riding the tram

The heat followed us to Las Vegas... they had crazy hot temperatures (118).

My parents and any others willing would get up super early to stand in line for the pool to get the shady spots! It was so worth it. It made all the difference. We could stay outside in the shade by the pool all day and not get beaten up by the sun...

This is the only pool picture I have!! I planned on bringing my big camera down on the last day and I did, but the battery was dead! poo...


Anyway, we spent six hours by the pool! And then took a tram ride to check something else out. Tina and her kids were getting tickets for a show...



Tina checking something on her phone...


Zoey being silly.


sweetness...

The Venetian and Cousins

Our first night in Vegas, we went to the Venetian to walk around a bit. It has always been one of my favorite hotels on the strip... So pretty.







hello cousins!




with Grandma!


Inside the Venetian...




St Mark's Square inside the Venetian. I like how they light it up according to what time of day it is...







Walking back to our hotel. The people were lining up to watch the volcano erupt. We could see it from our room, though, which was pretty cool!

Driving Through The Desert

My parents are always finding ways for us to get together as a whole family (them, me and fam and my sister and her fam) and it is such a blessing for everyone to get together. When we live in different states, with different schedules, and just different seasons of life, it can be difficult to coordinate! So this summer, we had a Vegas getaway! Mom and Dad hooked us up with a week's stay at the Mirage! So, the kids and I drove out with Grandma and Papa and Tina and her kiddos met up the same day as they drove in from New Mexico! (Ross flew out later to meet us for a couple days too!)

Thanks Mom and Dad, for everything! It was crazy hot too, which is why no one wants to be taking these pictures... I think we saw over 120 degrees on this road trip... Wowzers!


Somewhere between Phoenix and Las Vegas...


Bright sunshine in our faces... and that's Zoey in the middle, in case you missed her...

August Ten on the Tenth

The idea is to take ten photos on the tenth of the month and share it, documenting a day of your life and the ordinary moments. There is beauty in the ordinary.

Happy August, Right? So I am back in the whole, blogging about today and still catching up from past weeks mode... Oh well...

Always fun when the tenth falls on a Saturday!

Zoey's soccer team is in a pre-season tournament! Early morning to the soccer field we go! Here is her stuff as we pack up and head out to the game!


We dropped her off 45 minutes pre-game and then headed to Starbucks for a coffee. The mornings are lovely here and we got to walk to get the coffee...

I'm thankful that he'll still hold a hand (only about 20% of the time now).


GAME TIME!


In between games there wasn't enough time to head back home so we went to lunch... local burger chain... I had an ahi tuna steak burger which was different and yummy!


And we had a little more time to kill so we went to Barnes and Noble. I think we go there on about 50% of our ten on the tenth days. That, and Panera! HAHA!

Max wore the right shirt today for this picture!



Back to the soccer fields. A different one this time with a fun playground. They won the whole tournament, which was exciting too!


And a picture of my shoes as I was sitting in the grass by the fields... with a vintage twist



And Boulder has tons of micro-breweries, so we are trying to try them all! We walked to this one on the famous Pearl Street... and Ross told me to take a picture of the nitrogen bubbles in his beer...



And a stop at a little toy store on the mall area...


Walking back (max jogged by the way, it was funny) Zoey and I found this painted wall...



happy August... best month ever if you ask me *wink*

bowling fun

Have I told you about myself and weather? I mean, I talk about it all the time, but did you know I often experience extremes when it comes to weather? Well, living or visiting, we have experienced extreme highs, extreme cold snaps, crazy droughts, and hurricanes in the midwest... I used to just think it was coincidence, but now...

Anyway, Phoenix is hot in the summer. duh? right? But right after we got there, they were experience crazy heat... highs of 118, 119! So it was inside stuff for us. We went to the movies and bowling!





And I bowled one of the best games! Too bad Ross wasn't with us so that I could beat him....

Anyway, later in the week we were planning on heading to Las Vegas! Las Vegas, by the way is usually cooler than Phoenix, but not this time... Heat wave followed us there:)

Backyard Birdies...

The kids and I flew to Phoenix to hang out with my parents for a little bit. The flights were so much shorter than coming from Ohio and it made the trip way more enjoyable for everyone. The kids think it is an adventure now, and very easy for me flying solo with them!

Early morning wake-ups found my parents outside on their patio (before the heat started) to watch and feed all of the birdies...



They have little hummingbirds come by all the time to snack on this...


I woke up too late to see most of them and really didn't sit still very long... so I only saw one... I didn't bring the right lens for this either, so next time I visit I will have to remember that!

Ten on Tuesday, Random, Catch Up Style

I haven't done a Ten on Tuesday in a while...

Interspersed are some pictures I was taking while on a walk near Ross's parents house...

1. I realize in my catching up on blogging, and talking of little adventures, we haven't actually mentioned where we are!! We are living outside of Boulder, Colorado! Technically, as I write this, we are living in Boulder in a tiny apartment, waiting for our house to be ready...



2. I don't have a bucket list, but if I did have one, and it had places to live on there... Boulder would have been one of them. I am thankful for this two month opportunity to live within walking distance of everything it has to offer, but I will also be glad to be in our little town of Louisville when our house is done!



3. Part of that has to do with being in a space bigger than 900 square feet and also being with our own stuff, I imagine.



4. Our kids have been troopers through it all... This may be a move to go down in history books for us! We haven't seen our stuff in 4 1/2 months!



5. In the end, it is just stuff though, right? Max and Ross really miss their stuff though... Those boys like to unwind with their toys.



6. Zoey and Ross hiked a 14er on Saturday with her soccer team as a team building adventure! For those of you (like me) who didn't know what that was, they hiked to a mountain top of 14,065 ft! I will have to get their phone pictures for you! It took 3 1/2 hours to get up and Ross said it was no joke. Especially the altitude for us newbies!!



7. The kids are doing swim lessons at the YMCA here. It is a super nice facility and they go 4 times a week for 2 weeks. They improve so much in that time. I am a little jealous. But I love to watch them get better and better and more confident.



8. Been trying to register the kids for school in the school that they should go to with our house. But proving residency while not living there is a pain... Hoping it all is fine though. We should be in the house just 3-4 weeks after schools starts.



9. Zoey has her first soccer tournament (pre-season) starting this week. So we are excited to jump into that! She's making a crazy jump from playing 6v6 and 8v8 to 11v11! It's a state wide thing...





10. I took the kids to a laudromat last week. Imagine what you will of a laudromat and then add in all the stereotypes you can think of Boulder and well... that's what we experienced! It was totally fine, but we are definitely not in Beavercreek Ohio anymore, people:)





Here's Ross! Always a willing model for me.


And a little bunny!


And Ross taking a picture of me, taking a picture...


And my favorite picture of the day... one has some processing done to it...





Happy Tuesday!