Touring Chandler

This weekend we went driving around to look at neighborhoods to see if we can expand our search area for a house. Since Max was stuck in the car for a while we stopped at the Chandler train park for Max to ride the train and have some fun. This train park is not nearly as nice as the one in Scottsdale, but it got the job done.

Max enjoyed riding on the mechanical car while we waited for the train. He loved this, but once I put quarters into the machine he wasn't so sure about it anymore.

We checked out the ducks in the pond.

And we rode the train. I attempted a few selfies of all of us. That would be Max's cousin Tayler (aka Tee Tee) in the background. 

Max was a big helper making dinner for everyone.

My niece Tayler moved to AZ and is staying with us, and Max has become fond of her. He wasn't so sure at first, but now he calls her Tee Tee and has fun playing with her. This weekend Tee Tee was on the couch watching TV and Max said "Tee Tee move." Tayler wasn't sure what was going on so she scooted over and he crawled right up next to her and laid there long enough for a picture. They both said "cheese." This was beyond adorable.

All About Gumpa

Grandpa J was in town for the past week helping us out with a few things. Since he and grandma V (and his other grandparents too) live so far away we have been FaceTiming with Max every couple weeks with them and I wasn't sure if it was making an impact or not...until Grandpa J arrived. On Saturday morning I got Max up and told him Grandpa was here and in the living room. He got excited and ran to the living room to see for himself and started showing grandpa his cars. That just put a smile on my face and confirmed that FaceTime has worked. From that point on there was a lot of playtime and Max asking for Gumpa. Where's Gumpa? Well, Gumpa was right there for everything Max wanted to do...

Play in his play house.

Play with bubbles.

Show gumpa the lights in the backyard. This truly melted my heart when he took gumpa's hand and walked him to every solar light in the backyard to show him that the light was on.

Playing "weeee". This is where you turn in circles to make yourself dizzy while Max says "weeeee".

Throwing the ball with gumpa.

Looking for buggies under the chaise lounge.

Max also told gumpa to pick up the doggy poopy in the backyard and showed him exactly where it was. 

Max also got gumpa to lay down in the grass with him to look at the stars at night. All of the activities over the past week absolutely just melted my heart. It's always hard to live away from family and know that your kid doesn't get to see their grandparents very often. Luckily today's technology has helped tremendously. Gumpa flew back to WI this afternoon and Max lost his play buddy for a while, but the memories I have of the two of them playing together are priceless. 

Say Cheese

This little boy loves to say cheese when taking his picture. He also must look at it immediately with you from behind the camera. Check out his smile!

How cute is that face? Can't get any cuter than that? Plus he's wearing daddy's Bucky hat. This past Saturday when the Badgers played Max was at the TV saying "Go Bucky Go!" What can I say, I have a genius on my hands!

Labor Day Weekend: Part 2

Besides our road trip to Bearizona we had some fun just playing around the house. 

We played with bubbles. 

Colored in the living room. I drew Max a big road for his diggers.

On Monday we picked up breakfast and headed to the zoo for a couple hours. 

The long weekend ended with a tired toddler all snuggled up with Big Bird and Elmo.

Labor Day Weekend: Part 1

We kept very busy during this past holiday weekend. For starters, we kicked off the weekend by heading to Bearizona in northern AZ where we escaped the heat. This is a neat park where you drive through slowly to see the wildlife, especially the Bears. Max loved this because he got to sit in the front seat in my lap while Andy drove through the park. 

Max really enjoyed seeing all the wildlife from the front seat of the car. It was especially neat when the animals got pretty close to the car. My favorite was the Bison.

After the drive, we parked and journeyed through the walk portion of the park to see more animals. 

Max just loved the petting zoo. He had to pet each goat at least one time.

It's nice to be able to hop in the car and drive 2.5 hours north and escape the heat for the day. We all had a good time and it was a nice start to our long weekend.