Is this what little sisters feel like?

It seems like almost every one I virtually stalk follow on the blogosphere is at BlogHer '08 right now. Held in my favorite city no less. They are all posting about eating great food, meeting and enjoying the company of new and old friends. Suddenly I feel like it's middle school again I was left out of all the fun. I'm still new at this so may be I'll be brave enough to tag along next year.

The Aunt and The Boy

We had a wonderful visit this past weekend from Steve’s sister, Susan, and her boyfriend Mark. The girls stayed home with them on Friday and were treated to a special trip to the zoo, lunch and lots of giggles. When Steve and I left for work on Friday, Megan was her typical shy self with Mark…barely making eye contact. By the time we came home, she had a new best friend, affectionately referred to as “the boy”.

Saturday we all packed up and headed north to Sedona. Although our initial plans didn’t pan out, the day ended up being just as enjoyable. After doing a little window shopping and enjoying lunch at a Mexican restaurant, we headed up through Oak Creek Canyon toward Flagstaff (the original plan to visit Slide Rock State Park was skipped because of the long lines). During the drive to Flagstaff we were looking at some ominous looking clouds ahead of us. Sure enough, once we’d arrived in Flagstaff the skies opened up into a down pour. We hid out in the Barnes & Noble hoping to wait out the rain, but since it wasn’t letting up, we decided to skip our plans to walk around and have dinner downtown and headed back to the Valley. Because of our early arrival we were invited for dinner with Marcia, Susan’s best friend from kindergarten, and her family that also live out here. Their home and hospitality were lovely.

On Sunday, Mark, Susan and Steve took a long adventurous route to the airport with a stop for lunch, shopping and go-cart racing. Back at home the girls and I enjoyed the opposite of adventurous with a lazy day of swimming, reading, movies, puzzles and naps.

I did a bad job of taking any pictures of people so if Susan sends some of hers our way, I’ll be sure to add them on here.

Paid time off

Being home sick allows for the time to do all those mindless activities that are shuffled to the bottom of the to-do list. Below all those more pressing items like, go to work, feed the kids, and get a minimum of 6 hours of sleep.

So yesterday I spent getting into a book I received from Lisa for my birthday in January. Playing Diner Dash, a computer game we borrowed from my mom (cursed thing). Re-watching the season finale of Lost that was still stored on our DVR (gained just a tidbit more insight watching it again). And viewing 360 pictures from this set on Flickr (I couldn't stop...I found Ann's writing to be brutally honest and enjoyed seeing how her creativity and artistry developed over the year).

snifflingsneezingcoughingachingstuffyheadfever

Home sick with a kick-my-butt cold today. Thought it was just allergies from the high level of pollutants that come with our desert city dwelling...but pretty sure this is the real deal. Blech. Something ironic about having a "cold" when it's 108 degrees outside, don't you think?

Happy Birthday America!

Getting our stars and stripes aligned

GMa arrives in the morning so the Desert Doers are busy getting ready. We're tidying up the house and getting the laundry washed and put away. That way we can enjoy the 3-day weekend as it was meant to be spent.

Although some Americana handbook probably says it should be spent outdoors eating watermelon and watching fireworks. But since the scorching temperatures are expected to continue through the weekend, the majority of our holiday festivites will be in cool A/C or the pool. Besides eating watermelon, other inside activities are expected to include a movie and bowling (not the virtual Wii kind...but the real deal).

Happy July!

The year is half way over and there are stars and stripes everywhere you look as we prepare to celebrate our nation's 232nd birthday. Keeping with that theme, here's a patriotic picture from three years ago to help get you in the mood.

(Em - 4, Meg - 9 mo.)