Ostrich Fest, Wedding Festivities and Goodbyes

 It was time for the annual Ostrich Fest and Max as pretty excited to go this year since it was canceled the last two years. It was also fun for him to have Grandpa J and Grandma V in town since they like to go with him.

Since the line at the Ostrich Fest for face painting was so long I didn't let Max do it because we have to get home. So, when we got him grandma V painted Max's face. She did a pretty good job.

That night we went to Kristin Seifert's wedding in Scottsdale. It was a fun night and Max stayed home with Grandpa J and Grandma V. It was a beautiful wedding and we had a lot of fun together for an adult night out.

The week is over and it's time to say goodbye to Grandpa J and Grandma V because it was time for them to go back to Wisconsin. Max is always sad when they leave and this time was no different. 

School, Birthdays, Ninja, Family and Friends

 Max was recently Star of the Week at school and he loves when it's his turn. We worked on his poster and this shy kid was excited to get in front of the class and tell his classmates all about himself. The Star of the Week also gets to spend the week in the tent. That's where they do all their work and Max couldn't wait for his turn to spend the week in the tent. 

The adults went out for a classy chef's dinner to celebrate our friend's birthday. It was a fun night celebrating Russell and having adult time in downtown Phoenix. 

Max too had a birthday party this weekend for his friend Javi. It was at one of the indoor parks with trampolines and obstacle courses. Since I didn't know this family and the place was crazy packed I stuck around and hung out with the other moms in the party room. The family of the birthday boy was super nice and I did meet a new mom friend, so that was a plus. 

Max is still doing ninja during the week and this is him trying to get up the medium-sized warp wall. He can do it and it's fun to watch him progress and improve each time it's my turn to take him. 

Grandpa J and grandma V were in town for a week from Wisconsin. The first night we played Wisconsinopoly, which is a game we received as a Xmas gift. It was a lot of fun, but grandpa J ended up winning. We all thought it would be Max since he was the only one to have two hotels on his properties, but in the end, grandpa J pulled it off. 

During the week we had some friends stop by for pizza who were in town from Dallas. The Treble family used to live in Arizona but moved away five years ago and we haven't seen them since. It was nice to see them and the kids played well together. 

Biking, Football and School Pic

 Max and his friends started biking to school together on Fridays. Last Friday was the first day of the "Friday bike club." All the boys meet at Grayson's house and then they bike together to school. Grayson doesn't live that far from school and they only have to cross one busy road that has a crossing guard to help them. When I met Max at Grayson's house to ride home with him at the end of the day he was all smiles. He was super excited for this new freedom and felt like a big boy.

Last Saturday was Max's last football game of the season. He had a very fun season with his friends from school. I enjoyed going to every game and I will miss Saturday game day.

After the game, they celebrated at Bahama Bucks with snow cones. 

We went for a bike ride on Sunday so the new "daredevil" Max could show us how he's not afraid to ride down the rocky hill with this bike. Our very cautious kid used to be scared to do this and now he's all excited. He's growing up.

I received his spring school photo this week and he's adorable as ever! he's in the middle of growing his hair out to be like his favorite character in High School Musical, so we are in the awkward long hair phase right now. Luckily, this photo was taken right before his hair got long and awkward.

More Football and a New Bike

 Max had another flag football game last weekend. He has completely grown in this game. He gives it his all in every game and it's such a joy to watch him.

Max only has one game left this weekend. I will be sad when it's over because he will only have ninja once a week. He's done with swim, football and he didn't want to sign up for baseball again. I have yet to convince him on swim team.

Since Max is growing like a weed on a regular basis, he outgrew his bike. We ordered him a new bike and he was pretty excited when it arrived.

This kid is so tall. He needs to stop growing. He's going to be as tall as me soon!

On Tuesday this week, his class went on a field trip to see the Hungry Caterpillar at the Theater in downtown Phoenix. His teacher was nice enough to share this photo of his class.

Happy Valentine's Day

 Max just loves Valentine's Day. I think he just really likes to celebrate holidays and this kid really does love "love" so it makes sense.

For his class, he had to make a box to exchange cards. He kind of wanted the same box as last year, but Cardinals themed, so we made an AZ Cardinals box together. The classroom voted on the boxes for five categories and Max won for the Best Effort category. 

On Valentine's Day, grandpa T and grandma S stopped by after school to give Max a valentine.

After dinner, Max was pretty excited to exchange cards and gifts. He got me tulips and made me some homemade dark chocolate peanut butter cups. They are fantastic and my favorite.

I have to share this picture because both dogs got in on the action. That night, about 1:30am, Sammy stole a bunch of books from Max's room and had herself a little tearing party at the top of the stairs. We woke up in the morning to shredded books. It was quite the mess. I wish I would have taken a picture, but I didn't. Oh what fun this adorable Boxer baby can be! Max was not happy with his dog.

Busy Weekend

 We had a very busy weekend, but this past weekend is always busy for us. On Friday, Andy and I spent the day at the Phoenix Open in the skybox and then went to dinner with work people after the day at the golf event. 

While we were enjoying some adult time, Max was picked up from school by grandpa T and grandma S. They went to dinner and had a sleep over.


Sunday morning started bright and early (especially after a long Friday) with Max's flag football team playing two games back to back. It's so fun to watch him play and put a lot of effort into it. It's also fun to see him grin ear to ear when he pulls a flag.

Saturday afternoon Max had a birthday party for one of his flag football teammates at a park. It was a three-hour party where Max played hard with all his football friends. Normally we have not been staying at birthday parties, but this one Andy and I stayed and hung out at the park with the rest of the flag football parents that we know. By the time we got home from the park, we were all exhausted.

Come Sunday morning Mas just wanted to lounge around and play video games, so Zoe joined him.

Then it was Super Bowl Sunday. Andy and I planned to stay home, but Max really wanted to go to his friend's house in the neighborhood to hang out for their Super Bowl party that we were invited to. We thought we would stop in since it's in the neighborhood and Max can play with his friends, so we did that. We were both so tired though from the weekend's festivities, but Max had a blast playing with his buddies from school. I did not take one picture. I think I was too tired to care.

The Open/Super Bowl weekend is always exhausting here. We survived another year.

Playdate, Hibachi, Football and Swim

 Two weekends ago Max had a bye week in football so he had a playdate with two of his buddies at our house. They played hard and had so much fun together. 

That night we went out to dinner with friends for hibachi and tepanyaki. It's always a good time and Max was pretty excited to eat this again. Of course he had to get sushi for an appetizer though.

This past Saturday, Max had another football game. I think he pulled one flag. Either way, he played very hard and gave it 100%. I was so proud of him for trying and giving it his all. 

Then last night Max passed in swim class. He is now officially done with swim lessons. He learned the final swim stroke, the breast stroke. That was the hardest one, but Max wanted to continue going until he passed so he could win the large medal. He was so excited when they announced that he passed. He couldn't stop smiling. On the way home he told me it felt really good to pass and be done with swim. He's pretty proud of himself. He is now officially done with swim. No more swim lessons since he knows all the strokes. They did ask him to join swim team and Max doesn't really want to, but I asked him to at least do the one week trial in March and if he doesn't like it then he won't have to continue. But he won't know if he likes it until he tries it. He agreed to do the one-week trial, so we will see if he decides to join the team. I remember back in the day when he first started swim lessons and he was crying every week. It was long and hard to watch. He eventually got over the crying in the water, but then when he passed his first level he did not want it to be announced and a big deal made over him. He just wanted his medal and his toy. Now, look at him. He wanted the announcement. He was so proud of his hard work and we are very proud of him too.