4th of July

4th of July

This year we spent the 4th of July in Palm Desert, CA.  Although we went from the desert to the desert it was still a nice getaway.  The best part was getting to spend it with some family as well.  We were lucky enough to talk Uncle Mark and Aunt Mary into driving to meet up with us for part of the week.  As a bonus we even convinced Uncle Gary and Aunt Jackie to come and stay for a night!  It was great spending time with family.  Unfortunately I never seem to capture pictures of everyone together.  Our week in Palm Desert was spent visiting the local zoo/botanical garden, playing at the children's museum, watching fireworks, a day at the water park, and an afternoon hiking.  Besides all this fun we found plenty of time to eat, drink, swim, bbq, and play some cards!

 

The Children's Museum

 Building blocks with Daddy. 

Who will be the next engineer?

 

 Taking the puppy's temperature in the vet clinic.

 

Our future veterinarian!

 

 Adding a little more paint to the slug bug.

 

 Time to do a little grocery shopping.

 

 Larkin picking out some cereal for her cart.

 

 Guess who wants to be a firefighter????

 

 Time to make the pizza!

 

 Order up!

 

 Enjoying their yummy pizza.

 

 Larkin and Daddy made a car.  Look at it go!

Getting Ready for Fireworks!

 Larkin in her patriotic outfit.

 

 The whole family ready to go to see the fireworks.

 The Water Park

 Having fun in the wave pool with Aunt Mary.

 

 Uncle Mark doing a little advertising!

Palm Springs Ariel Tram

 



Here we are on the World’s Largest Rotating Tramcar.  It is a 10 minute ride on the tram from the bottom (elevation 2,643 ft.) up to the top (elevation 8,516 ft.).

 

 Uncle Mark and Aunt Mary before we hiked down into the canyon.

 

Daddy and Larkin begin the two mile hike.

 

 Our little hiker, while he was still awake.

 

 Someone else always wants to get in the picture!

 

This is how Brayden spent most of the hike! 

Guess he thought we needed more exercise so he "let" us carry him around.

 

 Daddy's turn.

 

My three favorite people!

 

 They were both looking at the camera.

 Taking a little break on the wooden bridge.

 

 What a pretty view!

 

Shaun and Aunt Mary enjoying the outdoors.

Larkin Turns 4!

Larkin Turns 4!

We can't believe how quickly times flies.  This spring our baby girl turned 4.  It doesn't seem like she could already be so big!  She is still our super fun, sweet, and smart little cuddle bug.  Larkin had a great time celebrating her birthday. 

 Our birthday girl posing in front of her birthday door covered in princesses.

 

 Opening her first present before breakfast.  We had to start the day off right!

 

 It was a puppy and her carrier.

 

Since Larkin's birthday was on a weekday, we decided to spend the morning at the Children's Museum.  Here they are, all ready to go!

 

Playing in the hats at the museum.

 

For Larkin's birthday we decided she was old enough to get her first mani/pedi. 

Of course she chose pink and had to have a few flowers too!  She had so much fun.

 

A trip to Red Robin with Uncle Mark and Aunt Mary was Larkin's choice of a perfect birthday dinner.  Here she is enjoying her yummy meal with Daddy.

 

 Present time!

 

 Larkin was so excited to get the scooter she had been asking for!

 

 The boys posing for a picture.

 

 Getting ready for some yummy birthday cake.  This year's theme was Dora.

 

Since we live in the Valley of the Sun, this is Dora with a suntan

(or Mom just couldn't quite make the right colors of frosting)!

 

 

Out of Africa Wildlife Park

 This year we celebrated Larkin's birthday by spending the day at the Out of Africa Wildlife Park several hours from Phoenix.  Here they are waiting in line to go on the safari tour where we got to be up close with many animals and even feed the giraffes and camels.

 

Brayden getting ready to give the giraffe a carrot.

 

 Yummy!

 

 Here are the zebras.

 

 The lions taking a little rest.

 

 Taking a stroll along the preserve.  It was a beautiful day!

 

 Larkin and Uncle Mark getting up close with the tigers.

 

 Getting ready to watch the white tiger show with Daddy.

 

 What a pretty kitty!

 

 Retrieving a water toy the tiger punctured with her teeth from the pool.

 

More kitties enjoying a sunny spring day.