Lizzy is a little chatter box on the telephone. She loves talking to Mema, Grandma, Deb, and Daddy on the phone. She will tell them about her day and other "important" highlights. Often mommy stays on speaker phone to play the interpreter...
 Addy and Lizzy were apart for the entire month of July! They were both in a bit of withdrawl... Once everyone got back to (hot) AZ, we were able to get together a few times recently to play and to celebrate Lizzy's birthday once everyone came back to (hot) AZ!  Lizzy may just have turned two last week, however she has three friends that she has known most of her life. Lizzy and I met Gia, Sophie, Lexi and their moms at a "mommy and me" group back when the girls were only about two months old! The time sure has flown by as all four girls have just turned (or soon will turn) two years old! Here are a few group shots from the past two years.  Lizzy, Gia, Sophie, and Lexi on July 30, 2009 (Gia's 2nd Birthday, the oldest of the four).  Lizzy, Gia, Lexi and Sophie on July 30, 2008.  Lizzy, Lexi, Gia, and Sophie on Dec 9, 2007.
 Hard to believe the month of July came and went without ANY new posts! This is sort of odd considering during the school year I am regularly able to find/make time to post tidbits, but during my month of from teaching I am too “busy” to write anything… So here is a brief summary of July. Above is a picures of Lizzy enjoying the beach at Lake Michigan. Make sure to scroll below as there are many posts from the various legs of our vacation!
July 3 – July 7: Tim, Chris, and Lizzy visit family in Kalamazoo, MI July 7 – July 12: Tim, Chris, and Lizzy visit family in Morrison, IL July 12: Tim flies back to AZ July 12 – 18: Chris and Lizzy stay with Mema in Kalamazoo, MI July 18 – 22: Mema, Chris, and Lizzy take a slow road trip from MI to AZ July 22 – 28: Mema visits us in Scottsdale, AZ  It took us 5 days, but eventually Lizzy, Mema, and I made it from Kalmazoo, MI to Scottsdale, AZ. Each day we tried to stop and at least do one fun thing. On Sat we made it to Morrison, IL where were got together with Tim’s family at his sister Angie’s house. Lizzy spent most of the 4 hours playing with her cousins, Grandma Sharon, and Papa Roger. On Sun July 19, we drove through Iowa and Kansas and stopped at a nice park and an outlet mall. On Mon July 20 we drove through Kansas and Colorado stopping in Colorado Springs by 4 pm. That evening we toured the Air Force Academy Chapel and walked around the Garden of the Gods Park. On the morning of Tues July 21 we went to the Seven Falls Park and enjoyed the wonderful Colorado weather and views. We spent the rest of the day taking the scenic drive to Santa Fe, NM. The morning of Wed July 22 we spent some time shopping and relaxing (picture above) in historic Santa Fe, NM before driving the rest of the way back to Scottsdale.   The two above pictures show Lizzy enjoying herself at the Seven Springs Park.   The two pictures above show Lizzy and Mema enjoying the gorgeous views at the Garden of the Gods park.  Lizzy and Mema leaving the AFA Chapel.  Lizzy and Austin enjoy being pushed by both Grandma Sharon and Mema.
 During Lizzy and my stay in MI, we got together with a few of my friends from high school and their kids. My friend Katie has two kids, Taylor (~ 6) and Drew (~ 4). Amy also has a girl and a boy; Ana (~2.5) and John (~ 7 months). While it was great to see them all, Lizzy really enjoyed playing with Ana and hugging and kissing John. It is now about a month later, but Lizzy still brings up Ana and "baby John."    While in IL, Lizzy warmed right up to her Grandma Sharon (Tim's mom). Here are some pictures of the morning we spent at an aquariumwhere Lizzy enjoyed seeing the "fisheys."   Lizzy really enjoyed playing with her Papa Roger (Tim's dad). A few times we went to a park with Papa Roger, and while there he and Lizzy spent the entire time on the slides and other play pieces. Here are some pictures of Lizzy, daddy, and Papa Roger at a state park.     While in IL (~ July 7 - 12) one of the highlights for Lizzy was spending so much time with her only three cousins (Tim's sister Angie's kids). There were a few rainy days while we were in Morrison, but most of the time the weather was perfect for the kids (and adults) to play outside.  Tim cuddles with his youngest nephew Derek (1 year). Lizzy loved following Derek around while he practiced walking - she would try to hold his hand, hug him, and give him kisses.  Lizzy and Blake hit it off right away. They spent much time playing together on the swing set and in the sand box.  Austin (6) loves trains. Here he and Lizzy play with the train set at the Family Museum in the Quad Cities.  It would appear there were some mechanical difficulties with the the boys' Grave Digger, so Austin and Blake check under the hood while Lizzy tests the ignition
|
