Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Enough Already, I Get It.

This is officially my last Arizona post.

Rach and I spent a morning walking around the resort taking pictures.  There were so many textures and colors - I took approximately 90 million pictures but wanted to post some of my faves.

I love the Southwest.  I love girlfriend's getaway.  I love the ability to walk around for 2 hours with my only goal being to take pictures of cactus needles.  So to wrap up, vacay was cool. Counting down until our 2013 trip.










Frankie Boy

The part where I said I wasn't going to drag my Arizona trip out in blog posts was a lie.

I feel like I need to dedicate a separate post to the awesomeness that's known as Frank Lloyd Wright's house Taliesin West.

We were lucky enough to catch a night tour and it was just a perfect evening.  Frankie lived in Wisconsin but set up his winter home in AZ.  When he built it he brought a bunch of architecture students with him and they literally plopped down in the middle of the dessert and built the estate rock by rock.

It's still a home to many of the people that helped build it, and is also a school for about 30 architecture students. 


He was so particular about his design - this vase was here before they put windows on the house.  When the glass went up he didn't want to move the vase, even an inch, so he had the students cut a hole to accomodate.


The door between his room and the other wing of the house where his wife stayed.




I may not know know anything about architecture (except what I learned when George Costanza worked at Vandalay Industries) but I do know that this place was the bomb.  Thanks for the memories Mr. Wright!

Um, Oops.

So apparently I fell asleep for a few months while I was in the middle of writing about my Arizona trip.  And now that seems so 5 minutes ago.

I'm not sure if I should pick up where I left off or just erase the rest of July and August from the blogworld...

So instead of dragging out my girl's weekend I'll just consolidate some highlights of Arizona into one post:

The Joya Spa at our resort was absolute heaven. In the mornings I took a few yoga/meditation classes, but the best part of all was our spa day.  Massages, facials, fancy cucumber drinks spiked with vodka.  Mmm hmm. 
 




This is a shot from one of the stores in downtown Scottsdale.  Such interesting shops with authentic/touristy/fake Southwest memorabilia.  Also great for people watching, and restaurants with tableside made-to-order guacamole.  Drooling...




Sprinkles cupcakes in the middle of Arizona...random...
 

I was wearing heels.  Rach was not.


It's interesting to look back on this trip now...it seems like lifetimes ago.  I can't explain how AMAZING it was to be away, spend quality time chatting with a good friend, having the ability to eat and drink what I wanted, when I wanted, and just be free to AAAHHHH.  Until next year...

Friday, July 20, 2012

Arizon-aahh Day 1

OMG. OMG. OMG. 

There actually aren't enough OMGs available to explain the blissful Arizona vacation Rachel and I endulged in for 4 glorious days and nights.

Our fabulous, fantastic husbands chilled (chilled...ha!) with the kids and we snuck away to the Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale.  OMG.

We arrived in our room and oohed and ahhed over the mountain and pool view.  OMG.


Then we saw the sticker on the door: "To prevent any unwanted desert critters please keep the door securely closed" with a picture of a scorpion.  Umm...I don't think we're in PA anymore.


We grabbed our suits & margarhitas and headed down to the pool.  This was the view.  OMG.



Rachel discovered that the best way to hang in the Arizona summer sun is to sit in the pool with a towel behind our heads.  OMG.


When we got to the resort our doorman drove us to our room in a golf cart (OMG!) and recommended a local legend for dinner called the Tee Pee.  We ended the night with fajitas and (more) margarhitas and were in bed by 8 pm.


OMG.

Monday, July 09, 2012

Happy Birthday America

We have 3 annual 4th of July traditions:

  1. Early swim party at Aunt Taffy's house
  2. Later block party with the neighborhood peeps
  3. Pass out from complete and total exhaustion combined with heat stroke and a beer buzz (the buzz is for the grown-ups, not the kids, duh.)


Ryan and Cole in the tie die shirts and bandanas they made with their nanny Colleen.  For the record, they styled themselves.

In my defense - have you jumped off a diving board lately?  Honestly it's really scary.  Much higher than it looks.


Chilling with Ryan in the shallow end

Are you picking up on a theme here?  Mom hanging on something that floats...it was one of those aaahhhh afternoons

Ry diving off the board...obviously much braver than his old mom.

