Using My Time-Out Wisely

Recently - my very sweet son has been getting in trouble. Sometimes, even back-to-back trouble where time outs can get a little tedious, and pretty boring.

At the office today - he was on a roll.

However, in true Hanks Fashion - he used his time wisely.

He taught himself to tie his shoes. He is 4 years, 6 months and 11 days old.

The youngest one to do it... and proud to rub it in.

What a boy!!!!

The WILD, WILD WEST!!

I lost my memory stick about 4 months ago. When I found it - I began to catch up my posts. However...when I got to this particular post, I created a very detailed account and included over 70 photos of our trip to Arizona.

It's gone. It just went blank and "saved" before I could stop it... ugh.

So in an effort to get this posted and keep this up-to-date for the kids...I am going to post a new/abbreviated version. ;) I sure wish I could figure this blogger thing out - there has to be a way to recover (from) your mistakes.

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When my Mom and Dad decided to move to Arizona for six months out of the year, I was really happy for them. They have waited a really long time to be able to finally live in Arizona - even if it was only for part of the year.

However, I have to admit... it was hard. So about March - Tim and I began to try and make plans to sneak out west. We picked a few dates - and sadly, Hi-Tech wasn't really in a position for Tim to be away for over a week. So we found some tickets for the kids and I to make the trip.

Now... my friend Krystal knows almost better than anyone how I enjoy a surprise. When she, Ali and I flew to Guatemala in January 2008 to see Sara, we didn't tell Ali until we were picking up Miss Krystal where we were going. It was funny. Ali was on cloud nine.

This trip just for kicks - I decided to see how far I could go before they figured things out. It was hilarious. They were clueless. (They were really pleased that there was no customs... they even asked why we didn't have to go through customs. Such world travelers!) The flight attendants were also getting into the action... asking the kdis where they thought they might be going... who they might see. It was really cute. I honestly thought that somewhere along the way one of them would figure it out. Three of them can read... but they never made the connection between "Phoenix" and Arizona where Mamoo and Papoo were living. They did finally "get it" when we left the moving sidewalk in the airport terminal and they saw Mamoo and Papoo waiting to greet them! It was priceless.

We had a really nice time... we went to the museum, panned for gold, went to the zoo, had a picnic at the park, rode rides and played outside, went to the pool ad Chris and Jean's house, went to a small water park, shopped Fifth Avenue shops, rode the light rail into downtown Phoenix and took in the sights... and even managed to have those one or two "lazy" days at home!

When we left Lexington/Louisville it was 60 degrees. When we arrived in Phoenix... it was a chilly 63. (By Phoenix standards...) However, things quickly turned the corner and it became a sweltering 105 - which is pretty hot for April out there. It was a tough adjustment for Ali... and you can see it sometimes in a few of the pictures. She was a trooper about it... but she made a point to tell me not long ago that she liked Arizona "OK" but she was glad we didn't live there. "Too hot!"

We really had a great time - and seeing Chris, Jean and Tabitha was very special, too. Sara had met Tabitha - but had not met Jean or Chris yet. So it was a wonderful chance for her to meet more of her family.

The kids did great - they are such wonderful travelers. They wondered why there was no "customs" that we had to go through when we got to Arizona... how funny! But they also missed their Daddy... and have decided no more trips without him! :) I couldn't agree more!

It was a great trip - but we were glad to be home.