Outdoor Culture

One of Scot's and my favorite things about Arizona, is all the memories both of us have growing up here. We are now getting to share those memories with Landon and recreating our own childhood times into our wonderful and hilarious family moments!

An impromtu road trip led us to Sedona.....

Without much of an agenda or plan we did the gentle hike to Slide Rock. The crisp water, on the verge of freezing, and yet Landon was able to con his Dada into taking him down one of the slides. Without a swimsuit in sight the boys stripped off their shirts and BRAVED the icy rapids!

"How do I get down?"


"We're goin' in!"




One last look from Scot......the things we do for our boy!

Dried off and starving.....what next? Rainbow Trout Farm. I will be the first to admit that I LOVE fish, seafood, and shellfish, however, I want no part in catching it and killing it. I was willing to shove it all aside and fish with the boys. Scot was quite eager to give me a full fishing experience. Great.

Gathering my pond water....yep, I got a full experience!






Fish #1


Fish #2...weighing at 4 1/2 lbs and 21 inches long.

Dinner!!

Ok, so I have to admit I had a blast fishing, because I'm the one who caught both fish. Yep, me, the anti-fisherman, caught the largest trout the owner had seen in years. We grilled our fish minutes after being caught and I must say they were DELICIOUS!!

Fall Spirit

The air is cool, the season fall,

Soon Halloween will come to all....

Halloween decorations fill our home, pumpkin scent fills the air, Halloween costume ready for trick-or-treating, pumpkins waiting to be carved, this season's baking is on the go, pumpkin patch event scheduled, and tonight we plan on "Boo-ing" our neighbors with treats! (http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Start-the-Halloween-Boo-in-Your-Neighborhood)

Oh, how we love this time of year!

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!!!

A "Soft Opening" of Preschool

Landon starts full time preschool this winter, at the turning of 3 years old. In an effort to ease him into this transition Scot and I decided to start him in "school" 2 mornings a week. This morning was his "soft opening", a trial run. Thinking he might not be too eager to stay, I didn't bring my camera (I'll send Scot with it next week). Landon did fantastic, sure their were moments panic, when he realized I was gone. His teacher Miss Heather offered him so much reassurance and would redirect him to new activities, keeping him interested. Did I mention I never left the school? Yep, I stayed and watched him on the large screen in the front office. I had to ease myself into this new routine too. Did I mention my mom is the Director of school? Still needing some reassurance myself and learning to trust new people with my child. I picked him up for his class a couple of hours later. He was sitting in Miss Heather's lap getting some needed consoling. At the sight of mom, the tears stopped, and he was so excited to tell me about painting a tool box and playing on the slide! Sure, it will be a big transition and yet another milestone discovered!!

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.

Build-a-Bear

Mommy and Landon Wednesdays.....we are attached at the hip. I always try to have a special event planned for us to celebrate our day. Off to Scottsdale Fashion Square for Build-a-Bear. Landon wanted the 1st bear he saw, ignoring all the sad stuffed animals eyes staring at him....."This one, Mama!" He filled Bear with stuffing, kissed his heart, and wanted him naked. No clothes, shoes, or hat for Landon's Bear, just the stroller "pleeeeze"!

He was so thrilled to push Bear's stroller through the mall! Such a good hearted boy!