Picnicking in the Sky

Today was picnic day. Sort of. Mommy wanted to drive onto the fort and go to one of the lovely picnic areas there. Daddy had other ideas. We drove our non-4-wheel-drive mini-van up to the top of the mountains in search of a camping area. Took us two hours round trip.
IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE FOR WOMEN: When you say, "Dear, let's take the kids on a picnic," it translates in their ears to the following: "Let's find the most primitive, steep, no-maintenance road in the county and drive on it until the kids are crying and throwing up."
We did find a campground, but there was a fee, and as usual, nobody had any cash on their person. Darn kids. You try to teach them responsibility but when it's crunch time, they always forget to bring their cash. So we drove some more. Very rough, windy roads. Very car-sick mommy. Very tired, angry L! Finally just pulled off to the side of the road and climbed up a steep hill and sat down and ate. We were there for what was a grand total of 20 minutes. The hill was so steep that the kids' food was rolling down the hill away from them. We all had on slippery flip-flops, so climbing was interesting! Daddy was the only one who wore proper hiking shoes. Of course, he was also the only one who knew we'd be at the top of a mountain! But we took some good pictures (yes, the ones here) in order to create the illusion of a joyous romp through the woods. Oh well, we killed some time! Check out the background on the pic of the 3 kids. We were dang high!

And for those friends and family who have never been to Arizona, let me clarify: yes, we do have trees (at the tops of high mountains). Yes, we have mountains, too.

Not O...this time.

B's giant head gets the better of him once again. Poor kid was just running down the hall, on the ceramic tile, and did a lip drag right onto his forehead. Of course, before I offered hugs and consolation, I made him pose for the mugshot. Turned out quite nicely, I think. (-: And it should be noted that O was nowhere in the vicinity for this one. She's usually responsible for his injuries, but she's clean this time.


L sleeping anywhere but his bed is such a rare event that I had to capture it. He's very funny with his bottles. As soon as it's empty, he doesn't just set it down. He hurls it out of his reach. So apparently even sheer exhaustion doesn't hinder this process, as you can see from the picture. He hurls then crashes!

Heat Intolerance

Thought it would be fun to take my little fair-haired albino children out for a stroll through the neighborhood today. Late afternoon, June, Arizona desert, 98-ish degrees. And yet another mother-of-the-year award has slipped through my fingers. Ah well, there's always next year. Had to take a picture to show how rosy their little cheeks get just from a 10 minute lap to the mailbox and back. Poor angels just don't tolerate the desert heat very well.
Also, it seems that Jenna isn't the only one with bird troubles. We have a nest on our patio with a momma and some babies. Well, the babies have been kicking one sibling out of the nest, so S has decided to adopt it. He buys crickets at the pet store, pulls their legs off, chops them in our food chopper, and feeds them to the baby bird. The kids are in love with the thing and insisted it should have a place on our blog.
The momma bird is a menace, however. She and her friends keep watch from a distance over the nest, and every time anyone goes outside, they literally get buzzed by about 3 birds continually until they give up and go back in the house. H suggested we shoot the adult birds to eliminate the problem. Think she's been talkin' to her uncle Phil again.

My Purty Girls

I wanted some pictures of just me and my girls. Here's a couple of them. I thought they turned out pretty cute. And everyone's smiling! That so rarely happens (when O is in the picture).

More May Events

Poor little L finally had a birthday! He was born last year on May 24, but when his big one-year mark came around this year, his mommy forgot it was his birthday! WAY too much going on that week. Ah, the pitfalls of being the fourth child. But last week we finally got around to sticking a candle in a piece of cake and singing happy birthday. He was as clueless on that day as he would have been on the 24th, so all is well! To him, cake is cake. Who cares what the date is??

The girlfriends and I (oh yeah, and the kids, too) get together every month for a playgroup. It's really more for the mommies than the kids, but they seem to have fun, too! This time we hit the park where there's a water fountain that the kids can play in. They had a great time...we stayed for two whole hours! And they were so tired when we got home. Yay!