Twister

Wesley is way good at twister.

WAY good.

Tucson Zoo

We went to the zoo. Wesley loves animals and Stan had a random day off. We left kind of early so we could get there right when it opened. It turned out to be a great idea because all of the animals were really active first thing in the morning.

Wesley spent a lot of time watching this bear. We've been to the zoo before, but never when all the animals are roaming around and eating and stretching and being very interesting.

This, my friends is an all white peacock. Totally weird. Just walking around. Wesley loved that we let him hold the zoo map. It had pictures of all the animals, so he could tell us where we were going next. The peacock, however, was NOT on the map, no matter how hard Wesley looked for it.

Wesley loved the zoo, but clearly loves his daddy more!

Just outside the zoo, they have train rides. Wesley was so excited that he got to hold the tickets.

The train goes through a cute park, around a lake, between some orange trees and back. We had a picnic lunch while watching the ducks on the pond, and then played on some slides. What a great place!!

Where is Wesley?

A few days ago, Stan and I were pretty sure that Wesley was playing in his bedroom. Stan went in to get him, but he wasn't there. And he wasn't anywhere else. I went into his bedroom, and luckily, this time we heard the very helpful giggle from behind here:

He had hidden in his closet, and pulled the doors closed.

The reason he was hiding in his closet is because he had been given a flashlight for Christmas from his grandparents. And he wanted to be somewhere dark so that he could see it. Bu then, of course after realizing how very funny he was to have hidden from us, it turned into a new game where he got to open and shut the doors and pop out at us.

Seriously, I love this kid. We were all laughing for longer than any other person would have thought it was funny. But look at him!! He's so happy, you just can't help it.

Sunday

Wesley loves getting ready for church. My favorite part of the process is watching Stan and Wesley put on their ties. First, Wesley stands in front of the mirror while Stan helps him tie it. Then, Stan kneels in front of the mirror while Wesley stands on a chair behind him and helps tie Stan's tie. (I sure wish I would have gotten a picture of that this morning...maybe next time.)
Wesley loves being just like Stan. That's why he likes ties that tie. And his very favorite new thing about church is that now he has a jacket just like Stan!! The first Sunday that they got to wear them together, Wesley ran around shouting, "We match! We match!"

Unfortunately for Wesley, Stan decided to wear his brown pants to church today. Wesley was not pleased. He did NOT want to go to church UN-matching!

Even with a face like this to contend with, Stan somehow made it to church without changing his clothes.

New Year's Resolutions

I've given up New Year's Resolutions. I'm more in favor of New August Resolutions. But we thought we'd let Wesley give it a try. His resolution was to have more adventure. I'm sure it was. So to help him out, on the first day of the New Year we took him cave exploring. We went to Coronado National Memorial. Its a few miles South of town, and is literally on the border with Mexico.Wesley made sure he was well prepared for the adventure. He put on his "adventure clothes" and packed his backpack. His backpack has two flashlights, a drink and lots of snacks.

Ahh. The Adventure Hat. It comes and goes. He loves it, but its a little too big. Sometimes he just lets it drop over his shoulders and puts toys in it and uses it as a backpack.

We had gone about 1/3 of a mile. Wesley stopped walking and announced-- "Its time for a snack." He sat down on a rock and we gave him one of his snacks. You can't argue with the adventure leader.

I just loved how old-classic the trail looked. I mean, we are in Montezuma's Canyon, hiking up to a giant cave. Although, I think we are actually south of where Montezuma was located, it was still easy to imagine ancient civilizations living in the area.

He's doubled up on the lights and is ready to go! Luckily, he's spent some time watching Papa Bear (from the Berenstain Bears) go cave exploring, so he knows he needs a helmet and a flashlight.

It was kind of a long way down at first, but Wesley loved it. We were a little nervous to see how he would do, but he thought it was the funnest game ever.

See? He's so brave. He's actually TOUCHING the cave.

After seeing the cave, we decided to climb Coronado Peak. This is the first peak Wesley's ever hiked to the top of. Not a bad start.

He was so cold. But he allowed us to cajole him to the top. He's such a trooper!

This is the view from the top of the peak. That dark line through the picture is the fence on the U.S./Mexican border.

Happy New Year Adventures!!

Reading Glasses

Wesley has reading glasses. When he sits in the chair in his room and "reads" to himself, he has to wear his reading glasses. Its cute and all, but I wonder how in the world he ever came up with the idea. I mean, its not like Stan and I wear reading glasses or have ever said the phrase "reading glasses" to him.

Helping for the Holidays

Wesley has just discovered holidays. Halloween was the first time he understood that there are different types of days. We tried to explain Thanksgiving to him and in the end all he figured out was that it was like Halloween except with pumpkin pie. He even thought he got to wear his costumes again.

He is SUCH a good helper though! He helped me peel, slice and core all the apples for the apple pie.

And he made sure that we didn't forget to take the pumpkin pie out of the oven. When he finally got to eat some pie, he said, "Oh pumpkin pie! It's a Happy Thanksgiving!"

He's really good at helping with cookies, too. He loves cookie cutters. Whenever he finds a cookie cutter, he carries it around with him until we get to make cookies.

He was so excited to be able to help decorate the tree. We have these little red apples we put on our tree and he thought it was so funny that he was making an "apple tree."

He's little. Stan has never spent a Christmas with him. So when Wesley wanted a tree in his room too, he got one. It's a good thing he doesn't ask for too much, because I think right now Stan would give him just about anything! I love these two boys in my life.

Two Guys

Wesley has recently discovered that numbers are for counting things. He loves counting cars we pass. Although...if there are more than 4 of anything he just keeps on going up to 10 and calls it good.

But my favorite, favorite thing of all is that he has figured out that Stan and I are TWO people. He calls us "two guys." As in, "Hey--two guys, let's play cars." Or, "Two guys--look at this!" I love it. It makes me happy every single time I hear him say it.

Sierra Vista

It's hard to imagine that it is winter anywhere. The leaves on our tree are still green. It's still too hot in the afternoon to go for a walk. I am willing to bet that most of you are having a hard time imagining what it's like here. We took some pictures last week so you can get an idea of where we live.

Most homes don't have grass. They aren't a lot of two-story homes. And even though I didn't take a picture of it, most neighborhoods have these things that look like silos. Except they are more round than they are tall. And they are wells.

There are quite a few "hacienda" style homes here. Usually they aren't as clean looking as this one though. That style seems to be found in more of the older homes in the area.

Wesley doesn't enjoy looking at the houses and neighborhoods as much as we do. So we let him bring along some quality literature on our walks.

This is the middle of town. I'm not kidding. We walked from our house to Safeway. You can kind of see the power lines behind Stan. That's our neighborhood. The city is laid out so that there is a giant swatch of desert running through the middle of it. We live South of the desert swatch and the grocery store, the library, and most stores are North of it. Fort Huachuca is to the West of town. More desert lies to the East of town. We have an extra bedroom if anyone wants to come for a visit!

Huachuca Mountains

We went for a bit of a hike. Well, a walk really. The mountain trails are a little different here.

Wesley loved it the same though.

The vegetation is a little unexpected. I mean, I know we live in a desert. Its just weird to be walking through the mountains and to see cactus. And, what you can't see in this picture are the turkeys. Wild turkeys just running around. Wesley LOVED it.