Albuquerque

We had quite the time in Albuquerque visiting with Nana D and Mr. Walker. We were up at o'dark thirty on Thursday morning to drive. That was great with me because I was very excited to go and the earlier we could get started the better. I also couldn't wait because mom got us special organic poptarts to eat on the way out and I could hardly wait for that! They were delicious in spite of the fact that they were organic! The other thing I was really looking forward to was peeing outside. Dad got me started on that on our way to Silver City last spring when there was no rest stop close. Now, I get kind of ticked off when we stop at a real potty. Anyway, I got over that and 6.5 hours and 4 rest stops later, we pulled into Albuquerque just in time for lunch. It was beautiful weather as usual, so dad and Mr. Walker headed out for a mountain bike ride and mom, Nana D and I went for walk around the neighborhood. We all slept really, really well that night!

On Friday, we had a really lazy day and didn't get out of the house until about 1. Mom, dad and I went down to the aquarium and botanical gardens. I LOVED the aquarium with all the sharks, eels and jelly fish. The botanical gardens were great because they had a "garden train" set up and I could push a button and watch the train go around the display. I could have done that for hours but mom and dad were getting tired so they made me leave. That night, we celebrated mom's birthday. It is still a few days away but you know how she likes to drag these things out. Uncle Adam and his girlfriend Erin came to help celebrate. The very coolest thing was that mom wasn't the only one who got presents. Erin brought me a book (which I have made mom read about 12 time already), a red purse and some stretchy frogs (which have already been loaded into the trailer of one of my cars and hauled across Nana's house several times). Erin can come see me anytime she wants! Soooo- we all stuffed ourselves with Salmon and then German Chocolate Cake and then went to bed fat and happy!

On Saturday, Nana and I hung out all day while mom and dad neglected their parental duties. They both went for a long, easy bike ride with Mr. Walker and Uncle Adam down by the Rio Grande River. It was flat as flat could be but very, very pretty scenery and a beautiful day to be out and about. After that, mom and dad went shopping and dad surprised mom by buying her the latest and greatest iphone for her birthday. She was so very excited and is currently trying to figure all the new fun things her phone does. It made the drive home so much more fun!

After the great shopping trip (for mom anyway) they met Uncle Adam and Erin for dinner. I stayed home with Nana and Mr. and had hamburgers and played Hi-Ho Cherrio, Cooties and Avalanche. I cheated at all of them and showed Nana and Mr. how to cheat as well.

We were up and out the door this morning and sad to go. We had such a great weekend! Thanks Nana D, Mr. Walker, Uncle Adam and Erin! We will see you again soon!

Mom, Uncle Adam and Mr. Walker on the super, duper hard bike path. It was just a good family day!

Taking a much needed break from the super, duper hard ride. Uncle Adam's booty was more than a little sore so maybe he really did need a break.
Helping mom celebrate her birthday.
Me, in the giant carrot at the botanical gardens.

Mr. Walker is teaching me all the secrets to grilling great salmon. I'll never tell!

Wh Wh Whaaat?

Nothing new to report- we are heading out to see Nana, Mr. and Uncle Adam tomorrow. I'm verrrry excited about that.

Mom got me a couple of new movies to watch on the ride out. One of them was "The Land Before Time". I've watched it a couple of times at the "toy store" at church. When mom showed me the case, I was beside myself with excitement. I said "The DINOSAUR MOVIE!!! This movie is way better than the Cars movie!!! Thanks mom!!" Mom did a triple take on that one. Cars has been my absolute favorite movie for at least the last year. We are happy to maybe be moving onto a new phase!

See you soon Walker clan and Erin too!

Mom's Kind of Weekend

We had a fabulous weekend here and it involved all of mom's favorite things- food, family and friends.

Friday we got a really big thunderstorm that cooled things off around here and put everyone in a better mood.  That night, Jesse came over to babysit (which I loved!) and mom and dad went out to dinner with our neighbors.  Jesse and I got to dine on mac-n-cheese while mom and dad had delicious Mexican food.

