Oh hey! how are you? Long time no talk. I do that a lot don’t I? Go away and never come back! Well, it’s definitely summer here in Arizona. And, it’s hot. Too hot. Angry hot. The only way I’ve been able to keep my sanity lately is filling up this $40 Costco pool in my back yard. It helps me not complain. No warm, bath-temp water .. just cool, refreshing hose water each time. It’s marvelous, and the perfect size for Jace face, who I’ve yet to enroll in swimming lessons. He loves it as much as we do. I feel a little trailer-park-ish, but whatever, it cools us down when the temps soar over 110. And the pergola overhead is nice, too. It even has cuppies for beer and cushy seats. Pretty legit if you ask me. And it’s all ours! >D
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Activities for Kids
This past Sunday I went to the most darling coffee house in the Roosevelt district in Phoenix, called The Teapot. We know the owners, Jon and Rae, from years ago .. and I must tell you, I think it’s our new favorite hang out! As soon as you walk in, Jon welcomes you with a cheery “ELLO” (in his friendly british accent) and a smile. He makes a point to say hello to your little one, too (which us Mommas really appreciate). You take a step in and see play nooks, and toys and drawing tables all around — beautiful, simplistic seating for meet cutes, and in case the place wasn’t cute enough, they went ahead and threw in succulent centerpieces to finish off the cuteness. Their menu consists of home-made, English-inspired plates (in which his mother-in-law bakes and delivers fresh), including refreshing salads, savory quiches and fluffy scones .. I ordered the raspberry coconut scone with a side of cream and it was to-die-for, but not as good as the crowd’s favorite = their highly sought after vanilla iced latte! Very popular amongst the mommy folk I hear .. ;) Seriously amazing, and so refreshing. The most marvelous coffee you’ll ever taste (better than Dutch Bros, and that’s hard to beat in my mind). Anyways, back to my story .. I met my friend Kristin for a very early breakfast date. 8am to be exact, just as they opened their front doors. The best part of this family-friendly coffee house?! Their back patio!
We rode a camel!! And because we had little James with us (thanks Sarah for getting us in with your awesome annual membership!), Jace wasn’t scared at all. He got right on and just smiled away. Such a fun day at the Phx Zoo .. splash pads, monkeys, sea otters, a tiger up close, giraffes, kettle corn .. and best of all, the camel! I made sure to thank him for letting us ride him. Poor guy is continents away from his real home!
The boys playing in the splash zone! 
Bath time at our house is pretty serious; we like to get crazy. And we’ve found that it’s super important to mix it up. Jace gets bored with the same stuff, so we like to bring out something new each week. Toys definitely lose their zeal, and get grungy and watered out. And I say the more colorful the better! Here are some of our current faves:
Hi friends. Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween. We had a great day carving pumpkins (Jace didn’t care to touch or help carve, he just watched ;)) and night with family. A friend of ours hand-me-downed a Captain America toddler costume to us, and if Jace wasn’t such a tall boy it would have fit perfectly! We decided to still make it work, even with the high-water leggings. We then found some cheap printed tees at Kohl’s and played the Captain’s biggest fans! Hahahaha. Jace loved his costume and literally flexed his muscles all night. Even out in the front of the house as people were walking by, ha. He just flexed and growled all night long. My family came over to hang out and help us pass out candy. When the trick-or-treaters started to wean out, we went inside and ended the night with a pumpkin beer taste-testing by our MC for the night – Robby J ;) My favorite was Rogue’s Pumpkin Patch Ale and the Punk-n. And that night was officially the night Jace discovered candy .. the bite size Twix and M&Ms were small and OK .. but the Blow Pop changed my sweet boy to a purple-mouthed crazed devil child. It was like a real-life scientific experiment unfolding before our eyes of what sugar does to children. They literally go insane to keep eating it. Jace was crazed and would spaz out if you tried to take it away from it. Which we eventually did. Thankfully we were able to get him interested in something else, like dinner. Well, no more blow pops or suckers for Jace face! All in all, we had a blast hanging out at home and Jace was a total trooper in dressing up so we could selfishly enjoy his cuteness.
Aunty Pam the butterfly princess with Captain America. So cute!