Say "Cheese"!

Full face shots of Landon...nearly impossible to capture! Armed with my camera on my hip, while shopping and dinner at Kierland, I caught a perfect image on our boy! This photo speaks volumes of his adorable essence.

Carrying the new stuffed puppy and lollipop we purchased at Peek....
The sales girls at Peek were completely smitten with him! How can you not be? His laughter and playfulness is contagious!


A rare family photo op!!

Home Depot

The first Saturday of the month we have been heading over to Home Depot for the kids building expo. Our lil' man has such a great time, engulfing himself in tools, wood, nails, and glue. He loves his handmade projects and showing them off at home!


Dad's got this all figured out!


Trying to make sense of these directions! I didn't take wood shop in school!


Landon stays so focused on getting his project done!






His masterpiece!! The buckets and buckets of glue were Landon's finishing touch on his football holder!

Teppanyaki!

Friday night out....teppanyaki with our friends, Clint and Lindsey and Landon's BFF, Carson!

Carson's not too stoked about all the flames!

BFF's! These boys are so cute together. They have similar dispositions....both so sweet and kind!

Lando participating in a magic act!

Love You Forever!

Bedtime routine consists of reading 2-3 books before our boy hit his peaceful slumber. Landon picked out Love You Forever, handed it over to me to read, and I knew I was in trouble. I can't get through that book without crying.....it gets me every time. I dove into reading, determined to stay dry eyed, but just near the end, it hit me like a ton on bricks. I couldn't finish it, I handed the book over to Scot, with a "You do it", as I cradled my sweet baby. Landon listened to each page so intently and as the story ended, he asked me to rock him. Ohhhh, my sweet boy still needs his Mama! I was so thrilled with him wanting to be rocked, of course, the tears started again. Scot snuck out and snagged the photo op!

2 1/2!!!

Where has the time gone? Landon is quickly apporaching 3 years old, and not a day goes by that I am not impressed with his intelligence, kindness, and sense of humor. He has grown so quickly and into such an amzing boy! We're absolutely head over heels for our Lil' Man!!

Here's Landon's Top Ten this week:

10. Singing along to Taio Cruz (Dynamite and Break Your Heart)

9. Vaccuums

8. "I need this!"

7. "Nope"

6. Starbucks

5. Fireturcks, firemen, and ambulances

4. Shi Shi, his much loved dog

3. His BFF, Carson

2. Papa's tools

1. Rope, strings, hoses...anything that he can strung around the house for magical make-believe!!

Going, going, gone fishin'....

Our leisure Saturday, started with breakfast with Grandma and Papa, at Lando's fav.....the DV airport. Our boy loves to stare and watch the airplanes take off, land, and taxi on the runway. We have to drag him back to the car!!!

A quick trip to grab some fishing equipment and we are off to Lynx Lake in Prescott for an afternoon of fishing! Yep, I will be the first to admit, the Z's are the least outdoorsy family. However, the weather was beautiful, the scenery wonderful, and a family trip outside was just what we needed. No, we didn't catch anything, other than the bug to do it again soon!!!

Kidding Around Playtown

A recommendation from a friend brought us to an indoor (much needed in this Phoenix summer heat) play center. Miniature houses filled this room from top to bottom, allowing the kid's imagination to soar. One thing Landon thrives with, is his imagination, it amazes me at what his pretend play will discover...that's a blog for another day.

Lindsey, Carson, Landon, and I headed to the play town to scope it out. I was impressed with what was done with this small area, designed specifically to be so kid friendly. Our boys played, and I mean played hard for hours. Dressing up as firemen, policemen, playing cars, making music, using tools, playing in the kitchen, and they still had so much to discover by the time we had to go. Definitely putting this on my list of frequent activities with Landon!

Where have we been?

I haven't completely forgotten about blogging. Though my hiatus was temporary, I certainly have contemplated throwing in the towel on this blogging. However, I will press on.

Whew....the Z's have been busy. I'll give a little recap of what we haven't been gettin' in to. I will admit, the camera has been a little difficult to tote everywhere lately and our Lando is harder and harder to capture photos of (he moves at warp speed)!

Evening biking has become our new fav family event. Initially, Lando was a little uncertain with this feeling of being suspended behind Dad. He has quickly gotten over it, as bike rides turn into getting treats and ice cream on our adventures!




Scot and I headed back to the Boulders for ANOTHER weekend stay-cation....just the 2 of us, champagne, pool, spa, and excellent foods!





Scot's mom, had bilateral foot surgery last week, so Landon and I headed to the kitchen to cook and bake treats for her post-operative days.

Enjoying the days of summer with our good friends! We took our boys to the JW Marriott for the Nickelodeon adventure days. The kids were having such a great time swimming, playing, and eating that we parked ourselves in the water for hours.

Stay tuned for more posts...I hope to be better with recording our fun!

The Boulders

A romantic casita for 2 at The Boulders this past weekend, was exactly what we needed. This is my only photo! Enough said.....

Ready to go again!!!

11th Hour at Scorpion Bay

For everyone who had previously inquired on my Facebook page, Scorpion Bay is at Lake Pleasant. Fifteen minutes from my house and yet I haven't been to Lake Pleasant in over 6 years. So, for this rare lake outing, we donned our sunglasses, susnscreen, and casual, non-swimsiut attire, to enjoy the company of our good friends. We all felt transported back to our vacation together in Antigua...the warm sunset setting on the water, great background music, and a few cocktails later, we were in our own mini adult vacay.

Animal Rescue

Family of kittens were found in my mom's front yard. She made all efforts to take in the mama cat and her 5 kittens. The mama cat took 1 kitten and ran, leaving her sweet 4 kittens in the care of my mom. Everyday she leaves food and water, just hoping the mama cat will return. The tiny kittens are about 1 week old, meaning my mom has been bottle feeding them every 2 hours, making feeding charts, helping them go potty, and keeping them warm, until they find a wonderful home. What a nuturing mom I have!!!!

Marco? Polo!

Snow cones and Marco Polo.....gotta love the summer!

Lando and I enjoyed the warm afternoon with our neighbors. Swimming, relaxing, and sucking down as many snow cones as possible. Days like these feel like I'm on summer vacay, as we walk home exhausted and happy from playing with our friends!

I'm Lovin' This!

A weekend with no plans, nothing scheduled, and an unexpected day off, this does not come often. What to do, what to do?! Children's Museum, of course. One of our favorite family events. Each visit we make to the fun house, gets better, as Landon gets older and discovers new adventures. This visit, he was extremely fascinated with the children's scissors in the craft room. A quick stop in the gift shop as we exit (for the sucker parents, who wind up over spending on toys, cadets, and astronaut ice cream), earned Lando 2 pairs of children's scissors, which have now lost the magical fascination at home.


"Would you like ice or stamps with your grocery purchase?"


"Go, car, go!"


Hitching a ride!

Sunday, my free day! We lounged and ate the afternoon away. The only way to be outdoors, is to be submerged in water, as the over 100 degree temperatures have arrived. A suntan and a nap later.....dinner time. BBQ? Perhaps. However, Landon choose the menu tonight, King crab legs and shrimp.....GREAT CHOICE!! Family time, shellfish, DQ, and off to BED! Ahh, what a weekend!

Boogey boarding on the fountain waves!


AHHHH!!!


My boys


Showing off his jumbo shrimps!


Getting a crab cracking lesson from the master!

Cheers to many more lazy summer weekends!