Our Thanksgiving

I'm finally getting up some pictures of our Thanksgiving holiday fun. Of course I forgot to take the camera to our actual Thanksgiving dinner that was at a coworker's of Lance's. The coolest part was that on the drive to Maricopa (half hour south of where we live), we saw some wild horses on the reservation. Can you believe there are wild horses surviving in this barren desert? Crazy, but awesome! We started off the day at the park, though. Gotta love Skye's funny faces.

I love this picture of her!

I also forgot to take the camera with us on Friday. Lance took the day off so we headed out to the Lost Dutchman State Park and Goldfield again. After we got back that afternoon, we headed to the pool! It did get over eighty that day, afterall! Fun times!

Even Sane People Get Good Deals

I wasn't crazy enough to go shopping on Black Friday. Instead, I went on Saturday and found that they still had all the same deals. So instead of standing in the Black Friday line at Kohl's that went almost around the entire store (I did go in, but upon seeing the line, told Lance I would rather pay the extra money than stand in a line like that), I stood in a very short line the day after that and got a Christmas dress for Skye that was normally $48 for $20, an iPod dock that was normally $60 for $16 (the best deal of all), and Lance got a pair of shoes that was normally $65 for $30. I would say we got the better deal because we still got the same deals as the crazy people who went out on Black Friday, but didn't have to wait in any of the outrageous lines!

Boyce Thompson Arboretum (By Lance)

On Saturday, we tried to go climbing near Superior, AZ. When it didn't work out we decided to visit the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. We expected to see desert beauty like this:

Instead, we saw blooming flowers.

Skye started to do the things she loves best right away.

A bee pollinating a flower in November.

Roses were blooming at this late date.

Even some of the cactus were still in bloom.

We were lured down the Eucalyptus forest trail because there aren't many sights like that around here.

Here is the pride of the arboretum, Mr. Big.

Finally, we made it to the beloved cactus garden.

This arboretum has one advantage over other gardens. The saguaro cactus that grow naturally against the cliffs are enormous. The picture doesn't do them justice.

Skye had fun climbing and running on the rocks at the base of the cliff.

What a cool place. We saw only 20% of it. It has a one mile loop trail that circum navigates cliffs rising out of a river bed that we didn't even set foot on. We definatley want to check it out. Too bad it is so far away.

More Museum Fun

I forgot about these pictures I took at the Children's Museum a couple of weeks ago. I know I've already put tons from there on, but now that Skye is a little older, there are some new things she likes to do while there. Like making pizza in the kitchen.

Or weighing split peas in the grocery store.

Getting lost in the noodle forest.

Of course there are old favorites, still, like riding the polar bear.

Going on the slide.

And this!

They also had this hay bail trail for the fall that Skye had lots of fun running around in. Phoenix really does have a lot of great things.

Making Cookies

Skye helped me make cookies this morning. She helped pour in the ingredients and stir the cookie dough. And of course...
she helped test it out, too!

Skye Loves the Zoo

Lance had Wednesday off for Veteran's Day so we headed to the zoo. They just opened an exhibit with two Komodo dragons. This is just a statue of one. And here's the real thing. It was pretty impressive--pretty big!
And yet this peacock was just fine sitting on the fence of the dragon's cage.

The Phoenix Zoo is so big that we discover new things every time we go. This time, we spent less time looking at animals and more time playing. They have an actual kid-size Little People Discovery Farm. Here's Skye looking at Farmer Jed...

climbing Farmer Jed...

on top of Farmer Jed.

She has the toy of this farmhouse so she was really, really excited to see all of her familiar toys her own size.

Lance also discovered all these cool statues that Skye had fun playing in and on.

Daddy got in on the action, too, with a little gator wrestling!

This statue of an African elephant and her baby are life-size. I wouldn't want to be in the way of one out in the wild, but Skye loved seeing this one.

I tried getting her to roar on the lion, but she was just sick of getting her picture taken.

We ended the excursion on the carousel where Skye was able to muster another smile, of course. She LOVES riding the carousel!