Peanuts and Crackerjacks

We took Rosie to the Angel's game on Saturday night. We left Sadie William in the care of Mimi and Papa due to her lingering cough, and went to cheer for the boys in red. We had a great time. We did all of the things that one must do at a ballgame.... we cheered loud, ate, high fived, threw our peanut shells on the ground, made friends with the people sitting around us, ate, sang, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, ate, and went home slightly tuckered out. Angels lost, but it was a good game. It was the perfect prelude to our 4th of July festivities.

The Wave
Rosie waves her Rally Monkey. (Before I had kids I often wondered, "who buys things like a Rally Monkey at a baseball game and why?" Now I KNOW who buys these types of things and now I know WHY!!)

Daddy's Girl

When accompanying Daddy to the car wash on a Saturday morning, it's important to look your very best.

First Days

Yesterday marked the start of some "firsts" for us in the Eckert house. Ron headed out the door at 6 am to oversee the first day of Emerald Cove Day Camp, in it's 4th season, but still such a baby program.

Rosie started her first day of Vacation Bible School at San Clemente Presbyterian. My friend Renee oversees the children's ministry program at the church and she told me that Rosie could participate even though she's a little young, if I volunteered to help out.

"Of course!" I told her, picturing myself slicing apples for the morning snack, or organizing papers at the registration table......nope...guess what I'm doing? Chadder. He's a chipmunk puppet who interacts with the kids after they learn their Bible story. Chadder has lines to memorize. Chadder has a voice. Chadder and I have to interact. It's humbling, at best. Talk about stepping out of your comfort zone. Last night I felt like I was having serious Chadder anxiety over my duties.

After VBS we went to Rosie's first swim lesson. Miss Lexi was magic and Rosie's smitten by her and the water. She told me on the way home that she,"loves fwim 'cool."

Miss Lexi sang all kinds of songs together with Rosie while they did different activities to get Rosie used to being in the pool.

We had a great Monday. Now, if Chadder and I can just finish the week strong....

Summer Fun

We ushered in summer on Saturday with a family movie night. Ron set up a projector and screen in the backyard and we rented Toy Story 2 for Rosie to watch. We picked up our annual indulgence of KFC and had a picnic dinner. The marine layer moved in and it got a little cold, but we snuggled under blankets, ate popcorn and had a great time together. I wondered if Rosie was going to be able to sit through a full- length-full- of -dialogue- movie.... she sat, eyes glued through the entire movie, only moving to reach and get hand fulls of popcorn. At one point she turned to me and said, "Mama, Buzz Lightbeer is a little 'cary... but Woody is a good good man."

Come join us for a backyard movie sometime this summer! It's certainly made its way into the Eckert Family repertoire of summer traditions.

Love the Mountains

We're having fun in the mountains! On Sunday I was pushing the jogger through Yosemite Valley and Rosie looks up at me from her comfortable seat, holding her water bottle and snack and says, "Mama! We're hiking! I love hiking!"

Yes, Rosie.... kind of, I guess :)

Rosie gets a special "paint faced."

Getting drenched at Lower Yosemite Falls

Even Sadie loves the mountains

On Monday, the girls and I rode the Sugar Pine Mountain Railroad, an old historic steam engine. I forgot my camera, and only had Ron's high tech one that I couldn't figure out. The picture of the girls on the train car kind of looks like it's from the 1910s when this logging train was actually in existence. My pictures are horrible... but we had a great time!

Hats Off to You.

I'm trying hard to be a parent that encourages my children to entertain themselves in the car. My sister and I always did.... well, she'd entertain me. We had certain games, stories, and sleeping arrangements (me sleeping on the floor of the car.... where you put your feet.... with the giant hump in the middle. Erin insisted that it was the best place to sleep because it was warm and you could hear the sounds of the road. All of this while she was stretched out comfortably on the backseat. Thanks, Erin :)

Let's face it. It's so easy to pop in a DVD and have your kids go into a catatonic (but quiet) state. I must admit that I do this sometimes just to keep everyone sane on long trips... my mom read us books aloud and it's one of my favorite family memories. Some of the favorites that I can remember hearing were: The Indian in the Cupboard series, A Wrinkle in Time, The Trumpet of the Swan and Where the Red Fern Grows (my mom cried so hard while reading this to us that she could hardly see the words on the page.) I tried to carry on the tradition yesterday with just a few short library books and almost tossed my cookies on the side of the 99. Must take some Dramamine before getting started on the Harry Potter series when Rosie and Sadie are old enough.

Rosie did very well entertaining herself in the backseat yesterday as we were driving to YSSC. Wedged between her and Sadie's carseats was a big laundry basket loaded with supplies... including the Princess Pullups that Rosie still sleeps in at night. She found a new and comical use for one, and then forgot that she was wearing it and promptly feel asleep. Between the time that she put it on and fell asleep, my camera battery died, so the second picture is taken with my phone, and it's pretty poor quality.

Sierra Clare

Our sweet niece, Sierra, graduated from Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy this weekend. She's such a star. She's headed to Swarthmore College this fall. She was the valedictorian of her class and delivered a speech that was clever, beautiful, and hilarious... just like her. She's our hero. Being at Sierra's graduation meant a fun weekend in Flagstaff with the family. I didn't get great pictures....but my nephew, Caleb compiled a great video of Little Miss Rosie in action. I will try to post it soon.

Rosie enjoyed some time with Uncle Dave and Caleb. They're probably chatting about photography and sled dogs.

Introducing Page and Annie, the newest sled dogs on the lot. They're such sweet girls.

Rosie enjoyed meeting the new ladies from the safety of daddy's shoulders.

In due time, Rosie felt comfortable enough with the new dogs... they soon shared that, "mi casa es su casa," type of relationship.

"So, Uncle Dave, how do you balance the nitrogen to carbon ratio in your compost?"

My poor December Baby Sadie has never experienced heat, let alone Arizona heat. She spent the weekend stripped down to her diaper clutching a cold washcloth.