The Mantle Family: July 2011

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Summer Trip to Flagstaff 2011

We headed up to Flagstaff a couple of weekends ago to get out of this heat and visit Adam and Katelyn. The weather was wonderful, the time was relaxing and the kids loved being with their Uncle and "Auntie" (eventually, right?).

We had a psuedo camping trip...which, with my kids, means drive out 30 minutes to some deeper woods, set up "camp", make a fire, roast hotdogs and marshmellows for s'mores, and then... call it a night. We lasted 1 hr and 10 min in the wilderness....glad we didn't set up tents :)

Otherwise, we relaxed at Adam and Katelyn's while the kids watched and watched and watched all of their reptilian pets - snakes, lizards, turtles, fish, and lots of really cool rainforest frogs. We also went downtown to the Sunday Farmer's Market and picked up some yummy fresh produce for our dinner, ate delicious bagels for breakfast, ate yummy burgers from Freddy's, (wow why does every trip revolve around food??) and of course, made a quick trip to Marshalls...but no good finds this trip.

Another great time in Flag and it will only get better as Ella and Jonah get older (when he is out of his routine/element, things get difficult OR more so, I get stressed!).

Uncle Adam and Ella

Setting up "camp" for our 0.5 second camping adventure.

All ready! - If I only knew it wouldn't be very long til they were begging to leave.

The bonfire Adam created....a little two hot for comfort (and for roasting marshmellows)

Best Buds...

Jonah just wanted to shovel stuff...

Ella was most excited to find sticks for the fire with Uncle Adam

Seriously - TWINS!!

Chillin', eatin her hotdog

They love their Auntie Katelyn!!

Last bit of relaxation before heading home.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Oh Ella!!

This is what happens when Ella takes over the camera....HILARIOUS!!!

(pics taken Tuesday, May 31, 2011 in Belle, MO)

We love you, crazy chick!!!

Saturday, July 2, 2011

8 years

"Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters"

( I received this quote in a little note at the spa after my amazing massage)

Travis and I celebrated 8 years of marriage on June 28th. Wow, those 8 years have flown by but, I believe, have been very productive!!

We got away for the weekend prior tothe 28th to our favorite resort, The Montelucia (pic below). We had massages at the ridiculously awesome spa, ate yummy food at the pool side bar and for room-service breakfast, took a trip over to FashionSquare for some shopping and dinner one night, and relaxed, relaxed, relaxed both by the pool and in our room....it was lovely.

Getting ready to head on out that friday afternoon...my mom watched the kids for the weekend...thanks mom!

What 8 years has given us...

The AMAZING Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale near the base of Camelback Mountain...

it is heaven on Earth.

Haircut #4

Some of you might remember the older post of Jonah first real haircut. Well there have been a couple more in between - all equally torturous. Different story this time around. Jonah was super calm and just let her cut away. We still kept it shaggy - Travis does not want to cut it short - it is the hair he has always wanted and thinks it would be a disservice to cut it. He does have the best hair - Ella will be so jealous when she is older.

Before:

After:

Swimming 2011

Swim class started mid-June and we did one two weeks session. Although fun, I didn't feel like Ella was getting much out of it and still had no confidence in the water. It wasn't until my mom took her to my dad's pool that she even tried to really swim. Now she is doing amazing. Still has some work to do to keep her head above the water but her confidence has boosted dramatically and she wants to get better every day. We swim every couple of days and will continue to do so all summer.

Swimming at the Mantle's on father's day.

Jonah was scared to death the first day of parent-tot swim but now we can't keep him out of the water.

so much progress

Movie at the park

Jenn and I took the girls to dinner and a movie in the park a couple weekends ago. We watched Tangled...it was a beautiful night, there was a great crowd, and even some other friends joined us. Fun times!!

Jones - 18 -19 months

Jonah is seriously the funniest kid. We keep saying that once he starts talking more, he will be freakin hilarious!! He is all over the place, learning lots of new things, improving his vocabulary little by little, still sleeping like an angel. He was 26 lbs at his 18 month check up....still 50-75% weight and 75-90% height - where he has stayed all along.

he knows how to get what he wants...and he thinks his choices are to pull, hit or bite. After being scolded, he quickly gives a hug to Ella and moves on. He is quite loving but his lack of vocab is now just starting to cause him some frustration. We even had a speech/language specialist come out to check him out and she said, although his vocabulary is slower than others, he is crazy smart in his cognitive abilities and understands soo much. We are not worried at all and hear new words and sounds from him daily.

dancing queen

Ella started a Ballet/Tap class, which also includes 4 of her friends, this summer. She is having a blast...

Missouri 2011

We did it again!! Five days in Missouri visiting Travis' family. The scenery - beautiful, the weather - not so bad, the family - awesome as always...but needless to say, being in a "new" place with an 18 month old was not what I would call a vacation.

They both did great on the plane rides...better than both mommy and daddy. Ella just loves everything about traveling. She loves the airport, the plane, and even the shuttle bus to the rental car...she told us that she wants to be a shuttle bus driver when she grows up.

She loved playing with her cousins, staying on a farm, traveling from house to house and meeting new people. Jonah loved all those things too but he has to be watched at all times with the stairs and unfamiliar surroundings so it was quite exhausting for Travis and I. All I kept telling myself though was this was hopefully the last time it would be as stressful....next year he will be 2.5, and much more independent....we hope :)

Here are the many pics....although I always miss out on a lot of the fun stuff - this time that was Joe Gunn's graduation party. It was such a fun party with lots of great family. I don't even think I brought my camera...bummer.

Cousins (being silly with hair rollers)....Ella is about 4.5 months older than Bailey, can't you tell?

Four wheeling with daddy

Bailey was dying to feed Jonah

Ella could definitely be a farm girl one day....if not a shuttle bus driver :)

Ella and Bailey went off on the "Gator" with Melanie to go check on the cows and Ella's biggest story of her whole trip was that, "A cow pooped in my face!!"

A perfect day to fly a kite

I don't know if "cheesy" is even the right word for this smile....he really was just so excited about being outside the whole time. AND he loves having this monkey on his back.

Jonah couldn't wait to go four wheeling too.

Best cousins...ok and once again a bit of a size difference

another fun Missouri creature

Jonah would be great in a parade...always waving :)

the girls were stuck like glue...I have no clue what is so shocking to Ella

family moment...minus one

Ella even got to work the farm a bit

The kids filling the cow's water basin...love this pic!

Travis' cousin, Cynthia, and Jonah

Garrett and Jonah

This is what you see as you walk out the back deck to Greg's Aunt Beverly's house. It is on a bluff, 400 ft above a river....beautiful, but needless to say, mine and Travis' paranoia was in full force.