On Saturday, it was my friend Madeline's 3rd birthday.  Her parents had a big party with 12 of us aged 3 and under.  There were meltdowns galore and chocolate cupcakes and pink frosting everywhere.  I had a great time shoving chips and cake in my mouth!  I also think I got Madeline the coolest present.  Everyone else got her pink, princessy things but I picked out a really great "action car".  You press buttons on top and it will go forward and come back to you!  I also picked a birthday card with monster trucks on it but mom wouldn't let me get it for her because it said "birthday boy".  I don't think Madeline liked my present all that much but all the dads in attendance "ooooh'd and aaaah'd" over it, so I think it was good!

We had a really relaxing Sunday morning and then headed over to Janet and Eric's house for brunch, swimming and fun.

We had a great lunch with quiche, tamales, fruit salad, coffee cake and croissants.  I didn't really eat because I was to focused on the slide and diving board anxiously awaiting me.  Mom and dad both really liked it too.
I went down a few times with dad, just to get the feel of it but then, yeah buddy, I was on my own!  We soooo need one of these at our house!
I also really, really liked the diving board and was able to catch some major air.  Maybe I can get one of these for Christmas if I'm really good.
Here are dad and Eric.  They are a little confused as to what time of year it is but obviously having a good time.

We came home and were just not in the mood to do much else productive for the day.  It was a "life is good" kind of weekend!

Bedtime Issues

Things are humming along here.  I'm continuing to practice for my teenage years.  By the time they roll around everybody ought to be good and tired of attitudes!

I am also continuing to make bedtime an adventure.  I get put to bed at 7:30 but don't generally go to sleep until after 9. (That's 10 o'clock New Mexico time, so be ready Nana and Mr. Walker!)  That really isn't unreasonable considering everything I need to do before going to sleep.  I read a book or 2, I come out at least twice to go to the bathroom, at least twice for water, once to give dad some stuffed animals to sleep with, once to say good night to the dogs and once just to check things out.  I also just open and close my door a few time for good measure.  So you can see, I'm really quite productive with my time.  Mom and dad don't appreciate my efficiency though.  I think that is because I'm a complete bear in the morning when it is time to get rolling.

We all look forward to sleeping in this weekend!

Exhaustion!

Whew!  I'm kind of tired- I had a way busy weekend!  Dad and I kicked the weekend off with a daddy/daughter day on Friday.  He picked me up at school and we went out for lunch at our favorite haunt.  One of dad's bike team mates is a firefighter and he invited us to come over and check out all the fire trucks at his station.  That was VERY cool even though I was a little intimidated by the whole thing.  They put the truck lights on for me and I even got to watch them go out on a call.  Yowzaa!

On Saturday, mom and I went to a birthday party for one of my classmates who turned four.  It was mostly boys at the party but that was OK because we played with cars most of the time.

That afternoon, mom headed out for girls night ( they went to see Julie & Julia- pretty cute and then out to dinner after because they were so hungry after watching the movie) so the dads set up a playdate.  Dad and I invited Madeline and her dad over cause her mom was out with my mom.  Mom figured the dads were going to have a great time because dad was loading the fridge with beer when she was leaving!  Madeline and I swam until we were exhausted and then came in to eat dinner and watch "Cars".

On Sunday, mom and I went to church in the morning.  I was so tired, I actually wanted to go with her and not stay at the "toy store".  I was pretty good as I spent most of mass laying on mom.

After church, Caroline and her mom came over and we went swimming, ate lunch, played some more and just generally wore ourselves out.  I collapsed on the coach and slept for an hour 5 minutes after they walked out the door.

I had a great weekend but boy am I happy to be in bed!

Here I am 5 minutes after Caroline and her mom left.  It is always a good Sunday afternoon when you can fall asleep on the couch!
Caroline and I got to play the Wii for a bit- 21st century playdate!

Madeline and I got really comfy to watch our movie.  Nothing like hotdogs and fries to make for a fun night.

Sitting in the ambulance.  I was kind of scared but you can't really tell, right?!

I got to sit in the front of the firetruck- they wouldn't actually let me drive it though.  Bummer.

Almost Michael Phelps but not quite

This is me swimming across the pool. I think I've made a ton of progress over the summer considering when I started in May, I couldn't even float. I think it is a good thing I'm a good swimmer because I'm kind of uncoordinated when it comes to other athletic things!

Doors

It was a beautiful weekend- we were actually a little chilly!  

We had a quiet Friday night- no surprise there, huh?

