It was my full intention to sit down weekly, or at least monthly, and recap everything that has been happening in our lives since our move to Tucson in July. But life here has been so BUSY that I've barely taken a moment to even think about getting to this blog to share our adventures! I guess that's a good thing because it means we are settling in and having a great time, even though we are definitely missing our family & friends in Wisconsin.

So, here's a recap of July and August with some pictures and a brain dump of these last (almost) 2 months of desert living...

We arrived on July 3rd and had a pretty low key 4th of July. We hung out at home with the kids the whole day and did a little swimming, watched the hot dog eating contest and enjoyed the quiet of being home and not being cooped up in our car. It was 100+ degrees, even in to the evening, so we didn't even venture out to see any fireworks displays. We put the kiddos to bed relatively early and caught a few fireworks from the patio. All in all it was a wonderful, relaxing holiday.

Erik started back to work the next day so staying home and laying low was definitely the way to go. Plus, with the heat, it was nice to hang out in the A/C and let the kids play with all of their toys that they'd been missing for months.

 We sold and gave away some of our furniture in Wisconsin, so the boys and I ran errands one morning to look at kitchen tables, coffee tables and entry tables. As you can see, Will was thrilled to be there... ha! Luckily, the salespeople brought balloons out a little while later so they were much happier to be out shopping with me. We then had to take the balloons into each stop we made because we were afraid they may pop if left in the car in the heat!

 We have spent a LOT of time in our backyard since arriving in July, in between the hot temperatures. During most of July we'd play outside in the morning (golf, swim, etc) and then head back in until later in the day and sometimes the evening because it was just too darn hot to be on our patio. We have very little shade and the sun beats down so we will be thinking about an awning or extending our covered patio at some point. But, heat aside, it is just beautiful out our backyard.

 Will got his first loose tooth within a couple weeks of our arrival here! We ate lunch at In N Out after running some errands and Will told me after that his tooth felt funny. I was afraid he had bit down on something hard in the burger and broken a tooth but thank goodness it was just loose! We both laughed and hugged and he was so excited! We sent Grandma/Grandpa & Nana/Papa Marco Polo stories to share the big news. It was an exciting day in the Brandstaetter household!

I've learned very quickly that when the temperatures get up into the 110+ range that 100 degrees when the sun goes down feels really nice. We even went to dinner on a Friday night with Erik when it was still about 103 degrees and ate on the patio. We both laughed at how our concept of how comfortable it felt had changed so much in such a short time. Thank you low humidity in the desert!

 Will's school had a "preview" week in July, about 2 weeks before school started. It was a chance for him to meet the Kindergarten teachers, see the school & classrooms and get familiar with his new school. He absolutely loved it! It was 2 hours a day, Monday thru Thursday so it gave John and I a little time to explore while Will had fun at school. It was a really great program, especially for us, so that we all got to establish a comfort level of being in a new town and new school. 

 We took a trip up Mt Lemmon last month and it was so much fun! The elevation is just over 9000ft and on hot summer days in Tucson it is much cooler to go up the mountain. We hit up the cookie cabin and shared a giant cookie and ice cream, "hiked" a little with the boys and enjoyed the 70 degree weather. It was great and we look forward to taking the boys up again many times in the future. We may even go in the winter and play in the snow!

 I signed the boys up for swimming lessons for the last 2 weeks of summer at the Marana High School pool. We haven't regularly done swimming lessons while in WI but with having a small pool at our house and all of the swimming pools in the area we know its important for them to develop great swimming skills. This program was a great introduction for them and they had so much fun.

Swimming lessons at Marana High School

 In the middle of July my parents road tripped across the country to bring Stella home to us. She enjoyed a few extra weeks in WI being loved on by my parents but we were so happy to have her home. She adapted pretty well to her new home in the desert, but not without a bit of confusion about why there's no grass for her to lay on or go to the bathroom in. She has adjusted very well and is able to sleep in our room again (no stairs to climb!) and has even been going for short morning walks with John and I. 

