Friday and Saturday night there was a halloween balloon festival here in Scottsdale.  All the kids could dress-up in costumes and then walk to the ~ 20 hot air balloons to trick-or-treat for candy.  Lizzy went as a ballerina and Sammy as a Bear football player.  We got there early and spent some time enjoying the kids bounce toys.   We then splurged and went on a tethered baloon ride.  I could not get very good pictures of the ride since it was dark by that time.  Lizzy loved the ride, but Sammy kept saying"hot" and "loud."  It seemed that Sam did not like the torch.   

This picture above shows the kiddos posing in front of the three tetthered balloon rides. 
We went on the middle one (which is still not inflated in this picture).

Sammy has now  turned two!  He had a fun birthday.  During the day at school he brought treats for his class and got to wear a birthday crown.  In the evening we had a small family party where Sammy opened many presents (from family nearby and far away).  He had a lot of fun opening the gifts.  His big present from Mommy and Daddy was a train table (it was used with all the pieces & we spent a big chunk of the weekend prior fixing it up).  While he really likes the train set, it could be possible we like it better!  He was not too sure about the cake and candles....  It took a lot of coaxing, but he finally managed to blow out his two candles - however, we first had to stop him from "pounding" them out with his new toy hammer!

Mema took this pictures of the "kids" playing with the train table... 

We escaped the Valley of the Sun and went to the zoo about an hour and half north of town.  The weather was still warm, but much better than here. We also got to go on a neat safari ride.  Sammy, Tim, and Mema all had fun feeding the giraffes.  Lizzy was scared and threw her carrot out the window...  Sam dropped his out the window, so he used mine.