Cabin Fever

Cabin fever. It's here and it's real. This winter has been brutal with at least 3 feet of snow and a current temp of 3 degrees. Let me tell you how happy I am to be in Ohio right now.... I'm not.

To beat the winter blues, we try to get out and have some indoor fun. So we found a Fun n Stuff one weekend and spent half the day playing, jumping, skating, and climbing. The kids had a blast and we all went home exhausted.

And as always, only the best phone quality pics for you. ;)

Alena made it to the top!

Anyone else stuck in the cold and snow or are you lucky to live where it's sunny and warm?

Wordless Wednesday - Let it Snow

Sub zero temps + lots of snow = an unhappy, cabin fevered me.

Fall is Here

Fall has officially arrived in NE Ohio. The leaves are turning bright oranges, yellows, and reds, the air is crisp, and everything is all about pumpkins. This isn't technically the kids' first Fall season, but it is their first "real" Fall since Arizona's Fall months consist of 80 degree temps and no changing or falling leaves.

My sister's house is in the woods so there is an abundance of leaves to rake and jump into. The kids are experiencing many 'firsts' this year. One of them is a leaf pile and Alena and Christian loved it! Noah, not so much. He did like kicking the pile but not actually sitting in it.

See Noah's face? Hah!

My sister not only lives in the woods, but on a quiet dirt road too. It's a great place to take pictures.

Found a perfect tiny leaf.

Is anyone else out there loving the beauty of Fall?

Enjoying the Weather

Ohio doesn't have many beautiful days so when it does, we make sure to get out and enjoy them. I love the fact that I can shoo the kids out the door when they need to run off some energy or when boredom begins to set in.

I'm glad that they have been adjusting well to country living. Noah just absolutely LOVES it! He could spend all day outside if I let him. He had his first experience with puddles recently and I eventually had to drag him out of there kicking and screaming. After a spring rain, the driveway had plenty of puddles to find and play in and he took right to the wet and dirty mess. Walked up and plop! Sat right in the middle of it. I undressed him and let him have at it.

Swings are also a favorite.

Our little climber.

And when we want to get out of the house, we head to the park. Noah is now at the stage where he is able to climb the playground to the slides and come down on his own. All I have to do is make sure he doesn't jump off any openings in the playground and then catch him at the bottom. My sister and I recently got together with our kids and our niece she was babysitting at the park. The kids had a blast swinging, running, playing, riding scooters, and just being kids.

Those who built the park added in a sledding hill that is perfect for rolling down in the warmer months. Or as we used it for... running up and down to make sure they got out every last ounce of energy. :)

I really hope this 75-80 degree weather holds out for a while longer. This mama is not ready for hot and humid weather without the comfort of an air-conditioned house!

Park Play

With as mild as this winter has been, we've been trying to enjoy the outside before one hundred degree temps hit us. This was Noah's first trip to the park since he started walking and he really enjoyed the freedom to move.

Swings are a favorite in our family.

I managed to snap a pic with myself in it since those are rare around here because I'm always the one behind the camera.

Noah loves to walk and doesn't have a care in the world when he's down and off. He just starts walking away without looking back to make sure we're near. Definitely going to have to watch this one when we're out!

It's always nice to have another who can "fetch" him.

That grin... gets me every time.

Tell me, are you stuck in the cold and snow? Or are you lucky like we are with sunny and warm?

Beauty Surrounds Us

We've lived here in Arizona for a little over five years and I love our scenery. At times it can be somewhat "ugly" if you're looking at the surface. It's not very colorful except for a few short months during monsoon season. There is mostly dead weeds, small shrubs, cacti, dirt, and everything seems to be a shade of brown.

But open your eyes and mind a little and look past that and you will see beautiful mountains, clear blue skies, and small wildlife. If you look a little harder you will find plenty of colors in the birds, bugs, small plants, and desert flowers.

The other week when we had snow, I wanted to get a good shot of the mountains because they are just so beautiful when covered in snow. I'm not sure I did them proper justice but I tried.

I really like the flag that appears as if it is in the middle of nowhere in the above photos.

These were taken on the west end of town at the edge of the base. I then moved to the south side of town to take the next photos. I went as far as I could until I hit a dirt road and there was nowhere else to go but down a walking path.

Seriously, so beautiful.

SNOW in Arizona!

Yes, we had SNOW in southern Arizona! Granted we live almost a mile above sea level so snow is not impossible. It's just highly unlikely. The mountains surrounding us are usually the only way we get to see snow throughout the winter. Being that we are located at a higher altitude, we do get a small dusting at least once a year but not like this. We were blessed with almost two inches on New Year's Eve. (Yes, I am just getting around to posting this almost a month late!)

Gabe and I were woken up to the sounds of Alena screaming "Snow! We have snow! Can we play in it?" And who are we to tell her no when this might be her one and only chance to play in snow this year?

So we were bundling up the kids and getting them ready to head outside when we thought up the idea to take them to the park where there would be more snow than at home. So Gabe and I bundled up too and even before anyone had breakfast, we were out the door to play.

I was joking with Gabe and saying how only in Arizona do you play in the snow before eating breakfast because you know it'll be gone by noon. It's true! I also joked that this was a once in five year type of snow. We have lived here barely over five years and this is about the most we've seen.

We were not the only ones who had the idea to come to the park because there were several other families there enjoying the snow. The kids had a blast and I do believe Christian could have played in it all day! Alena, on the other hand, is more like me. We like for a bit, but when the cold overtakes the fun, we're done.

Trying to make a large ball for a snowman.

You can see in this next one that Christian took the opportunity to nail Gabe with a huge snowball while he was helping Alena with her gloves.

You can see where Alena was nailed right in her forehead.

The others in the park with the same idea as us. They were building some sort of funky snowman (snowfrog?).

After having our fill of snow, we headed home. On the way, we decided we were just too lazy to make breakfast so instead, we would head to a local restaurant for some brunch (since by then it was 11). Gabe and the kids ordered breakfast items but this pregnant momma was craving the Turkey Reuben as soon as I saw it on the menu. And boy was it good! I ate the whole thing and completely overstuffed myself!

Waiting for our meals to arrive.

YUMMY!

We had such a good family day!