On Saturday, mom and I went for a run and I actually needed a jacket because it was 67 degrees. That may not sound to cold but when you're used to 110 degrees, 67 is down right cold!  We spent most of Saturday installing doors.  Mom and dad got a new security door for our front door.  It is so pretty- I love to slam it especially early on a Sunday morning.  

Dad got a burst of energy later and decided to move the doggie door.  We had it installed in our sliding glass door and it was kind of a pain, so he cut a hole in the wall and put the doggie door there instead.  Now, we can open our sliding door all the way and the dogs won't knock down our beautiful vertical blinds every time they come in and out.  The poor doggies were a little confused at first and kept trying to go through the sliding door but they eventually figured it out.

On Sunday, mom and I went to church (we are on quite a roll here!) and then met dad at home and drove up to Mt. Lemmon for a picnic.  We got to ride the chairlift up to the top and that was really cool- literally and figuratively.  There was a chilly breeze blowing but the sun was shining and the sky was very blue- just a great day.  We came home, went for a swim and enjoyed all our new doors.

Just a good weekend all around!

Mom and I are picking daisies on the mountain.

More daisies on the mountain

This is our picnic log.  We had sandwiches, chips and fruit.  I ended up feeding most of my lunch to the crazy jay-birds that were stalking us.
Our new door.  I'm taking a picture for my album as well.

It's Never to Early.....

Here's some new news- it's still grossly hot here.  We finally got a great big rain storm tonight that flooded our backyard again- it's the return of Lake Goedel.  It wouldn't have been so bad except mom didn't get around to raking up all the mesquite tree bean pods on the ground and they blocked all our drainage holes.  Oh well, at least everything will get a nice soaking.

I haven't been up to much lately.  I am mentally getting ready for Christmas.  Everyday I ask mom and dad how long until Christmas, I tell them about how we have to decorate the house and then I tell them that Santa and dad will bring me present because I'm always a good girl.  I sure hope the real thing lives up to all my expectations.  I already know what I want for presents- cars and Transformers.  We made a trip to Target on Sunday and I was walking, walking past all the sparkly pink and purple girly things when I was stopped dead in my tracks by the display of Transformers.  OH MAN!  I really, really wanted a transformer.  I'll bet if it was just me and dad, I would have gotten one but mom was the ever predictable party pooper and told me I'd have to wait.  Bah!

Tonight, while mom is getting me to bed:

Mom:  What are the bedtime rules Jordan?

Me:  Keep my door closed.

Mom:  What is the big light rule?

Me:  The big light is off.

Mom:  What is the sound machine rule?

Me:  It stays on.  You have a lot of rules mom.  Good night."

A little family time.

We had a very nice, relaxing weekend with a lot of heat and a little family fun.  We spent a lot of time in the pool again because it is still soooo hot and no hint of rain.

On Saturday, our cousin Ramsey came down for the night.  She is a physical therapy student doing one of her internships up in Phoenix.  She decided it was time to get out of the heat and come to where it is cool (relatively) for a bit.  She and mom headed out to a cooking demonstration at a local restaurant.  They learned to make (and eat) Pea Dumplings ( waaay better than it sounds), Rib-eye with oregano vinaigrette and Butterscotch Pots de Creme with Chocolate Brownies and Marshmallows.  They kind of rolled home.  They managed to squeezed themselves into bathing suits and we all went swimming.

Mom has decided to keep Ramsey around because she got me to eat all my vegetables and brush my teeth really, really good AND she read me my bedtime stories.  She was such a great sport.  Lucky for mom and dad, Ramsey is an early to bed girl also so everyone was in bed, asleep by 9.

In the morning, we took her out to breakfast and then she was on her way back.  We hope we weren't to boring but.....

We spent the rest of Sunday in the pool and in the air-conditioning.

The girls just hanging on the couch.  Ramsey has a great lap for sitting.

I'm showing Ramsey the fine art of building railroad tracks and airplane runways.

One more thing- in spite of all the 'tude I'm giving mom and dad this weekend, I can still make them sooo happy.  On Friday, as mom and I were pulling into the parking lot at work, I said to her "When I get big, I'm going to work at the hospital with you.  That way I can be your friend.  It's good to have friends at work, mom!"  Aaaaaawww!