from his friends.

Since this was Max's first time we did a super easy hike that was completely flat. We spent a couple hours just exploring and letting Max run. He was being goofy and silly the whole time. He was just being a kid and I loved watching him.












We had so much fun that we are going to check out a different hiking place this weekend.

Happy Valentines Day

I’m not into Valentines Day, but Max is. They learned about it at school and he was pretty excited for V Day to come. He got daddy a Batman container filled with chocolates and he was excited to give it to him. He was so excited that he woke up early and ran to his hiding spot to get the Batman container to give to him. That was how we started our Valentines Day. 

I was able to go to Max’s school for the party that they had. This was so fun and Max was so excited that I could make it. He told Mrs. Lisa first thing in the morning that his mommy was coming to the party today. They did a variety of activities including mailing their V Day cards to their classmates, a project, bingo, reading and decorating cookies. 

Following a sugar fueled day, Max had swim lessons. He tested and passed level 4. He was so excited and proud of himself. We were also very proud of him for passing but even more proud at his personal growth. This time he actually did all the activities that they do for level graduates. He actually rang the bell, let them announce his passing while using his name out loud. Then he stood on the podium while they did another announcement to a room filled with people while they clapped and cheered. We were shocked that he allowed all of this. Not only did he allow it but he was excited for it to be his turn to graduate to the next level. This shows me how much growth he has made. 

Mommy and Max Day

I took off work last Friday to spend the day with Max since Andy went to the Waste Management Phoenix Open. I had the whole day planned with Max and my number one goal was to wear him out. I wanted that kid exhausted. I succeeded, but I think at the end of the day I was more tired than him.

We started with a couple of hours at Urban Jungle. He's been asking to go back since last May, so I finally took him. We practically had the whole place to ourselves for the first hour and we had tons of fun.






We went out to lunch together and Max was starving by the time we got there. We went to a brewery and Max was very intrigued by how they make the beer.




Next up: the mall to get auntie Amber a birthday present. Max helped pick out a very pretty necklace for auntie Amber. After that we had to check out the Lego store and get a Lego City box for Max and Mommy to put together.


We also stopped by the book store per Max's request. He said "Mommy, is this the mall we went to once where you ready me lots of books. Can we go back there again?" Of course kid! However, I assumed it would take up a good 1.5 hours of our time since it did last time. I was halfway through one book and Max's eyes were closing. He looked at my and quietly said "Mommy, I am done. It's time to go home. You wore me out." Success was had!!

Once we got home Max bounced back to life when he remembered the Lego City box that him and I needed to assemble.


Playing in the sandbox.

We finished our mommy and Max day with a dinner date at Moreno's. Max loves this place and wanted a dinner date with mommy. He said that he took me out to dinner. He's so sweet.


We had such a fun day together. I wore him out, but I think he wore me out even more. I do know that when I laid in bed that night that my whole body hurt and was throbbing...probably from playing at Urban Jungle. Mommy's not so young anymore.