Monsoons and dust storms

Monsoons are a funny thing that are new to me. You wake up to normal 100 degree weather, and then by early morning/mid afternoon its in the high 70's and dumps buckets. After about 20 minutes, the rain stops and the temperature slowly starts to creep back up to the 100s. It doesn't sound that exciting, but when you don't get much cloud coverage or cooler temperatures, it is the best 20 minutes ever! Its been during monsoons that we have met most of our neighbors. People come out during the rainstorms to relish in the cool. Its actually a lot of fun.
The last monsoon we had Kelsey went nuts! Sometimes I forget that its hot for these little girls too. As soon as the sun went behind the clouds and the rain started to come, I couldn't get that girl to come inside. She was loving it! She is exactly like her dad.

 The beginning of an incoming storm. Its really cool when the incoming clouds have lightening in them.

It was this same monsoon that opened up while Ethan was driving home from work... on his scooter. Most of us would have been so mad or even furious if we got stuck in a monsoon on our scooter driving on back roads in Arizona (minimum speed limit of 50) but not Ethan. He walked through the door with that genuine laugh that we all know and love. He was dying. He literally thought it was the funniest thing he has ever experienced. He thought it was funny how wet he got, he thought it was hilarious to think about how happy he was making the people passing him and drenching him with puddles, he thought it was funny that it looked like he wet his pants, he thought it was funny. Talk about optimism. Talk about "come what may and love it." Talk about happy. If only I could be a little bit more like Ethan. If only the world could be a little bit more like Ethan.

Dust storms are a little different but kind of the same. You can see them rolling in for miles. It doesn't get cooler but it gets crazy windy. And when the actual storm hits, it is crazy winds and dust accompanied with rain exactly like you would expect. Its just been fun to see new types of storms.

An incoming storm

 Same view, no storm

 Getting closer

 

Science Week

The week Ethan was in Seattle we watched WAY too much tv so the week after I decided that we were not going to watch any tv. Instead we were going to do science projects. Now I can't say that we made it the whole week but we found a much healthier balance. And we made it until Wednesday with no screen time. On Wednesday I let her watch one Magic School Bus, on Thursday she watched a Magic School Bus and a Wild Krats and on Friday she watched a Wild Krats. Not too shabby if you ask me.

I do not take pride in my mothering geniusness, but Science week rocked. It was so much fun. Most of the science experiments failed miserably but it was so much fun.

This is how it worked. Every time she asked to watch a show I would pull out a science project and soon she started asking for Science (along with "can I watch a show?") At least I got her thinking about other past times even if it was for a brief moment

Baking soda and vinegar in a bag= Failed because it was supposed to pop but she thought it was cool that they expanded so WIN!

Water changing colors- WIN! Thank you food dye

Dancing gummy bears= Major fail but she got to eat some gummy bears not involved to WIN

Cornstarch and water= WIN

Rain cloud over water= Major FAIL because I did it wrong but it involved shaving cream so major WIN!!!

 

 

So naturally right when Kelsey started playing with the shaving cream, Madison exploded everywhere. For once in my life, I laughed at the situation. Madison sat in the sink chewing on the faucet while Kelsey washed her hands (touching everything on the way to the sink) while I was slipping on shaving cream trying to stop Kelsey and get to Madison all at the same time. It really was hilarious.

 

 Rainbow in a jar- Started as the best project and a major win until I let the 3 year old help and then it failed miserably, but Kelsey had a blast. She talked about this one a lot so WIN!

 Dying white flowers purple- Major FAIL. They are still sitting in colored water and not an ounce of them have changed.

 Glitter volcano- Super WIN!!!

  Here's Roosters position during most of Science Week. This is where the explosion happened

 

We also got interrupted once by this little guy. I still hate him and his friends so much!

Butterfly food life cycle- Super WIN

Quote "Tornado in a bottle. The easiest science experiment." and yet we FAILED but it involved shaking things so WIN

The BEST experiment- Raisins in sprite. We watched them dance for like 10 minutes. It was so so so so so fun!!! Major WIN

Pop rocks in soda- Fail because I didn't follow the directions and tried to do it too fast but it involved candy so WIN

Elephant tooth paste- WIN

Gymnastics

Every Wednesday in July Kelsey got to got to Estrella for a city gymnastics class. It was essentially open gym for 3 year olds for 45 minutes every Wednesday. The teachers were more like spotters to make sure that we followed the rules because it was up to the parents to stay with the kids. Regardless it was the best purchase I have made in a long time. Kelsey LOVED gymnastics. To be perfectly honest I don't know if she liked gymnastics or the outfits better but either way, Wednesday afternoons were fun.

 Kelsey is a pretty confident, mobile, and daring little girl. When ever the teachers tried to help her she would look at them like this...

First Friday

The first Friday of every month, Phoenix opens its museum doors free of charge to anyone who wants to come. The first Friday in July, Aunt Kay graciously offered to take the girls so that we could go to a museum and dinner. I love going on dates with Ethan. We went to Joy Ride and Churn: DELICIOUS!!!! and then went to the Phoenix Art Museum.

Joy Ride was a yuppie place with delicious tacos and Churn had the best homemade ice cream I have ever had

 As you can tell, Kelsey got to watch a movie while we were away. It was so good she couldn't even smile for a quick pic

 Aunt Kay is wonderful. She even offered to watch the girls so that we could go to the temple. I am so grateful for Aunt Kay, for temples, for two beautiful daughters, and an awesome husband who laughs his way through life.