This year we decided maybe the kids should get some pets. It was probably a bad decision. First we got them fish. They got a Molly and a Beta. Within probably a month they killed the Beta and the Molly had babies. Adri doesn't like to sleep with the pump on and forgets to turn it on before going to school. They also overfed the Beta to death.
So before finding out if the kids could even handle fish we got a bearded dragon. Why? Cassandra has a friend that was giving them away. All we had to do is buy the terrarium, lights, and everything else they need and we got a kinda but not really free pet. The kids were really interested for a couple days. Now they rarely hold the thing, actually they don't unless I tell them to. Zach likes to hold the lizard when I ask him to but Adri is a pain in the butt about it and we got into a dispute one afternoon over it. I ended up telling her to go to her room because I was so angry over it. We'll see how long this thing last. I am planning on taking it on vacation this summer and taking pictures with it on all our trips.
I'm just glad we started small and didn't commit to something bigger, more annoying, and more maintenance, like a dog.
"He's one of those kids, you get him a gift and all he wants to do is play with the box. Yeah, one year we actually just got him a box, a really nice box.And we made the mistake of putting it in a gift bag. So he played with the gift bag. We can't get it right." - Modern Family Season 1 Episode 9
Recently we have had a lot of big boxes. I decided to change out all the toilets. Our toilets were really crappy. They were the cheapest Sterling toilets money could buy and the kids were clogging them almost daily. So I went out and bought three top of the line Toto Drake toilets. I did a lot of research and then observation when we would go out and decided we couldn't go without Toto. They have been great. As the guy at Home Depot said "You could flush a whole chicken down them". Plus they are glazed so well they hardly need cleaning.
Enough about the toilets though. Boxes, lots of boxes. Each toilet bowl and tank came in a separate box. So we had 6 large boxes. What to do with those boxes? I made the kids a tunnel to play in. I kept the boxes around for a couple months then finally decided it was time to get rid of them. Now we are in the middle of a remodel on our master bathroom. Our tub came in not 1, but two large boxes. So now the kids like to hide in that box. Unfortunately they only got to keep one of the boxes. The moms that run the programs at the school decided to steal the other one. Their post on Facebook, not asking for, but basically demanding we hand over the boxes was annoying. My dad and I wanted to make some dirty jokes about their demands to have Natalie's box but Natalie wouldn't have it so we just had to leave a laughing emoji.
I finally got all the pictures off my OneDrive and onto my computer so here come 10 post in the next week.
This is our 5th summer in Arizona. I have hated every one of them until this year. Having a pool 30 feet away from the back door makes a huge moral difference in summer here. I like having a pool so much I didn't even go to the community center once this summer. Why get the kids into a hot car and go to a pool where they kick you out for ten minutes every hour when I can grab a beer and sit by my own pool late in the afternoon without sunblock?
This year the kids probably spent 3/4 of the summer with their cousins. We were back and forth between California all summer and my twin sister made a couple trips out here as well. These kids get to spend more time with their cousins than I did as a kid and we all lived within 30 miles of each other.
It was a busy summer. Between work, school, family issues, and working on my yard in the heat it has been really hectic.
This was at my niece and nephew's birthday party in Riverside. It felt very much like Arizona that afternoon.
That's much better.
I think this is right around the end of June. We had my sister's kids over while she went on an early anniversary trip with her husband. I bought so ladder ball which only lasted a day before the cheap pvc melted, busted out the Obama punching bag, and we played in the heat all day.
Swimming in underwear and pink floaties.
It was good while it lasted. I'm going to have to build my own. I went outside the next day and the pipe had melted and bent over.
Zachy got a paddle board so he can learn to swim. I was trying quick swimming lessons every day but he wasn't liking it.
The kids caught a gecko in the backyard.
We went to the wash behind the house to look for coyotes. I don't remember if we found them. There has only been one time I've walked to the wash in the afternoon and didn't see a coyote and I think this may have been that time.
In July we bought a new truck. We had five kids in the waiting room all afternoon. To my surprise they actually behaved well.
The new truck. Soon we are getting a trailer to pull around with this thing.
I made the kids Shirley Temples.
At the dinner table one night the word of the day was britches. Zach said he loves his "britches".
I made a redneck water slide. Then I decided instead of just putting the hose on the slide why not give the kids a hurricane experience. Water and electricity makes a good time.
She's probably going to regret these videos one day.
