the.amanda.sewell

Our plan was to head to the beach today, but because more than one of us was sunburned, I decided that was not an option.  We searched online from our hotel and found that Balboa park was nearby and that both the science center and museum of natural history were free for AZ Science Center members (*score right*) so we went to the museum of natural history!  It was cool!  E enjoyed the gems and J really loved all the dinosaur bones.  I gave him his camera and he took some pictures.  I think he did awesome! He says "Cheese!" We also got to learn some cool stuff about birds and owls vs. eagles with the museums "Miss Frizzle" from the Magic School Bus learning show.  It was a Sunday also, so we got to participate in the "Dinosaur Sunday's" event.  The kids got to dig for dinosaur fossils, make necklaces, color, battle a dinosaur, and play.  They really enjoyed it.     *Gems Exhibit* My two little dwarfs posing in front of the mine ...

We had fun adventuring around Sea World.  We got to meet Shamu (the dressed up person version - lol) and got to see the new Blue Horizons show, and the Shamu show (where we sat in the "soak zone" and got splashed by Shamu) and the best part was that the kids tickets were only $5 (we bought the Sea World cares tickets).   Baby E got to go on the Abby's Sea Star Spin (which was one of his first rides ever and he loved it)and Oscars Rocking Eels twisty boat like ride (which was cute) in Sesame Street Bay of Play.   After that we went and watched the new Blue Horizons show (which featured acrobats, dolphins, and lots of cool costumes - I wish we saw more of the dolphins though and less acting and acrobatics and that it was not in the direct sun because we all got a little sunburned waiting for the show to begin.     E and J got to go white water rafting (for the first time ever after waiting in a long long line) at Shipwreck Rapids.  Baby E and I check...

My family has a thing for Red Robin, we all LOVE it there.  When we arrived at the hotel and checked in, we decided to try and find some dinner.  We decided to go to Uno Pizza, but after we drove to the location, we discovered it was no longer there, so we opted for our family fave, Red Robin!  We got to sit upstairs (it was a two story red Robin), and that was a lot of fun! Daddy and baby E! My cute baby girl! (Ignore how bad I look, I had been driving for 6 hours)

This is the last bunch of pictures -- one goal accomplished!  I really wanted to get individual pictures of all my kids this summer, and I did it!  It took 4 weeks, but it is done!  I m excited to have current pictures of all of them!  My next goal is to get a picture of all of them together done . . . but I will do that next month maybe!! E's pictures turned out SO darling!  She is so photogenic!  I love the one in the chair, she looks so relaxed, confident, and beautiful!  I love my first born baby girl so much and she is growing up MUCH too quickly!!

We had a small barbecue with some family and friends. (The Wrights, The Blads, Grandma and Grandpa Sewell) We had yummy turkey burgers, hot dogs, coleslaw, green salad, and potato salad that everyone just thought was so tasty!  We talked a lot, played catch phrase and some mad gab and some wii.  Later we sat in the back yard and watched fireworks from the park . . . I love that we can see the fireworks from our back yard.  It is awesome, no crowds, relaxing cause all the kids are contained within the back yard.  It was a fantastic day!  Hope you had a fantastic 4th of July too! Red Skinned Potato Salad Ingredients: 2 pounds clean, scrubbed new potatoes 6 eggs 1 pound bacon (we used turkey) 1 onion, finely chopped 1 stalk celery 2 cups mayonnaise salt and pepper to taste Directions: 1.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and set in the refrigerator to c...

I asked J what he wanted to do on his birthday, and we made up a schedule for the day.  The first thing was that he wanted to have a fruit plate for breakfast (he loves fresh fruit), and as usual, I was not quite prepared as of the morning of his birthday, so we went to the store to get some fruit, and on the way, I discovered that the A/C on my van had broken some time the previous night when I switched vehicles with hubby and he and the kids went home.  AHHH!  If you are not from Phoenix, it is on average about 110F here right now! Seriously not what I had been planning to do on J's birthday, but I called the dealership and they figured it out so that I could rent a van for the day and they would get it fixed for me.  We drove 45 minutes to the dealership (YUCKY sauna van but we had cold water and windows opened) and we were taken care of and out of there in about 30 minutes. ( I *LOVE* SanTan Honda) Once we had the rental, we went home, had lunch, I put both ba...