Field Trip to the Farm

Ellie's preschool took a trip to the Dairy Farm.  

One of the moms hand-drew, colored, and laminated 40+ name tags.  Crazy!  

We learned a lot about cows, and more particularly, how the cows are able to survive the deathly heat down here.  We took a tractor ride around the farm and got to see where the cows spend their days.  There were awnings everywhere for shade, and only in Arizona will you see fans and misters operating 24 hours a day for the cows.  With the fans and misters, they can lower the temperature 25 degrees in the shade, which still makes it about 1,000 degrees too hot for life to thrive (according to me, anyways).  You'd think after 2 years of living in Phoenix, I'd be a little more used to the heat, but nope... I just don't think I was built to live down here.

Ellie giving her approval after sampling their Chocolate Milk.

Feeding a donkey!

I had to include the picture below, because this is Kai, a.k.a Ellie's boyfriend.  One day after school, I was picking her up and Ellie's teacher stopped Kai's mom and me and said, "I have to tell you this story.  Ellie and Kai were the last ones to finish coloring today and Kai stopped Ellie and said, 'Ellie... you are SO beautiful!' and Ellie quickly responded by saying, 'Umm... no.'"  That's my girl!  Spurn their advances!  But they are good friends, and Ellie comes home every day with new stories about Kai. 

Welcome to Phoenix!

A few months ago, we had our wonderful friends, the Kimballs, come visit us in Phoenix.  Dave is expanding his business down here, and Heidi was able to tag along with the kids.  Kate and Ellie are only a few weeks apart, so it was fun to see them play together!

LOVE Emma's face in this one!

This picture warms my heart!

We were able to spend all week together, which was AWESOME!  We went to the Train Park, where we rode trains and merry-go-rounds.

Ellie came home exhausted every day, after a full day of playing!  I had to stop at the grocery store after a particularly fun day, and the poor thing passed out in my arms.  After awhile, she got too heavy for me and I transferred her to the shopping cart, and the poor thing stayed asleep the entire trip, despite her uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.

It was nearly impossible to get a picture of Kate looking at the camera.  She was too busy!

We also went to the zoo, and had a great time!

Getting to know the Orangutan

It was so much fun to have the Kimballs come down for a visit!  With them moving to Philadelphia soon, who knows when we'll get another opportunity to do something like this!  Thanks for coming down you guys!  And the offer stands for anyone else to come down!