Sliding Fun

After we left the pool, we went outside and went to the park where Blake could actually go on the slides. Blake is obsessed with this park. They have a ton of slides, most especially big slides. Lately Blake loves to go down slides so this park is made just for him! He has now learned to walk up the slides and he doesn't walk up the small ones, no it has to be the really tall ones. Here are some pictures of his sliding fun!

On his way down. This slide is pretty cool. Blake has mastered going up the side ones but the the middle slide he is currently sliding down.  One of the slides Blake loves to go up and down. It's pretty fun watching him. He has to be barefoot to walk up them, but he is usually barefoot at this park because they also have a little water spray area. The parks in Phoenix are so great! After getting up, one must come down. 

This is a video of Blake going up the slide and then down. It's fun to document these times in their lives. It will be fun for Blake to look back and watch himself when he was such a little guy. 

Moving on UP...

On Saturday Joe and I decided to head out and get Blake his own big bed. We had known we were going to do this for his birthday and decided now was as best as any. Saturday morning, after some errands, we headed over as a family to Ikea to pick out Blake's bed. I picked out three choices I liked and Joe picked the final bed (although I got the final say on what color we bought). After many hours of working to get this bed home, Joe and Blake worked on putting it together. Although Blake may have been in the way a lot more than he was helping (he didn't help at all), Joe and Blake worked well together. Blake has surprisingly done well with his new bed. I keep asking if he is going to sleep in his big boy bed and he gets all excited. He has slept through both nights just fine and naps have been perfect. We love his new bed and so does Blake!

Blake's sleeping position before the new bed. He needed a lot more room than his crib offered.  Blake with the hammer "helping daddy". He was pretty good the whole time they worked on the bed.  Joe and Blake working so well together. Blake thought this was the coolest thing to help daddy build.  Blake on his new bed. We bought him a full size so that he has ample room. When he is older I am sure he will appreciate a bigger bed. He already sleeps across the bed, so right now he is certainly utilizing his space. 

As a side note, don't you just love our window coverings? I haven't decided what I am going to do with Blake's room so I haven't bought him curtains yet. In Phoenix you need some kind of covering to save you not only from the heat but the very early morning sun. Can't you tell how much Blake loves this bed?

Blake jumping on bed

Here is a video Joe took of Blake attempting to jump on his bed. This shows that sometimes he listens to what we say without screaming NO!

Green grapes: fruit or toy?

This morning I put some grapes in Blake's breakfast bowl. It took him an hour or so to realize they were there but when he did discover them, he was very excited. He wasn't excited because he got fruit but because he used them as a rolling ball. I caught him rolling them all around the living room. He rolled one under the couch and got in big trouble because I can't reach it, but otherwise he just enjoys rolling them. Blake's obsession with balls has reached a new height when he starts playing with his round fruit. Later in the morning we rolled the ball (grape) to each other. So next time you start eating some fruit, think of what toy they could possibly be made into by a two year old. 

Food Co-op

That my friends is a beautiful sight! My wonderful sister-in-law Krinn told me about this food co-op they do here in Phoenix. I pretty much trust anything she tells me because she is the best at saving money and such. For $15 you get a whole big array of fruits and vegetables. Because the people buy from the wholesalers, they never know what they will be giving out, so sometimes you get a surprise. Our surprise this time was rainbow chard. I have no clue what to do with this but I will be researching it today. Joe was quite impressed with what we got and we will definitely be doing this again. Here is a rundown of what we got for $15 (be amazed):

1 cantaloupe 

2 bunches of bananas

1 rainbow chard

5 cucumbers

grapes

raspberries

carrots

lettuce

6 apples

2 pears

4 mangoes (Joe is really excited about this)

7 red potatoes

Ryan and Kelli's Wedding

On Friday Blake, Joe and I flew up to Salt Lake City, UT to attend Ryan and Kelli's wedding. On Saturday 6/7/08 Ryan and Kelli were sealed to each other in the Jordan River temple. It was such a beautiful wedding and we were so glad we could make it. I hope to be able to say that all my children were married in the temple, just like Joe's parents can. Here are some of the very few pictures we took. 

The happy couple. I love this picture of them. Aren't they so cute? Perfect picture, worthy of the wall.  This picture doesn't do Kelli justice. She looked GORGEOUS! Her dress was beautiful. She just looked exquisite. Joe really liked her flowers, he even made a comment about them (which is highly unusual). Welcome to the family Kelli, we are VERY excited to get to know you better.  Our family in front of the Jordan River temple. There is actually a better picture of our family but my mother-in-law has those pictures on her camera which I will need to get from her.  Four generations of Norby boys. How cute is that? This is the best we could get of Blake, it was the end of the photo shoot and he was just so hyper and tired at the same time. He actually fell asleep at the luncheon while eating (we have it on tape). 

It was so good to be around family and catch up with everybody. We wish we  could have stayed longer but alas Joe's new career was too new to take time off. One day we will all try to get together again. 

Congratulations Ryan and Kelli, we couldn't be more excited for you! =)

San Diego Zoo

The first day in San Diego we went to the zoo. It was pretty neat although Blake wasn't too interested. He would look at the animal and then move on. Most of the animals were hanging out in the shade, so they were pretty boring. It was still a really good experience to go. The zoo though is SO big and took a lot of walking. We ended up walking most of it then taking the sky ride to the back to we could see the other animals back there and then walked back to the front. Luckily we saw all the exhibits and then took the zoo bus to look around the park one more time before we left. 

Blake and Joe in front of a lynx. This lynx was just walking back and forth in front of the gate. When driving by this cat in the zoo bus, he fell out of his tree and landed on his back (we thought cats landed on their feet). It was pretty entertaining.  I love this picture. One of the few times that Blake actually held one of our hands. I love them together because Blake just thinks the world of Joe.  Hippo gazing. I don't Blake actually cared about what was in the tank but just that he was able to get out of the stroller and look into something. Interesting fact about the hippo: they are too dense to swim. So the hippo just crawls along the floor of the water. Did you know that?  Flamingos were Blake's favorite exhibit. We faced his stroller towards them at the end of the day and he didn't want to leave. They are pretty interesting to watch. There were also ducks in this exhibit but they aren't technically part of the zoo, they just come and hang out. Blake may have been more interested in them.  Family photo. Man these things are hard to get. We were just about to start the tour on the zoo bus. Blake didn't care for this too much but it sure was nice to sit down and relax for a bit. If we weren't having another baby, this would probably be our Christmas photo =)