Philmont Training

Two years ago, when we were just newlyweds, Husband left me for two weeks and went hiking with a bunch a boys at Philmont Scout Ranch.  Well, he's bound and determined to do it again.  He wants to go so bad he can hardly stand it.  He wants to go so bad he's bending over backward to make it happen.

It's a good thing we've been hiking so much.  We love the trails on South Mountain, especially that they're so close.  There are so many to choose from, we've hardly done the same trail more than a few times and there are still some we haven't tried.  The latest trail we took was Geronimo Trail and boy was it a sucker.  

 Hyrum is an A#1 (Hitch)Hiker

Stormy days make for great hiking days if you can beat the rain!

Besides hiking, Husband is also riding his bike back and forth to work when he works in the daylight hours.  That'll be five days this week!  He's a very stinky beast.  Hooray for saving money on gas!  Speaking of which, I've been walking everywhere I can lately.  Hyrum and I go in the early morning to take care of the house I'm watching for the summer and yesterday we walked four miles round trip to grab a couple things from the grocery store.  I'm all for going back to the days when cars didn't exist and everything you needed was relatively close-by.  Modern travel has it's perks, though.

Dead, Mostly Dead, and Not So Dead

Every month the pest control company comes out to our house and sprays inside and out.  You would think we would be bug free.  That's the goal anyway, right?  Is that too much to ask here in the desert?

Well, this month they came and Husband told them we found a mostly dead scorpion in the family room and a very large spider in the kitchen since their last visit.  The bug guy's reply?  "At least it was mostly dead."  That kinda irked me.  Mostly dead doesn't cut it with a toddler roaming around.  Not in my opinion.

Well...the next day I found a very dead bee by the sliding glass door in the family room.  One bee?  Eh.  I can handle that.  "At least I found it before Hyrum did" I said as I disposed of him. 

The next day, Hyrum and I were playing in the family room and all of a sudden he is CRYING.  I rush over to find a not so dead bee crawling around by him.  Frantic, I call my mom.  We determine that the bee must have just scared him, not stung him, since he calmed down fairly quickly, I can't find any red bumps, and  because the bee looks intact and is still alive.  So, I kill that sucker of a bee and say "That's for scaring my boy and for scaring the heck out of me."

Well, upon closer examination, I found 13 dead bees by that door. THIRTEEN!  "At least they were dead," right?  Stupid.

That was not the end of them, however.  Since then we have found at least five more bees -- dead and not so dead.

Needless to say I've become a little paranoid.  I'm constantly checking the floor before I let Hyrum down to play.  Every once in a while I get that "Ah! What's on me?!" feeling when there's nothing there at all...It's getting to be a little bit ridiculous.

Terms of Endearment

I have quite a few terms of endearment I have given to my Hyrum Joe.  Here are just a few...

 Troublemaker

 Messmaker

 Smiley Goose

 Little Boy

Goofy Gus

Spring Break Smash

We really enjoyed all of the fun activities we did during Spring Break, but most of all, we enjoyed being able to spend time as a family.  Laughing, visiting, watching the babies, cooking and eating together, hiking...

 

 

 

 

It's good to be a Brown.

Rangers Spring Training 2012

The Browns are huge Rangers fans.  [Yes, I'm a Brown.]  I once remember my mom telling me how she was never a big sports fan until she married my dad.  I inherited the love for playing and watching sports, but it was fun to see how my allegiance to baseball teams shifted when Husband came along (not that my allegiance to the Diamondbacks was ever very strong).  So, in our family we cheer for the Rangers.

 Cousin love.

 Not sure what to think of the grass.

 You gotta give a shout out to the Chik-fil-a Cow who was handing out coupons for free breakfast entrees if you took a picture with him.  Oh good golly, how we love Chik-fil-a breakfasts.

Hooray for beautiful Arizona springtime.  It was the perfect day for a baseball game.

This one made us chuckle..."NO DUMPING"

Oh what a Grand Canyon!

Part of our Spring Break included a short trip to the Grand Canyon, one of my favorite places in the whole world.  This trip was pretty laid back compared to most of my visits.  The first time I hiked down the South Kiabab trail and out the South Bright Angel trail [in one day].  The second time I hiked down the South Kiabab trail and out the North Bright Angel [rim to rim in one day].  I might be insane, but those were remarkable trips that my mom and I will never forget.

This time we did a little two mile hike along the rim trail.  We saw the sights, got the "heebee jeebies" watching dumb people do stupid things too close to the edge, and enjoyed the cool weather.

Tony and I were pretty proud of this shot.

The Browns here are planning a Grand Canyon hike for next year.  I need to keep with the tradition and celebrate graduation with a hike.  I'm excited [even if I said I would never do it again--it was tough]!

 

One of my favorite memories was when we went back to the hotel to pick something up before going to dinner.  Husband got out of the car to run inside.  Grandpa Brown and I were sitting there wondering, "Why is Kemp backing up?" only to realize that Kemp wasn't backing up!  We were rolling forward!  Husband hadn't put the car in park before getting out!  I had quite a laugh.

Summer Activities for Busy Body Boys and Mommas

Hyrum and I have compiled a list of activities (thanks to Pinterest) that we want to do this summer. We will report on the level of entertainment (0-5 stars) from the perspective of a one year old, of course. We'd love input on other fun ideas!

Water painting (paintbrushes, water, and the sidewalk) 
Build a fort
Read stories 
Coloring 
Sock wars (We'll go ahead and rate this 5 stars...ambush dad as he comes out of the bathroom, don't forget the pillow fort to hide behind. Best attack EVER.) 
Throw a party/play date
Kiddie pool (Keepin' cool! Don't forget the sunscreen!) 
Cardboard cars
Pillow piles 
Paper Airplanes 
Flash cards
Play-doh balloons (fill balloons with play-doh for less mess) 
Soda bottle filled with glitter, oil, and water
Ziploc bag painting (paint in ziplock bag = lots of fun, less mess) 
Trip to the library
Museums
Puzzles
Blocks
Puppets 
Balls
Bubbles
Noisemakers

P.S.  Did I mention I got a 69/70 on my Adult Health final?  Now, if I'd only done that well on the other exams... Regardless, I am done and it is summertime!