greats and grands...

Last weekend we got together with some of Ryan's cousins and his grandparents to play at the park. In Jess' exact words, "I really like this habit we seem to be starting of just getting a dozen or so family members together for random occasions. Much friendlier and less stressful than the big 50 people gatherings at the holidays!" (sorry I didn't ask for permission to steal that from your blog..!) I totally agree! It's super fun and I think Grandma and Grandpa like to see the grandkids and great grandkids all playing together.

Ezra and Rachel playing catch


Ezra and Ian sharing their love for drinking fountains


Noel and Eleanor


Grandma, Rachel and Naomi


Isaih and Ezra had so much fun playing together. I just love to see how much Ezra notices other kids now and wants to play with them (especially if they are older).


My best attempt at getting a photo of all of the great grandkids together. Ezra, Elijah, Isaih, and Eleanor.

Gardening

I have decided to grow a garden this year. I am not yet convinced that anything will come up, so I guess that means if anything shows it's a bonus. I didn't put much money into it, so not much will be lost. BUT, if things do grow...I will be sooo excited!! So far we have planted kale, spinach, cilantro and carrots. I will soon be acquiring a juicer, so if carrots should surface...then juice will be made...yay!

The Cutting Garden

In my Maine Part 1 post, I told you that I was going to devote an entire blog post to the cutting garden, however I never did. Good thing for Jill and her on-top-of-it blogging skills...because she did it for me! :) Thanks Jill! I now present to you, The Cutting Garden.

Who fed them?

I have no idea who snuck what into these kids' dinner on Friday night, but after the sun went down, they turned wild on us!

They figured out how to take the couch cover off...


as well as the cushions...(I am pretty sure this is a double baby flip off the couch happening...)


An Ezra sandwich was made...at least a few times...






Funny faces all around...


Thanks for coming over friends, come again soon!

ezra talk...

The other day I was at a friend's house and she was cracking up over Ezra's pronunciation of different foods, and insisted that we video tape it now while he still says them in his own unique way.

So, we intended to do just so at dinner the other night, but as soon as the video camera came out, we forgot what food words he knows how to say and just kept asking him to say "watermelon" over and over (our favorite word of his), however he wouldn't say it for the camera. Not all was lost though, we instead got some "very Ezra" moments on camera.

The video is 1:39, if you don't have that much time, I recommend at least watching from 1:10-1:30.

Enjoy!

Da Mama Bus!!

On Friday afternoon The Mama Bus rolled up on Calle Diego and out poured 11 kids (ages 2-15) and two adventurous mamas! Before I put Ezra down for his nap, I told him that the house would be full of kids when he woke up, but I don't think he really knew what to expect. I have to say though, that I think he was in heaven for 24 hours, running and playing with the other kids. (And, I must also admit that it felt like parenting was a lot easier having so many hands to entertain and eyes to keep watch on my little guy.)

We headed to the park in our neighborhood for a picnic. Have I mentioned that the weather here has been awesome lately? Like, in the 70's-cool breeze-windows open-awesome?? I am loving it! Quickly teams were made, soccer was played, impromptu jam sessions occurred, mamas laid in the grass, tots toddled around...it was 4 hours at the park kind of wonderful!

Big Ezra playing catch with Little Ezra (Little Ezra's favorite game)


Jam session at the park...




Lois using dental floss to pull out (Big) Ezra's tooth!


SUCCESS!


We pulled out Ryan's Brio train set from when he was a kid...major points for us!


Ever wonder why our sliding glass door always has smudge marks on it? Hosting 11 children has nothing to do with it, just 1 makes all of those marks... :)




Saturday morning we went to the zoo. Can I tell you again how great our zoo membership is? We all (4 adults + 12 children) got in for FREE!!

Jenn Miller, one of the mamas and also the brains behind Uncommon Childhood and Edventure Project, talking with her 13 year old son Gabriel.


Jenn and myself


Ezra and Ryan


Gabriel holding Ezra


The whole gang (+Ezro)


It was a great weekend...thanks for stopping in Tucson, Mama Bus! Now, I am ready to form my own mama bus, who's in?

dancing

Ezra loves to listen to music at "ear level"...

cuties

On Tuesday morning we went to the pool with Jessica and Eleanor. The pool is heated, so it didn't feel so bad for being October. And, usually it would have felt awesome...though we are having a "cold front" this week. I think the high today was only 86...winter is ahead, and I'm soo giddy just thinking about it!

Eleanor and Ezra have the same curls, and if it weren't for their very different skin tones, I think they could pass as siblings...or, at least first cousins.

Frisbee All Star

While we were camping, Ezra LOVED hanging with the guys while they played frisbee. He would just shout out to them "I'm open, I'm open" (or at least that is what we like to think he was saying). He would just run around and chase the frisbee, not even caring if he actually got to hold it, although when he did get to catch/throw, it was a very exciting moment indeed.

Camping in Patagonia

This past weekend we went with a group of friends down to Patagonia Lake for the weekend. It's only about an hour and fifteen minutes away...and there is water there!! A man-made lake, but a lake no-less. For this Michigan girl living in the desert, a weekend spent at the lake, is one of the very best ways to spend a weekend.

Ezra chillin' in the hammock...


I think he loved being outdoors from the time he woke up to the time he went to bed at night. And, amazingly, he slept in even later while camping than he has been at home lately. I think this means we should go camping every weekend. :)

The kiddos chalkin' it up (and Ezra experientially remembering that chalk does not taste good)...


"have you tasted how yummy these apples are??"


"what about this watermelon??"


Given that it was October, the water was a little chilly by Arizona standards, but totally swimmable if you are from the midwest. :)


...or even if just your mom is from the midwest...






We took a nice evening stroll...






The kiddos trying to figure out just where they saw the loch ness monster. And, Ezra displaying his new way of smiling for the camera...it makes me laugh every time I see him do it.


A just-before-dinner trip back to the beach.






(in case you needed an up close of this guy's face when we say "smile")


Our breakfast chefs...


The Gang (minus The Shorts who joined us for the day on Saturday!)...thanks for a fun weekend friends!

Learning Tower

Ryan recently built a learning tower for Ezra. While it was still in the works, I was super excited about having it, but I had no idea just how wonderful of a thing it would be. It is amazing!


Ezra has been on a bit of an eating strike lately, however if he is up at the counter making food with me, he'll eat it! Tonight we were picking the ends off of green beans, and I'm sure he ate at least one-third of them. If I make him a smoothie and hand it to him, he wants nothing to do with it, but if he helps me make the smoothie...he can't wait to get his hands on it and drink every last drop.

And, even more, I can actually cook dinner and have us both be happy in the process. If I hand him the measuring spoon, he'll dump it in the bowl. Or, who doesn't just love stirring corn starch and water together to pass the time while mama is cooking?? I keep handing him additional cups of water to pour in with the corn starch, and he gets soo excited.

I will say, our kitchen has become a whole lot messier in the process of having him help me, but the fun definitely outweighs the extra clean-up.

Here he is helping me make peanut butter/ maple syrup cookies...we were both a gooey mess and required baths afterward. :)