My baby loses his first tooth!!!

So, tonight Ryan lost his 1st tooth! His tooth has been wiggly for like 2 months, but tonight the boys were playing tug-o-war with a sock and Ryan's mouth...and bam...out popped Ryan's tooth. Ryan was in shock, afraid to swallow, eat or drink - Jack was soooo excited for Ryan, he could hardly stand it...he was bouncing around the house - like it was his tooth...it was too cute! :-)

Little bunnies

So, we've got 2 little baby bunnies living in our yard. They come out at dawn and dusk to nibble on the grass. We really enjoy watching them...they are so cute! On Friday, Ryan thought he should give them a carrot, so he threw a large carrot into the grass - it is larger than both of the bunnies together. The boys have watched that carrot for 3 straight days - and I'm thinking...yeah, right the babies aren't going to eat that gigantic carrot! Well, tonight I was proven wrong. We tried to get a picture of the bunny nibbling the carrot - but through the glass, it was impossible...so here is a picture of the bunny "hiding" under the palm tree (look closely and you can see the glowing eye) and a picture of the carrot - you can see the nibble marks - actually you can see the ants who have also discovered the nibble marks. It is really cute...and frankly - much more welcome than most desert dwelling critters! :-)

A little morning fun!

While Jack was at a sleepover last night - Ryan and I slept on the trampoline. After what felt like one, long sauna night, we got up and I treated Ryan to Krispy Kreme. Had to share this cute picture...

Ribbons galore

So - the meet was a big success! Ryan won ribbons for each of the events he swam (that's a 6 & under rule) and Jack won ribbons for 3 out of the 5 events he swam...such a big accomplishment! Very proud..and motivating!

And they're O-F-F....

Ryan diving (jumping in)

Jack diving in off the blocks (in middle of the pool)

Jack swimming butterfly - 1st time ever.

Hansberry boys relay hand-off (Jack finishing butterfly - Ryan ready to finish with freestyle)

We had another successful swim meet last night. The boys swam different events than at their first meet...and did really well. Last night they swam in the medley relay, butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle relay. Lots of swimming + lots of junk food = lots of fun, I tell you, it's the foundation of any good swim meet!

A L-O-N-G day!

It looks like Ryan had one L-O-N-G day - just the usual camp and swim team...but today must have been exceptionally tiring. Jack and I went to walk the dogs around 7pm - Ryan layed down on the couch and this is how we found him. Well, actually his dad put the eye patch on him as a joke...

Swimmin'

Our first swim meet...went well. We'll get some pictures of Jack this Thursday and update the post...but it was MASS chaos for their first meet - getting them both where they needed to be and calm and ready to race. Todd captured these with his camera phone...we will be more prepared this Thursday! :-) Ryan got 2 ribbons at this meet - by swimming 6 & under backstroke and freestyle. There were 24 8 & under boys at this last meet and only the top 6 get a ribbon - Jack still has some work to do to get there...but the motivation is there. :-)

Ryan swimming backstroke - he is closest to the wall.

Hikin' in Oracle State Park

So, after an eventful trip out to the property, we stopped at Oracle State Park to do a little hiking. Oracle State Park is only about 4 miles from our property...and they had bathrooms. :-) About 1/2 way around the Nature Loop, there is a wildlife viewing area...and looks what we saw! Pretty cool, we all thought!

All in all, a fun way to spend a Saturday - up close w/nature!

Lots of fun...things to see

So, we went out to the property today - it's been almost 2 months since we've been out there (can you say...Little League was all consuming?!?) Anyway, while we were out exploring, we ran into a herd of cattle. Now, we've seen these guys before in the neighbors yard...thought they were cool. But let me tell you how startling it is to look up and see a GIGANTIC bull cow - w/very large, sharp looking horns staring at you through the brush! He was H-U-G-E! Not sure how they can eat enough roaming the desert to get that big, but let me just say...he was big! Anyway, we quickly gathered up the troops (meaning husband and kids) and walked quickly back to the car! From the safety of the car we could see that there were probably 2 Bulls, at least one female and a couple of calves. I tried to snap some pictures, but the one kept a close eye on me...so I didn't dare get too close! :-) Do you see him staring me down???

While we were out exploring, before we ran into the cows we found half a set of antlers. Pretty cool, we thought! :-)