Slide Rock - The Recap

July 14, a day for the past two years I try to avoid.  Two years ago, that day, I kissed my daddy goodbye.  It's funny how a simple date can fire up such vivid memories.  For he rest of the world, July 14th is another day that comes and goes.  For me, I dread it for weeks and try to keep my mind away from such awful memories.  In conversation with Amy, she mentioned that on "Wednesday" she was going to take her kids up to Sedona and we were welcome to go.  So being the random spontaneous person that I am agreed.  What better way to avoid the 14?  We had never done "Slide Rock" so I was up for trying it out.

I left a great pair of sunglasses somewhere in this area.

Handed my camera to a stranger and she took this god forsaken picture of my butt.  I'm just going to say the camera adds 20 lbs.

not the truck we drove up in

We traveled up in two cars into two cars.  I like to call one pair the karaoke chipmunk singers and the second pair the quiet peaceful travelers.  There were equal parts Scott's/Weems in each pair. As we approached the park, we stopped a mile or 3 up the road to cram into one car.  They charge by the car, so we tossed two kids in the truck.  Yes, there were really children in the trunk.  We did treat them to air by pulling down one of the seats 1/2 way.  When questioned by the park ranger as to "how many people" we had, there were nervous giggles and a less than accurate number given.  Good times.  You aren't having fun until you've lied about two children in the trunk. 

As soon as we got in, we were excited to hike into the river area.  The kids were having a good time taking everything in.  In retrospect, we should have spent a little bit more time cautioning the kids to walk and be careful.  As soon as Andrew spotted the water he ran and jumped into a slide.  It's really lucky for him that he did not get swept down stream.

freaking cold water

The water was ice cold and almost took your breath away.  Just beautiful.

This was Abbey's first look of disgust.  I also love the exact opposite reaction in Andrew's eyes.

Abbey, almost immediately, had a bad fall and declared this the "worst place ever" and wanted to go back to the car. I forced her to stay and continue, and she did.  She pretty much spent the day waffling between loving and hating this whole experience.  It's not for the faint at heart.  This is real adventure, real fun and real big nasty falls.

Andrew spent about 30 minutes trying to catch a tadpole for his sister.  The perfectionist in him kept him busy with this task until I made him stop.  He also spent a large part of the day working on this photography skills.  His favorite subject was this traveling partner.

He was "praticing" for a while with the same model.

He really has a great "eye". Can't wait until I can him for some free assistant work!

standing, check.  stopping, check.  parking, check.

This sunset and a promise of a new day.

The Violin: Day One

Here it is, in all of it's glory.....the violin.

One of the benefits to Andrew's gifted academy is the music program.  This campus is offering an orchestra option along side the band instruction.  Apparently the instructor called Andrew out to the hall to ask him if he'd received formal training on the violin.  Normally, when he's called out to the hall by a teacher it's for less notable reasons.  This conference worked out for him.  Ever since then, he's been on a full on mission to get a violin.  OK, I relented.  I don't ever want him to accuse me of not supporting his dreams.

After school we went out to the music store and signed away my credit card for this thing.  We had everything we needed.  On the way home I asked..."So, do you know any songs?"  "Yeah, I do." He answered.  "What songs do you know?" I asked.  He responded, "All the regulars."  Immediately I assume, Hot Crossed Buns, Mary Had a Little Lamb....stuff like that.  He continued, "You know, the Hot Dog song and the Arizona song."  Apparently, we have different "regulars"

Pretty much as soon as we get that baby home, I want to hear the "Hot Dog" song.  We open it up and have a hard time getting that thing to make a sound.  I tighten the bow and try again....nothing.  Next,I put on the shoulder guard, nothing again.  Weird.  I pluck the strings and they feel fine, but maybe an adjustment is needed?  As I start twisting the first string, I explain to Andrew how important it was to not "over tighten" the strings.  Pretty much at the same exact moment the words "over tighten" were rolling out of my mouth, the little string popped like an old rubber band.  I smiled and said, "See, just like that."  I tried play it off, but we burst into laughter.  He's way too old to fall for that. 

This was the face he had after a couple minutes of no real sound coming out AND a broken string.  He relented and decided to just clean the three remaining strings.  Oh well, maybe we'll ask about our "issues" when I take the thing in for repair.  I'll be sure to omit the fact that I was the one to cause the damage.  Not important information.

Oh Happy Days!

Growing up, the first day of school was one of the greatest days ever.  Square topped crayons, fresh glue ready to be colored via crayon color of your choice, new outfit, cool Kappas with super cool wide laces.  Ahhh, those were the days.  Now, as a parent, the first day of school is equally fantastic.  No sign of Sponge Bob playing from another room, no fights to break up, no "mom, there's nothing to do" comments, no request for friends to come over, and all the time to get some real work done.  Perfection, at least for today.

This morning Abbey woke me up at 7am completely ready for school.  She was ready.  With a closet full of new clothes, she chose to wear a hodgepodge of old mismatched clothing.  She also chose to do her own hair.   Armed with her own can of hairspray, she apparently let loose.  She had somehow created a protective helmet of hair with a single can of hairspray, but I thought she could not be any cuter.

