The Fun Stuff

One thing I LOVE about AZ: There are so many fun, free (!) things to do with your kids! Tagg and I (back in May!) went to That Thursday Thing in downtown Glendale. It was a blast, and Tagg and I, as always, had such a good time walking around together, exploring and experiencing.... and getting some stinkin awesome pictures! Check out that one at the bottom left: I used the timer and set the camera up on the stairs before I went down and posed with Tagg. He did his own sweet little thing and it turned out to be my Most Favorite picture of us ever!!! ...I'm getting a bit too sentimental looking at this collage! I absolutely love this little boy. He is so much fun to be with!
See that picture of him in his car seat? He brought Jed's old Princess Leia action figure with him and pulled the head off. Since heads don't usually come off of things, he decided it must have actually been a hat. And proceeded to don it as such.
The other photos depict us taking an old-fashioned shuttle ride to Cerreta's chocolate factory, exploring a mostly-deserted parking garage, and making friends with a ridiculously large and dumpy looking teddy bear. The picture in the background is of downtown Glendale. I hope I always live somewhere that has at least an oasis like this. This little Midwestern-type neighborhood in our section of the world has done so much to make Arizona home for me. Not only is it gorgeous (mostly due to the fact that the trees are bigger than the houses: the single-most important factor in my decision to label something as "gorgeous" :), it's also full of kind and friendly people: We were wandering around one of the houses-turned-businesses when the proprietor came over and struck up a conversation, even sweetening the deal by running inside to get a bag of fruit snacks as a gift for Tagg. Sigh. Life is good, and so are people!

Glendale hosted a "Toddler Water Day" a few months ago, and it was a fun way to spend a sizzling hot day together! Tagg wasn't too keen on actually getting wet until the very end, and in the interim, he amused himself with sand, bubbles and snacks while trying to hold his own with older kids that might be described as "too splashy." :) When he did decide to get in the water, though, he chose a huge puddle over the kiddie pools and water toys... hmmm. Put that together with eating raw corn on the cob at the mall and going around town shoeless on occasion and I think we have a potential hillbilly on our hands! (Which I love, by the way. Any hillbilly-ness is almost definitely my doing ;)

As the weather has been getting a bit less extreme, Tagg and I (and Elmo) have begun to venture out to the playgrounds more often! Our trip with Elmo was a blast; he made sure his furry red friend was coming with us wherever we went on the playground, and when we went to the grocery store afterwards he refused to be stingy with his cookie. Elmo wasn't the only highlight of the trip, though He is the craziest little climber! I took the pictures below because he got all the way to the top of these things with only a little support from me (and his juice waiting for him at the top :), which I think is a big feat for such a little dude!

The pictures were taken a little while ago... this video was taken tonight, by which time he has evolved to need no help (Jed's hand was there on his back for our sakes as parents, not because Tagg actually needed it there :)

The Westgate fountains are always a big hit--not only because of the water spraying up from the ground randomly and all the other kids running around, but also because of the birds! Tagg spends at least as much time chasing those birds as he does playing in the water :)

Our friends were going away for the weekend and asked us to let their dog out morning and night. We had lots of fun with this assignment, and it wasn't two days into it when Tagg started waking up saying "Ty?! Ty?!" and verbally hoping that every car trip was to Ty's house. :) Brigham enjoyed the furry company quite a bit, as well!

Our good friends came over for dinner last weekend and of course we had such a good time together! It is so much fun to see Taggert playing with other kids; he's just barely gotten to that age where he wants friends and actually interacts with them :)

Speaking of friends, Jed's long-time friend from Indiana, Sonny, was in Phoenix and made time for a visit! We really have tons of amazing people in our life, and always have. The difference that good friends make is truly astounding.