Butterfly Exhibit

Nanny's goal is to never go more than six weeks without seeing Lily and William.

So last week was a quick visit before she is back for Thanksgiving.

We were ALL so happy to see her!

Off to the new Butterfly Wonderland we went.

The experience started with a 3D movie, which truly was fascinating.

Then a room full of cocoons in different stages.

Finally, into the rainforest exhibit to see thousands of butterflies in a natural setting.

thank you Nanny, for making sure Mom was in a picture too!

humidity?  what's that??

After a fun and educational adventure, we went to our favorite place...the train park!  

We hadn't been since last spring and were thrilled that cooler temps mean we can start venturing outdoors again.

these two break out into showtunes at every opportunity. Lily loves her Nanny so much!

 William wasn't too sure about the train ride. Once the whistle blew, he hung onto me for dear life.

I didn't mind the extra snuggles one bit. 

choo-choo

Neither kiddo liked the carousal.  Not my favorite either!

Another fun week with our Nanny.  We spent the rest of her time just doing our everyday activities...school, soccer, park play, etc.  Mom and Dad also snuck off for one day and celebrated eight years of marriage.  So thankful for each other as well as our very supportive extended family!  Counting down the days until Nanny's next visit!

Fall break

It's fall break here in Arizona, so Lily's been off school all week.

Which sounds like we'd be doing tons of fun activities, enjoying the beautiful weather.

But alas, we've been stuck indoors fighting a nasty virus.  All our best buddies have also been home sick this week.

Finally today...we were (mostly) back to normal and figured since every one of us already had the virus, we couldn't spread it further.

Off to the park we went with the Whitson's!

the "babies"

two William's sporting blue!

Soccer

Lily started soccer again this year, and is loving it.

William Tommy thinks he should be able to play too!

Drive! Score!

William Tommy is obsessed with balls.  Seriously.  It's the first thing he looks for in the morning, 

he throws and chases all day long, and pretends to throw when he can't find one.  All boy, all the time!

Palm Springs vacation

We spent last weekend on a short vacation, in sunny Palm Springs.

An easy four hour drive and a small, sleepy town made it a perfect choice for our family.

We rented a small midcentury, modern home with a swimming pool.

While Mom and Dad checked out our digs, the kids did exactly what they do at home.

Lily wanted to watch a show and William found his balls to toss around and anything/everything to climb up or into.  

We made ourselves right at home.  :)

Our first evening, we headed downtown to the weekly street festival.

We loved people watching and checking out the local goods.

After walking around for a bit, we settled down for a drink and appetizers while listening to a local band.

An Adele song came on, and Lily stood up and started singing along.  She has no fear!

Friday, we ventured up to the Palm Springs Tramway, which takes you up 8,500 feet to the top of Chino Canyon.

At the top, the temperature was a chilly 48 and we Phoenicians enjoyed being 'cold' for a bit.

After a short hike and lots of photos, we headed back down the mountain.

Lily leading the way...as always!

Friday was also Ryan's birthday, so we celebrated with a yummy lunch, a couple margaritas, and two fairly well behaved kids.  
Not much else you can ask for on vacation!  

The rest of our trip was spent relaxing and hanging out in the pool. 

Lots of swimming, smiles, and giggles from our crew!

All around, it was a fun, relaxing trip.  I'd highly recommend Palm Springs and we'd love to visit again!