It was time, or really past time, to head out.  The scramble to get out the door by 8 was crazy, and will persist for the next 9 months.  None of us are really morning people.

This is pretty much the story of my life.  One poser and one painfully difficult child.  I've decided to photograph what I get, so I have proof when she gets older that I really did try to document her too.

As we were sitting at a red light, we saw HIM.  She said "Look, there's Johnny!....and Caden....and Johnny!!"

Johnny is the one in all black.  I've called him Grape Johnny since K.

 As we got onto campus, I tried to steal some shots.  She was not going to make this easy.  Of course the only decent one I got of her, she was blinking.  Totally figures.

My little poser in the back is smiling, of course.

We walked in eagerly to find a couple of her friends.  From across the playground we heard "Abbey!"  It was Bella.  They spent almost everyday together this summer, but embraced like they had been apart for years.  I also realized that my little tootie would smile at me if she had a friend.  Note to self.

Here are some shot of Abbey with my boys.  Andrew wanted to make sure she got to the right spot.

Here is what her face looked like when she discovered she was sitting at an "all boy" table.  Thrilled.

OK, one down and one to go.  Good luck Ab's!  Now, it was time to take Andrew to his school.  He is still going to the gifted academy at Esperanza.  With my baby in the 5th grade, we were really pushing our luck getting him to let us walk him to class.  Pretty much as soon as we got our parking lot kiss, he was off.  If I did not know better, I'd say he was trying to loose us.  Nah. :)

Not sure if he was trying to blend in with his camo mix.  I'll choose my battles and let this fashion disaster #2 go.

He was pretty anxious for us to leave and stop with the stalking, so I made one fatal request.  That's right.  I did it.  I made him pose and smile next to his teacher.  That's right, I'm THAT parent, and I'm totally ok with it.  Yes, I will have to answer for that on the way home.

Ms. Barnes was his teacher last year, but graduated up with all of her former students.

Bathing Beauties

Snuff said.  I never realize how cute that face could get!

Who saw that coming?  Yes, we did this 13 more times.

Watch out boys.

Not sure what Remini is up to in the background?

I spend a good part of my life documenting the lives of other people.  I love coming home and looking at all the goodies we caught in a photo shoot.  I always think about how cool it would be to have someone follow us around with a camera and catch us being us.  I know it sounds stupid, but sometimes I forget that I should just take the camera out to the backyard and take some pictures of my kids being their own usual weirdo self.  This morning I had my youngest weirdo and someone else's weirdo, but I did it any way.  I also want to remember that my little Abbey used to never wear matching swimsuits.  I think it's little stuff like that gets forgotten.  Not much to say, just showing my giant cutie pie next to her vertically challenged friend.

Baby's First

As a parent there are many milestones you make with your babies. Most notably are normally, baby's first step, tooth or maybe even haircut. If you ask me, the best milestones for us have been the kind that don't make those silly books.

Over the last several months, the Weems family has had a couple. First, was Andrew's braces. We've known for several years that his mouth was a periodontal nightmare or an orthodontist dream, depending on your viewpoint. With much fear, on my part, we went ahead and did it. It took some time deciding on what organ we would donate to make that happen, but we bit the bullet and did it. We all survived, minus one kidney.

A couple of weeks ago I got an email for "Ladies Night" at The Melting Pot. My mind raced trying to think of a group of ladies that I would love to invite. As my mind swirled with possibilities, Ross said, "You know who would LOVE to go with you?" I knew he was referring to Abbey. As much as a kid free evening taunts me, I know she would completely enjoy it. My baby may enjoy the act of eating more than me. She loves trying new things and has a special love for cheese and chocolate that brings a tear of joy to my eye. She makes me proud. I relented and decided to take her. I'm so glad I did. We made a day of getting manicures and pedicures and even a trip to Dillard's for a new "long big girl dress." Abigail Rose I loved spending the day and evening with you. I'm already looking for our next night out!

Super Cute at the LDS Temple in Mesa

If I were to be completely honest, I really did not know what to expect when I showed up for this shoot. I was a little worried about the heat. I think the official forecast called for high of 185, or something close to that. When I spoke to K about meeting, I warned her of all the things a body does to a person in that kind of heat. She was up for the physical challenge, and so was I. Well, not really, but I told her I was. We met at 7am at the LDS temple in Mesa. If you were there, I would have been the one in short shorts out front, trying to peak in every time someone walking into those rotating doors. Come to find out, with rotating doors, all you really see is the next door? Pretty nifty system.

When J & K arrived, she was easy to spot. Gorgeous. As we started, I played it safe. She is not getting married until the 29th, so I wanted to make sure I did not mess up her dress too much. Much to my happy surprise, she was up for anything. She sat on the ground, walked through puddles, stood in the middle of traffic and even took a chance near the fountain. We had some good times, and I think her session proved it. I can't wait until the 29th, where I will live to sweat another day!