Animals, Picnics, Train rides and FUN!

Get ready for lots of pictures of.....yep, you guessed it - my darling kids!! We had fall break the first 2 1/2 weeks of October (Zach has a modified year round school schedule). The first week off we had lots of fun at the Phoenix Zoo, going on bike rides and walks, playing at the park, and doing a bit of shopping.

Well....that meant that the house got pretty neglected, so the next week we had fun cleaning and organizing the storage room (I am sure Zach won't agree with the word "fun" in the same sentence as "cleaning".). It was so nice having Zach home. He is such a good helper. He did do some cleaning, but mostly just kept Parker and Chloe entertained while I organized.

We decided before break that one of the things we wanted to do was to go to the zoo! There was one day that first week that the tempurature was finally down into the 80's. After months and months.....and months!! of triple digits (no, I am not used to this AZ heat yet!), it was so exciting to be able to be outside and enjoy the weather! See how excited Parker is that morning while eating his breakfast!!! I had to include this picture because, well....I just love it! He is such a cheezer and you can just feel the excitement from his cute face!!Zach brought along 2 buddies, so that made 5 kids to keep track of all by my lonesome! (It is not to hard when you have 3 well-behaved 9-11 year-olds and a double stroller to strap the other two into.)

Here are some of the kids favorite animals we saw.

Can you see the 3 blue frogs? There is a baby one on top of the mom. They were really cool looking!

Hello, Mr. Monkey (I think he's a monkey). You are quite strange looking, aren't you! But you were very nice to pose for a picture!

I always used to love riding the carousel as a kid! Honestly, I am not sure what makes them so much fun, but my kids just love them - just like I used to! Zach and his buddies decided they were too big and cool for the carousel and decided to go spend their cash inside the souveneir shop while Chloe and Parker rode round and round! On the way home we stopped for an ice cream to top off our FUN day!

The last day of fall break, a friend told us about a really fun park up in Scottsdale. So, with more fabulous weather to get out and enjoy, we decided to make the drive and check it out! IT was super fun and we stayed for many hours!! We call it the Railroad Park. This is what you see as you enter the park! I know Zach would have been going complete nuts had he been about 2 or 3 years old to see such a cool REAL train! To top it off, the park is free and then you just pay a small amount for tickets to ride on things!

Inside the train car!! That was fun to walk down the small skinny isle and look into the little bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms, sitting rooms and control room.

Just outside of the train was a little museum that had actual rail equiptment that the kids could play on.

Next up - the carousel!! This time everyone wanted to ride! Parker was much more excited this time around...although you can't really tell in the picture.

There was this fun miniture train to ride on. It took us around the whole park, through a tunnel and even had a real horn that chugged! So much fun!!! Yes, Chloe is fighting with Zach in this next picture to stand in the corner! Boo. She is even sitting with me right now as I am posting this and just said, "Mom, I am pushing Zach in that picture because I wanted to stand there! Thanks for putting that picture of me pushing Zach!" haha)

Next, we hit the playground! Lots of fun, although it didn't last too long because everyone was getting hungry for lunch. So after playing on the slides for a bit, we sat down for our picnic lunch.

"YUMMY!! I like my lunch!!!"

After lunch the kids played in this little old western town. Chloe loved to pretend that she was Cinderella going to the ball and that Zach was her Prince. And Zach, being the fabulous brother that he is, played along....for a few minutes anyway! We ended our day with one last ride on the train and then headed home! It was another FUN day!!

Karleigh's 7th Birthday Celebration

So the bathrooms have been scrubbed and the laundry is washing, so I will finally take some time to update this blog that I have been neglecting in between loads!! Lots of pictures to post - we'll see how much I actually get done between laundry, kids and life!

First up....Karleigh's birthday!

It is hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that if things were different, we would have a 7 year old right now! I can only imagine the things she would be doing right now. Things in her life changed so frequently that I am not quite sure what kind of advancements she would have made physically and in other areas. Based on the amazing things she started doing the month or two before she died, I would like to think that she would possibly be a somewhat mobile and maybe even able to say something. Who knows - maybe even better than that! Someday I will know what it is like to have Karleigh here in my arms as a 7 year old! I look forward to raising her someday!

Her birthday celebration was a wonderful day spent together as a family. We had a happy day. A day filled with time together, giving something small to others to help them have a happy day, a day enjoying the beautiful nature around us and then reminiscing as we went through Karleigh's memory box. (usually we plant bulbs, but since those don't work too well here in warm Arizona, we had to do something else.) I think the most important part of the day was just the fact that we were a family, enjoying small little things that Karleigh did and remembering her. We indeed felt her happiness near. I really feel like that is why the day went so well. We sure do love our birthday girl!! Happy 7th Birthday, Karleigh!

First, we frosted sugar cookies to deliver to friends. We included the poem that we used last year that my wonderful sister, Marci wrote. (Poem at the end of this post)

Before leaving to make deliveries, the kids had a quick birthday photo taken. Just picture Karleigh in there with them!

After making our deliveries, we headed to the store to each pick out a flower for our flower pots that reminded us of Karleigh. (yes, you can plant flowers this time of year here! Weird, I know!)

We then came home to throw a quick dinner together. Chris threw some chicken on the grill while I got the other food together. When it was ready, we headed to a park in town to have a nice picnic dinner and watch the sunset. It was beautiful! After dinner, we took a stroll around the lake and enjoyed the cool air.

Chris enjoying his dinner! (sorry Chris for the funny face you are making....caught ya at the wrong time!)

Parker, happy as usual, had a great time hanging out in the stroller while we ate (yes, he got to eat too).

Chloe let me borrow a flower hair bow to clip in my hair. It was fun to wear it and be matching with my girlie in remembrance of my angel girlie.

After the park, we came home to have cupcakes and ice cream. Zach did a fabulous job making the cupcakes all by himself!

Last, we pulled out Karleigh's box of belongings and went through it together as a family. It was bittersweet as we reminisced. Zach really remembers a lot about Karleigh and wanted to help Chloe and Parker know her as much as possible. He would pull something out of the box and then tell us about it. It was nice to see that he still remembers, but sad that he has to remember - if that makes sense.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl! We love you!

A Birthday Wish…

We’d like to tell you of a girl we know
Who passed away a few years ago.
This is not a story of sorrow and tears;
Instead, it is one of smiles and cheers.

You see, her life was a gift from our
Father above;
And she taught us all what it meant to love.
Her eyes told a story of promise and hope,
And her giggles could cheer even the grumpiest mope.

Today we celebrate her precious life,
And try to remember there are blessings amid strife.
Although she is missed more than words can say,
Her message of love goes on each day.

So enjoy these treats and as you do,
Remember always there are many who love you.


Karleigh Ann Stimpson
10/16/02 – 4/14/05