Children's Museum of Phoenix

This is the coolest place I have ever been - seriously! Colton could have easily played all day! And you know how Colton is... nothing (until this place) can keep his interest for long! The pictures just don't do it justice!

One of the "rooms" had these door handles all along the play area.




In another area the kids could ride tricycles through a "car washer" - Once Colton got the hang of it, he didn't want to stop!


Here is Colton taking one of his few breaks in the back of a pickup truck bed. In this area the kids could pick out a race car and then race them on a few different tracks that were on different levels. Think Pinewood Derby on Steroids!


Colton also really liked this room that had different balls and little cars that went on different types of tracks.

About the only time that Colton was not happy is when he thought he was getting real ice cream in a cone, but they were pretend.

Like I said, these pictures just don't do it justice! I think we're going to have to get a membership here - hey Emily, you should too and then we could meet up there - Austin would LOVE it!

Blackbeard the Musical

Quick shout out for my friend, Rob Gardner...

I'm such a slacker, I meant to blog about this a few weeks ago, this is the last weekend that Blackbeard will be showing at the Herberger Theater Center in Phoenix. I've heard GREAT things about it and I'm so happy that I get to go tonight and see it! If you're here in the Phoenix area and you want to get a great deal on tickets for tomorrow's shows (2pm & 7:30pm) there are a few options:

1. You can get any seat in the house (that's available) for $30 - Just call (602) 252-8497 and mention the "Last Chance" discount. This will also be available at the door, if seats remain.

2. If you don't care about seating, or want really cheap seats (like me) click here and you can get balcony seats for only $15!


Visit www.blackbeardthemusical.com for more information!

Back to Reality...

The Fall Trimester is in full swing now. Seth started up again on Tuesday. We decided that before that, though, we should take a little vacation. First, we headed out to my mom's in Queen Creek and spent a few days with her and my sister, Emily and her kids. From there we drove up to Taylor, AZ and spent almost a whole week with my dad at his house there. He has a house on an acre lot, with lots of room for Colton to run around on. It was great! No TV, no Internet, and minimal phone service - I don't think I could live like that all of the time, but it was great during that week. We read books and went for walks/runs and just enjoyed the beautiful scenery and weather. My dad cooked for us every night and even took us out to lunch a few times!

Here is my Dad and Colton outside of "El Rancho" in Snowflake.

My dad also watched Colton one morning so that Seth and I could go to the Snowflake Temple. We had such a great time there - so peaceful and relaxing! Colton, however, while we were gone ended up taking off his diaper and peeing all over the floor in front of the buyer of my dad's house! My dad just kept asking us, over and over that week, "How do you guys get anything done?" Our reply: "We don't!" Colton got out of his bath one night and this is how we found him:

"Naked Cowboy"

He LOVED wearing my dad's boots! We also learned on this trip that Colton has a new favorite movie. One night, before he went to bed we started watching a movie. Colton was so mesmerized by it. Here's how he looked for the next 30 - 45 min:

Can you guess which movie he's watching?

Here's a pic:

You might have to make it bigger, but it's "The Sound of Music" - He absolutely LOVED all of the singing! It just cracks us up how much he likes it!

We also went to the Taylor Cemetery to where many of my McCleve ancestors are buried.

Colton is giving his Great-Grandma Jerry a kiss! He really liked the cemetery - just like his mama!

After spending 6 days at my dad's we drove over to Hawley Lake for our annual Labor Day Family Outing. We spent 3 nights there. It rained a lot of the time, but we still had a blast eating as much as we could and laughing as hard as our stomachs could handle!

My niece Kinsley

Fishing with Grandpa - Colton just wanted to play in the tackle box
The sun finally broke through on our last morning. Here's a view from our Cabin.

Our annual family portrait on the stairs before we leave (ok Emily you have my permission to post that pic of me fishing in the rain!) We've promised ourselves that next year we're going to take this picture on the day we get there (this way we won't look so tired and bloated!)

(L to R) Front: Dad AKA Grandpa Mac. Second Row: Jillian, Maddie (hiding behind Grandpa) and Parker. Third Row: Stacey (pregnant with TWINS!) Marc, Austin (he didn't want to take the picture, can you tell?) Emily and Kinsley. Fourth Row" Jason, Me, Colton and Seth.

We got home late Monday night and were glad to be in our own home and in our own beds! BUT we had a GREAT time!