HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLYN!

JUNE 30, 1980

The Love of my life was born and I have been

privileged to share this life with her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HON! Love ya tons.

Out Of Africa

I hadn't been to Out Of Africa in a REALLY long time and my kids had never been.

We decided it was about time.

Jeff's brother, Shaun, and his family came with us. Having favorite cousins around make everything fun. I'm not sure the boys would have liked it as much otherwise.

It was a hot day and it was a lot of walking for not too many sightings of the animals. The habitats just weren't ideal for showcasing.

If anyone has heard advertisements for this park, the main claim is,

"We are NOT a zoo or circus. We are an experience."

That's for sure.

Their website says,

"See hundreds of animals from all over the world!

Lions, Tigers, Giraffe, Rhinoceros, Black Bear, Camel, Ostrich, Cobras, Zebra, Exotic Birds, Tortoise, Wildebeest, Jaguar, Leopards, Wolves, Hyenas and more!"

Hundreds?!! Really?!! I was so hopeful.

But the only animals we saw were the ones listed and even then, most were too far out of view.

They should also say, "Even though we are 4 miles away from Camp Verde, it will be WAY too much of a hassle to leave for lunch and come back, so plan on buying our $8 hamburgers and $6 kids meals."

The bacon cheeseburger I had, however, was one of the best I've ever tasted. Seriously.

The Tiger Splash Show was pretty neat to watch. It was MY favorite part for sure... and not just because it had shaded seating.

The trainers would play with the white tiger, teasing with huge aluminum balloons to make her jump in the pool.

Griffin had another notable quote that day:

As us adults were walking back down the hill, the kids ran over to stand on a lookout platform.

Rebecca: "What do you guys see? Anything cool?"

Griffin: "No. It's just.... a beautiful setting. That's all."

I'm glad we went, because I've always wondered if my kids would enjoy it.

Now I know. Next time just go to the zoo.

Long Live The Queen

Jeff and the boys were sitting at the dinner table, waiting semi-patiently for me to get my plate dished up and join them.

Jeff: "Did everyone say 'thank you' to mom for dinner?"

Boys: "THANK YOU MOM."

Jeff: "You guys need to be nice to Mom and treat her like a queen. Because she is the queen of our family. Did you boys know that?"

Boys: "No." "What?" "No she's not."

Jeff: "Well she is. She's the queen. So if Mom is the queen, what does that make you guys?"

Griffin: "Servants."

Watch out Michael Phelps!!

I'm sorry, maybe it's just a mother's pride, but....

....have you EVER seen such beautiful form?!

The HORSE MOUNTING DIVE:

(Not used HARDLY enough in top notch competitions)

The coveted FLOATIE BELLY FLOP:

(Makes all the usual tummy slapping sounds while keeping your face

safely marshmallowed between two inflatable sleeves.)

Random Photo #2

There's really nothing spectacular in our storage shed but Griffin wanted to get in there so I pretended there were top secret items being hidden.

He was convinced he'd be able to crack the code

(only while in his superhero underwear of course).

--And, yes, by the way....

My efforts to tan to the exact shade of our house seems to have been a success.

Random Photo #1

My sister, Jillian (who will be having baby #1 in a few days -- insert squeal of excitement), called me out on not following through with my "Daily (probably weekly) Photo" idea.

Just random photos that don't necessarily deserve their own post, but ones that I like and have nowhere else to put.

Thanks Sis -- I needed that push.

(A beautiful spider web on our pool fence)

Terrific!

"T, double-E double-R, double-R, double-I, double-F, double-I, double-C-C-C"

--spelling by Goose on Charlotte's Web

WONDER WOMAN

So those of you who know my wife,

know she has turned into a marvelous ,impressive, fantastic, amazing, incredible, (the list can go on and on and on)

RUNNER.

She got back into running about a year ago and has excelled more than I ever could have imagined. She can run forever and it is just not slow and steady wins the race type running but rather she just gets out and SMOKES everybody. She is i

ncredibly fast. I always thought you got slower the older you get but not the case with Carolyn.

Anyways she has been running in different races and doesn't just finish but WINS. I swear that the people who put these races on see Carolyn's name on the sign up sheets and then just put her name as the winner before the race is even run. She is incredible!

So this past weekend she signed up to run in the SAN TAN RUN, WALK, SHOP Race. And let my tell how she did, if you already don't have an idea of what the outcome was.

The boys and I made it just in time to see her take off. Look at how amazing her form is. You blinked and missed it , didn't you? Pay attention.

I was only able to take two pictures before she was out of our sight. Don't you just love her trademark socks.

We all waited at the finish line and this is Griffin worrying if Mom was going to win or not. Look at the nervousness and anticipation on his face. Actually he was just wondering what was taking Mom so long.

Just like I said, she smoked everyone. There wasn't even anyone close to challenge her.

She is amazing!

1ST OVERALL FEMALE and 1ST in her age group.

Congratulations HON! We are amazed by your talents and proud of your hard work. It would be nice though that every once in a while you could let someone else win.

NAH!!!!!!