Children's Museum of Phoenix

We've had a another fun, full day here in Arizona!!! We went to the Children's Museum of Phoenix today and the kids played 'til they dropped! Here are some fun pics of the day :)

Zora & Lily at the sand table

Zora & Noah at the art table creating tarantulas

Lily creating a tarantula

Lily & Daddy at the sand table

Zora's gingerbread girl :)

Lily measuring lentils at the "grocery store"

Zora (the cashier) at the "grocery store"

Just a couple of bikers!

Daniel, Zora & Lily trying to get the pigeons to eat Cheetos

Here are a couple of cute videos from the museum.

Lily going through the "Tricycle Wash"

Zora in the "Noodle Forest"

Afterward, we visited a local mall for a little more fun and went to IKEA. Gotta love that place! We ended the evening with dinner at the Morris household. Rick and Stephanie were gracious enough to feed us all and it was nice to see them again. Rick was our (Joel, Daniel & me) youth pastor growing up!

The kids were out like a light early tonight and the parents are turning in early as well! Tomorrow we're making the BIG trip to the Grand Canyon, so we'll have more great pics coming soon!!!

Sightseeing in Arizona

Whew! What a day we had yesterday! I must say that we all slept very well last night because we completely wore ourselves out!!!

We started the day by driving out to an old mining town which has now been turned into a tourist attraction. There were neat old buildings, a little bit of history and some quaint little souvenir stores...








Then we traveled took a little journey to the Roosevelt Dam. It was a beautiful scenic drive. First, we passed part of the mountain where they mine for different minerals. Here is a beautiful result of the process...

We also went up into the mountains and saw a Native American cliff dwelling. How's that for a little American history? :)
Here's some more scenery on the way...
Four cuties at the Roosevelt Dam lookout tower...
The Roosevelt Dam...
On the way back from the dam we took the REAL scenic route. We took a backroad that was dirt and gravel for 22 miles. It was a very bumpy ride, but absolutely worth it! What beauty!We finished our day by eating at SanTan Steakhouse. It was a really neat, family-oriented place to eat. We ate outside at picnic tables next to a firepit. We enjoyed delicious burgers and some old-fashioned marshmallow roasting!

Bubble Bath!!!

Scenery Pictures

We arrived safely in Arizona and are having a great time with the Voss family. The kids dug right in and played together like they'd never been apart. They are doing really well and getting along great! Joel and I are also having a nice time "catching up" with our friends. We went to church with them this morning and really enjoyed our time there.

The girls did very well on our LONG trip in the car. We all enjoyed the scenery! The pictures just don't do justice to the beauty of God's wonderful creation, but enjoy anyhow!

We literally passed through many different types of landscape... plains, mountains & desert. We went through busy, heavy populated cities and drove through miles and miles with no civilization!

Here are a few pics. Again, these were much prettier in person. The camera doesn't even come close to capturing the raw beauty of the landscape (especially since I took most of these while Joel was trying to go the speed of light!)

We had a lot of fun today playing at the neighborhood park, in the sand and in the water. We're winding down now after a fun bubble bath with a little movie time.

I'll have more pics to post soon because we have a really fun week planned... a children's museum, a trip to the Grand Canyon, some shopping, sightseeing, a trip to the farm, and the guys are going to a football game! Check back soon :)

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

Last weekend we were invited to enjoy a traditional Asian celebration. Our friends from our homeschool co-op have two daughters, Chloe (who is from China) and Naiya (who is from Vietnam). In both of these countries the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is celebrated. We were very honored to celebrate this special occasion with our new friends! We also enjoyed all the delicious Asian food :) Here are some highlights of the evening...

Latern paintingStorytime...Chinese folktales were told to the kidsPin the fairy on the moonGame - this was based on the children's novel "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace LinWe were having so much fun that this tarantula tried to get inside to play with us! He was on the windowsill right outside the dining room!The whole group with their finished lanternsChopsticks practice with pom-poms :)We ended the night by playing outside on the zip cord! What a great time had by all!!!