Random Things

 Max received three awards at the end of first quarter. One was a Pride Award for recognizing his positive attitude and all the things Basha represents as a standup kid. He also made honor roll first quarter. He worked really hard on his grades and received all A's and one B. He was pretty excited about this one since it took a lot of work. He also received the Portrait of a Learner recognition for being an upstanding student first quarter. Max said this award is really hard to get and it was the first time he received it. The awards were handed out at the end of first quarter ceremony. Max was not there to receive his since he was on a plane to St. Kitt's. We finally received all the awards and here he is presenting them proudly.

Max started up golf lessons again. He's still doing them at Ocotillo and with coach Avery. He really enjoys his golf lessons. This is also when Andy and I go to the clubhouse and share a drink together to catch up on our week.

We hit up Basha Family Fun Night earlier in the month. We got there and Max was with us just long enough for me to take this photo. He ditched us pretty quickly as soon as he found his friends. We set up our chairs with some other parents and chatted until 8pm when it was time to collect our kid and go home to warm up.

Time certainly is flying by fast, but making memories with my family is what matters most!

Happy Halloween!

 Halloween is still my favorite holiday even though my Halloween's have looked much different for quite some time now. I just love the month of October and Fall. It starts to cool down here in Arizona and everything about pumpkins and the cooler weather is exciting. Plus, I love to see all the kids Halloween costumes. I like the creativity of it all.

One disappointing thing about October is getting our pumpkins from a pumpkin parking lot here in Phoenix versus going to an actual farm like in Wisconsin. Every year I complain about the pumpkin parking lot. I wanted to go to one of the "farms" this year but Andy was not interested at all. Plus, it was still pretty warm outside and Max and I both have severe allergies. So, it's not really ideal.

We got two pumpkins from the pumpkin parking lot. One was to carve and the other was to paint.

Max did a good job carving his pumpkin this year. He did almost the whole pumpkin himself and he decided on the crying emoji face with fangs.

The painted pumpkin ended up being a minion.

Sammy enjoyed eating the pumpkin pieces. Zoe had no interest in eating the pumpkin. It definitely is not her thing. 

Max dressed up as Deadpool this year.

We went trick or treating with a group of his friends in the neighborhood. We had a good time walking with the other parents. This year Max did the local haunted house with just his friends. He's growing up! He said it was still scary though!

Boys Trip

 Andy and Max had a boys weekend in Green Bay to see the Packers versus the Cardinals game. Max has declared himself a Cardinals fan so Andy thought this would be a fun weekend for them to attend the game. Max was pretty excited to go. Plus grandpa T and grandma S went with them. 

Max did get to see Beau while he was in town.

I know on their way to Green Bay they stopped in Wautoma to see family. It's nice that they got to stop in and see everyone for lunch, but when I asked Andy for photos he said he didn't take any. So, sorry I don't have photos of their visit to Wautoma. If I was in attendance there would have been photos.

They hit up the Packer store at the stadium the day before to get Max a hat so he could stay warm. It was a rainy day and upper 50s. That's a big difference from 100 degrees when then left Phoenix.

They started the day off with tailgating and some cheese curds.

Headed to the stadium where they had a great time watching the game.

Andy found online that they made the Fan Cam on the website. It looks like they are pretty cold!

They went to dinner with Uncle Ryan before they headed back to Phoenix. What a great picture of the four of them!

Thanks to Shelley for sending me all the photos from their weekend. I know Max had a great time and he wants to do it again next year.

Fall Break: Part IV

 One of the pool days Max decided he was tired and wanted to take a nap in the lounge chair. Now, we all know Max can sleep anywhere but I didn't think he was going to be able to take a nap at the party pool with the loud music and activities director speaking in the mic. But, this kid did!

The standard pool hangout.

We went to the Shiggidy Shack one night to find Emily's mom's license plate. Apparently, her mom left her license plate to be hung on the wall one time when she was in St. Kitts. Andy found the plate on the wall and we got our picture there.

Time at the beach. This was always relaxing to hang at the beach with Max for a bit before we headed to the pool for the afternoon activities. Check out how clear the water is.

On the last day Max participated in the chipping contest where you had to chip the golf ball onto the floating green in the pool. He made it to the second round. He didn't win the contest but his form looked great!

Our framily vacation was winding down and we had our last night of dinner together in St. Kitts.

On the last night we played Left Center Right and Max was excited to win one of the hands.

Goodbye St. Kitts. It was a great framily vacation but we had to get back to reality. We spent a very long day traveling back to AZ.

Fall Break: Part III

One day we chartered a sail boat to cruise around and snorkel. Unfortunately, this day was the only day for rain and poor weather. 

We saw some goats on the island while it was pouring rain out. 

We were served lunch and champaign.

Due to the rain Amber and I decided not to snorkel. We didn't want to be cold for the ride back to the harbor so we stayed on the boat and sipped champaign while the rest of the framily snorkeled. They saw stingray along with many fish.

Even though it was a cloudy rainy day, it was a fun and scenic way to spend the day.

That night we played bingo at the casino. Nobody won, but we had a good time. We now want to play bingo here in AZ. 

Fall Break: Part II

 One day we did a small boat and snorkeling tour. There were two people to a boat and then you drove the boat over to a shipwreck for snorkeling. Due to our family having three people we put Andy and Max together and another guide drove my tiny boat for me so I could sit back and enjoy the scenery. It truly was a beautiful boat ride that took about 45 minutes. Plus my driver was telling me about the island and what I was seeing.

Once out to the shipwreck we all hopped into the water and snorkeled. 

It wasn't great snorkeling. I saw a lot of basic fish and the typical bright blue fish and the yellow and black striped fish but nothing captured on my camera. 

We enjoyed some fruit and then drove the boats back to the beach where we started.

Another day at the beach.

Max participated in the tie-dye activity the resort held. He ended up with a pretty funky looking tie-dye t-shirt.

View from our balcony as the sun was setting.

We headed to the beach for some fun photos before dinner.

Another dinner at a local joint and here was the view from where I was sitting.

Max and I both got lobster and his was better than mine. This was the only disappointing lobster I had on the island all week because mine was chewy so it was obviously cooked too long.

It rained hard while we were at dinner so that just made the humidity so much worse. That's the theme of the week: humid!