Day One With New Son

Quinn arrived today! Gavin has been so excited and is thrilled to finally have him here. We set up Gavin's room with two beds so now it's "the boys" room.

We had lunch at the apartment and then Quinn wanted to check out Brilliant Sky. They both bought "Thinking Putty".

Next it was doughnut and frozen yogurt time followed by a trip to the pool!

Then we went to First Friday. We started at the Phoenix Art Museum and took a trolley to the downtown area where all of the art vendors are. We bought some fun art pieces then headed back and looked through the museum. "The Embrace" a sculpture by Docent Carole James was a favorite piece.

Sno-cones at First Friday

"The Embrace"

Finally, dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Phoenix. What a fun day!!

C-

I flew on an airplane for the first time all by myself. Then some people that told me they were my new family, kidnapped me and took me to their apartment. But then when they made me a potato I realized everything was going to be OK. Then we went to the toy store and I got some magnetic putty. Then we went swimming and I held Gavin, threw a torpedo and sat in the hot tub even though it was hot outside. Then we went to First Friday and I got a shirt with a polar bear who's head is on fire. The shirt says, "My head is on fire and I kind of like it". Then we went to the art museum and saw lots of funky sculptures and the star room that had many lights dangling from everywhere. I love Arizona. and my new family is not too bad either.

Q-

I am really excited for Quinn to be here. I am having fun with Quinn and I ate spaghetti last night. 

G-

Skateboard Camp

Gavin spent the last four days in skateboard camp. He went from 9am to 2pm each day. It was a lot of hard work but he said it was lots of fun. I was amazed at how much he had improved by the last day. Today they gave awards to the campers. They announced on the first day of camp they would be giving one special award to the camper that had the best attitude. That meant always being nice everyone, being polite, listening to the teachers, always participating and doing their best. Whoever got this award would receive a new skateboard deck. And guess who was given "Best Attitude"...GAVIN! It was very cool. He was super excited.

C-

Gavin holding his new deck.

Gavin with his teachers, Matt and Nicole. 

I LOVED skateboard camp. I didn't even think I was going to get an award. But, I got the best award and it was a skateboard!

G-

More Arizona Fun

Today we had family fun at the park. We rented a paddle boat and rode around the lake. Then we had push up pops and did a little urban fishing. Didn't catch anything but the park was beautiful. Lovely day.
C-

It was fun and fun and mostly funnest. I felt like I got burnt when we rode in the boats. When we were paddling it was hard without my dad helping because the pedals got stuck. After that we went fishing and it was really, really fun.
G-

It was a great day, a beautiful environment, and fun with family.  I think that next time we need to do it at a better time of year.  It was the last day before they closed it because of the heat.  We need to do it again when it cools down and we can relax a bit more.
K-

Arizona Fun

We are loving Arizona. The weather is great and there are so many fun things to do. This morning we drove to Mesa and walked around the downtown area. We saw some of the sculptures including the 25 foot high "God Bless America" modeled after the painting "American Gothic" by Grant Wood. It is on loan until July and then will continue to travel around the country.

We also checked out an art gallery called the Sundust Gallery. It showcases local artists. I bought a beautiful necklace crafted by a local artist.

We also took some pictures with the sculptures outside of the Natural History Museum. Then we found Kyle's grandmother's old home. Kyle really enjoyed seeing where he spent a good part of his childhood again. After that we had lunch at YC's Mongolian Barbecue and played at the park.

It was a very fun family day!!
C-

Birthday!

Such a wonderful birthday!! I woke up to lots of balloons and presents. Gavin made me balloon animals! Kyle made me breakfast. Then Kyle and Gavin took me shopping! For dinner we went to my favorite restaurant, the Melting Pot. When we arrived there were flowers on the table and they took our picture and put it in a frame for me. It was a perfect day. I love my guys the most!!
C-

Dinner at the Melting Pot

Today we went to the Melting Pot and it was amazing. It's my new favorite restaurant. Everything is the best part of Melting Pot. We made mommy good breakfast and gave her presents. 

G-

Happy birthday Colleen. I love you very much. 

K-

Petting Zoo

Gavin and I got up early to check out the petting zoo they set up at Brilliant Sky toy store. They had lots of different animals. Gavin loved picking up the little chickens and hens. I thought the llama was pretty cool.
C-

 

First Friday Phoenix

This evening we went to First Friday in Phoenix to watch Kyle do some street theatre. First Friday is a self-guided art walk. They have lots of local artists showing and selling their artwork. Kyle is taking a community based arts class and for their final they performed on the street for anyone who happened to be walking by. They did a number of scenes the class had created about Arizona and water. Fun to watch Kyle be pretty silly. Glad it was him and not me though.
C-

I learned a lot doing this. It was interesting to see what the crowd would gather for and what they would walk away from.

K-

It was good. I liked the scene with guy digging. That one was funny.
G-