We left Doylestown early to get back to WC in time for the block party.  Charlie and Dean immediately found their way into the chocolate s'mores cake, yet maintained their innocence with these angel faces.




Dean going in for the hug.

We're starting to rack up a lot of holiday traditions - both big and small - and I really appreciate the ones like these.  And not just because of the beer buzz (this cold heart of mine has a spot for family and friends, too.)

Hope y'all had a great 4th making your own family traditions.

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Swimming...And More Swimming...Then Even More Swimming...

I predict that by the end of the summer my faithful blog readers (all 2 of you) will  be sick of seeing Ry dive into the pool and swim a freestyle lap.  But I can't help it!  It's still so adorbs to me.

So in this Saturday's meet Ry was placed in Heat 4 with one other swimmer, thus assuring him to place either first or second. I left that part of the story out, so when he got out of the pool and found out he came in second, he was thrilled to pieces.



The next day we went back to the pool to chill with the fam.  Something kicked into Ryan's brain and *BAM* - just like that he learned how to dive.  


You'll note from this video that Cole is also learning how to dive...sorta.  I'd say his form is a little off, but he'll do anything to follow in the footsteps of his big bro.  I love the way he loves Ry.  

Sigh.  Life is good.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Watch Your Back Michael Phelps

Ry had his first swim meet on Saturday morning.  Holy Hannah, what an experience.

So there are around 250 kids on each team - that makes for 500 kids plus their parents all vying for the best spots by the pool and the best donuts at the snack bar.

The roster got posted and Ry was up for the 25 freestyle (Event 6) and the 25 backstroke (Event 28.  Yes, I said event 28...it was a long morning).

All was well until about Event 2.  Ry started shaking and was pretty clingy to me.  I asked what was wrong and he looked up at me with these dewy eyes and said, "Ohhh my gosh I.Am.So.Nervous."

Ry isn't one to express a lot of emotion, so I was both shocked and happy that he was able to communicate his feelings.  When he got up to the block he looked like he was going to either (a) Puke or (b) Bust out crying.

There are so many kids that they have the swimmers for the upcoming heat join hands as they walk to the starting blocks - this way they don't get sucked into the crazy crowds.

But he got up on the block, "dove" in, and swam the fastest I've ever seen him go.  Granted, he came in 5th out of 5 kids, but they gave him a ribbon when he got out of the pool and he was grinning from ear to ear. 

(He's the second kid from the top of the screen - you'll know it's him by his not-so-graceful dive-jump maneuver.) 


He said, "I think Cole's gonna be pretty jealous of my ribbon" and then he just kept petting it saying, "Wow...green silk with gold trim..."

At least the kid doesn't lack confidence.  Here's to a successful summer, no matter what color ribbons he scoops up.


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

I Got A Feeling...That Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Good Night

Let's face it.  We don't get out much.

When the opportunity came up to go to a friend's wedding in New Hope, we jumped at the chance.  The build up for our big night (oops I mean their big night) was so exciting, until we had to work through the logistics of packing up 4 kids, getting them out the door, and delivering them to 3 different locations.  But we muddled through.

The wedding was at the Holly Hedge Estate in New Hope. Oh. My. Dear. Lord.  It was amazing.  Or maybe that was just the wine talking, I'm not sure.






The bride and groom are both CHOP ED nurses so the whole crew was in full effect.  These kids sure know how to let loose (thankfully shots were suggested, but not delivered).


 

It was so weird being out just Phil and me.  The whole hour car ride to New Hope we just sat there in silence with goofy smiles on our faces.




Congratulations to:
a. Laura and Steve (the bride and groom)
b. All of the people who watched our kids for surviving the night
c. The chef at The Holly Hedge Estate for finding the largest shrimps I've ever seen in my life

Mazel tov!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Happy (Belated) 5th Birthday To Cole

Oops...I forgot to blog about Cole's birthday...it's been a busy few months.


We had a hockey party at the Y -surprisingly no one was (seriously) injured despite the twenty 5 year olds chasing each other around a gym with sticks.


Logan and Lucy hamming it up

Uncle Steve defending the goal with the fiery passion of Ron Hextall himself

Cole and the crew


This has been a very quick 5 years and a very long 5 years. Cole - you are many things, but boring you are not. You keep life interesting with your energy, stories, heart, and passion. Love you to pieces, kiddo.