I found a dead scorpion half the size of my foot. Thank goodness it was dead. Seriously. So gross.

Will completed his first backfloat all by himself in swim lessons! And for a kid who was so afraid of getting his head wet when we first arrived here, let me just say how proud I am of him for this accomplishment!

We, of course, always have to stop for a picture in the steering wheel shopping cart at Fry's :)

I'm pretty sure I sent this picture to my dad so he could make fun of me. I always used to throw out tomato paste after using only 1 Tbsp for my chili recipe. So now I portion it out and freeze it so I have the right amount on hand for the next time (or 6!) that I need it! My friend Jen told me I should start a freezer series on my blog. Here ya go, Jen. #justfreezeit

This little dude turned FOUR! My parents came to town to celebrate and we had a birthday party at the house with so many AZ friends. It was such a wonderful celebration for our little man and we were so grateful. As you can see by the HUGE smile on his face it was a great day for him!

It was my birthday right after John's and I got to go golfing with my dad on Sunday and for a pedicure with my mom on Monday (my actual birthday). Sadly, Will came down with a fever and both boys ended up with ear infections so we didn't do much other celebrating. Still, it was a great weekend with my parents in town and we had a wonderful time together! 

Playing cards with Grandma!

 My parents got us this new rug as a housewarming gift. It is so soft and fluffy. And kid and dog approved! I love how Stella found the sunshine almost immediately. Also, when it got delivered, I was home and Erik was not. I'm sure the security camera footage of me dragging this beast of a rug into the house was fantastic. I still don't know how I managed to get it inside and unrolled all on my own. But, when you're motivated enough I guess anything is possible!

Sweet boys and a stinky dog enjoying their new rug

And that's a wrap for September!

Thursday marked the start of Erik's first night in grad school! We are so proud of him for taking on this challenge. The boys and I will be spending Thursdays hanging out on our own so we kicked it off with a stop at Culver's for some yummy double strawberry custard. Thumbs up for a fun night out with mom! And the bonus was that there was no school Friday so staying out late was ok.

I triple booked our Friday (and find that we always seem to have something going on down here). We started Friday morning with a playdate with some Caterpillar friends and her little boys. Will & John had a blast playing with all of their race cars and even playing air hockey and indoor basketball. 

We headed home after the playdate for a quick lunch, some down time and swimming lessons! The boys are enrolled in the same swim school, but are in different classes right now. Will is still getting comfortable putting his face in the water and going under and John is in the level where he already has the comfort. In just 2 lessons both boys have made huge strides in their comfort in the pool. John even earned a ribbon for backfloating all by himself! And Will showed off his swimming skills Friday evening by swimming across our hottub with his whole face in the water!

Friday our neighbors came for a cookout and our kids all played together. We capped that part of our night off by putting all 5 kids in the hot tub for some swimming. We had such a great time and are so lucky to live in a place with such great neighbors-turned-friends.

Around 8pm our friends arrived from New Mexico and the kids played for about an hour before their slumber party in the boys' room.

The grown ups sat outside by the fire pit and enjoyed some good kid-free chatting. And some good adult beverages! :)

The next day we headed to Old Tucson and saw some old movie set costumes and equipment, took a train ride, had lunch and watched a wild west stunt show. We finished off our HOT time there with some sno cones. The kids had a blast! The stunt show was really cool, although John could have done without the sound of stunt gunfire... I had to leave the show early with him because he was pretty scared (and hot).

 We braved dinner with the 8 of us at Dove Mountain Brewing Company and finished off the night with the kids running around on a playground right near the restaurant. We were all exhausted from a late night the night before and a long day in the sun and turned in early.

Sunday morning we had breakfast (boy were those waffles fluffy ;) ) and then went to the Pima Air & Space Museum. The kids loved finding any and everything they could climb on and play with. The inside of the museum was great for them and they were happy to run around and check out everything their size. The outside is full of old planes and was also really cool. We finished off our time there with a quick run around the playground and then headed to In N Out for lunch. Erik needed to go to his study group so he headed off and the rest of us went back home. The plan was for the kids to rest and then to head swimming at The Gallery but the weather did not cooperate. Instead the kids happily played and we had dinner at home and relaxed after they finally went to bed.

 The Dolce family had to head out on Monday for lunch with some other friends on their way out of town. We had such a great time with their family and it was really fun getting all of the kids together again. They get along like old friends even after only 1 other visit with them on our road trip here.

We headed to The Gallery on Monday afternoon for a cookout and some swimming with the kids. We met another family with young boys while we were swimming and had a great afternoon chatting with them before heading home to relax and settle in for the night. It was a big night for John John because he was set to start preschool on Tuesday!

We got Will off to the bus stop Tuesday morning with Erik and then got everything ready for school! John even picked out his clothes the night before, just like his big brother does. After snacks, water cups and backpack were all ready to go we headed outside for a quick picture and then off to school we went! He was SO excited!

Shockingly, neither of us shed a tear at drop off. He even told me that morning that he was going to hold his teacher's hand and that I could go home. Talk about being ready for his next adventure! I picked him up a few hours later and asked him what his favorite part of the day was. "Everything!" If only we could all have that much enthusiasm for life.

Sweet John John, mom & dad are so proud of you. You have taken this move in stride and are so excited to be in a new school with a new teacher meeting new friends. I love being your mom and am so lucky to have such a sweet, kind, funny little man in my life. You and your brother amaze us every day. WE love you so much!!!

And if that wasn't enough, Will came off the bus in all smiles because he got this note from one of his classmates and bus buddies. Someone please help me through these next 12 years! I think my kids are pretty darn cute but I definitely wasn't ready for another Kindergartener to think so!! 

We celebrated John's first day of preschool and Will's first love letter (ha!) by meeting up with the Carter and Johnson families for dinner. All in all we had 6 adults and 8 kids and had a really wonderful time with everyone! The boys stayed up way past their bedtimes and we even gave them ice cream as a special treat when we got home and then sent them off to bed, all sugared up. 

That's all for now!