Stella wasted no time finding the best spot to nap

 Erik and I decided to join a local golf club right near our home called The Gallery. It has 36 holes of golf, a Sports Club (with fitness center, spa and pool) and 2 restaurants. We hope to start both boys in golf lessons in the very near future (possibly even the fall for Will) and have already gone out for a couple of rounds of golf at the course with the boys. We also live right off the 9th hole of one of the courses, to show just how close this is to our house! We are so excited about this part of AZ living as it is WAY more fun than mowing a 3.5 acre lawn every weekend... ha!

 Will's first tooth came out thanks to the help of an apple! It was a very exciting day for our special little man! He wrote a note and left a picture for the tooth fairy and was very excited to receive a dollar for his tooth! Even better, the tooth fairy left him a note letting him know he can keep his very first lost tooth!

 I missed my 20th high school reunion in early August but decided to take a picture from Sunny AZ to send to all of my fellow reunioners. I know what you're thinking, how could someone who clearly looks to be under 30 have celebrated 20 years of being out of high school?! I'll never share my secrets... :)

 August 6th, 2018 was my little man's first day of Kindergarten!!!!! It seemed so crazy to me because he had finished school in WI less than 2 months earlier. 

As you can see from his pictures, he was nothing but excited to ride the bus and start Kindergarten. His teacher is AWESOME. We did have a bit of a snafu when he got off the bus on his first day... he did not follow the other kids to his classroom and there was no one helping direct him. Luckily, John and I had driven to school to meet him off the bus and found him with a teacher in the courtyard. It was with a few tears from both of us that morning that he started his first day. Luckily, a call to the school office took care of everything. The teachers and staff at his new school are amazing and the rest of the week went off without a hitch!

 Every afternoon at 2:30 John and I head to the bus stop to meet sweet William off the bus. John has discovered a neighborhood sign that he hides out under to stay cool in the hot sun! It's my favorite part of the day getting to hear how school and the bus ride home were :)

 My mom sent me a text asking if she could come for a last minute visit. Of course I said yes! I didn't tell the boys she was coming and surprised John at the airport and Will at the bus stop. It was so fun surprising them and I don't know who was more excited... her to see them or them to see her! We went to the Reid Park Zoo, did a little shopping, swam at The Gallery, had lunch and dinner out and just had the BEST time. I was so sad when we had to take her to the airport on Saturday. I think its the first time since we've been here that it really hit me just how far away we are from family. Luckily, we have a great neighborhood full of wonderful people that have become fast friends as well as our community of CAT families that we are getting to know.

 Will lost his 2nd tooth while my mom was here visiting! He was at school and bumped it on his chair while packing up and pulled it out all by himself! His teacher gave him a little container to bring it home in. Another super exciting day for this sweet boy! And even better that Grandma could be here with him.

 This past weekend we dropped my mom at the airport and then headed to the Tucson Proving Grounds for a car show that Caterpillar puts on each year to raise money for United Way. We saw huge CAT trucks, walked around and saw cool old cars, ran into some CAT families we know, had face painting done, ate pizza and just had a good old time.

On Saturday night we hosted our friends, The Carpenters, for dinner at our home. They have lived in AZ for 6 years and are the friends we visited and stayed with on our first trip to Tucson in 2016. You can read all about it HERE. Time and distance don't change certain friendships and this is a perfect example. After not living in the same state in 6 years and seeing them once before moving here we have picked up where we left off and our kids are already playing like they are old friends. We had a great time hosting their family at our home and look forward to many more fun times in the future!

There's so much more I could probably share about our time here thus far. Overall, we are loving our new home and our life here. We look forward to making more friends, having more adventures and hosting our friends and family that want to come visit this beautiful part of the country.

Hopefully I'll get better at taking pictures and remembering to share them here more often than once every couple of months!

Until next time... :)