July 2025

We bought these bowling passes in March for the summer, yet this was the first time we used them. July 7th? Really? Tatum, her mom and her sisters met us there. 

The kids were put to work on the lime scale on the pool tiles. We said we would pay them $2 a tile. It was a money maker for them and a money saver for us. Win, win!

I took Jack to the doctor for his annual physical. Guess who had to get a shot? Oops! He was so mad at me. I told him I wasn’t the one that made the vaccination schedule. Toughen up, sir!

Why not go golf at 3 pm in July? Millie and I only lasted 4 of the 9 holes we golfed. 

Stuart made sure he had his adult beverage close by. 

Jack had a child beverage close by as well. 

If you look closely, you can see that she is sleeping with a target bag. This child is a pig! She has also been known to sleep with her volleyball shoes and knee pads. I do not understand. Basically, anything she happens to put on her bed is likely to stay there until I remove it. One night she slept with a plastic cup in her bed. What to do?

The girls’ volleyball parents went to The Stillery in downtown Chandler. What a fun place that was! My friend, Maytee, was singing there with her band. We danced and danced. It was a lot of fun.  

Our two cats live upstairs. The only time they can be caught downstairs is when the dogs are in their crates and they risk their lives by coming downstairs and hiding. 

She hasn’t turned 14 yet, but since we let Jack get a perm when he was 14, we told her she could get highlights when she was 14. Since school started on the 16th of July, she wanted it done before school started. This was a day of beauty as she also got her nails done. Spoiled little princess. 

Salt for birthday celebration. These ladies have been through it all with me. We have been friends for 25 years!

First day of 8th grade for Millie and Junior year for Jack. Time is going to quickly. 

Another birthday celebration with the boy volleyball moms. The Thirsty Lion is one of my favorite places. 

Hope arrived from the UK on the 18th and the next morning, my actual birthday, we left for the Grand Canyon. We made a stop at Montezuma’s Castle. It was a short stop, but worth a view because of its uniqueness. Tatum was able to go with us. We had to go this weekend as the rest of the time Hope is here Jack will not be because of his involvement in the Arizona High Performance team. 

The Grand Canyon is always mesmerizing. Strangle, I have never been to this viewing place. We saw a lot of fat squirrels. 

Another amazing view. 

We took a photo without Tatum so that we had one with the 5 of us. 

We drove to Flagstaff to stay the night. This place was recommended by Todd. The food was good and the kids had a great time playing pool. It was a local dive and we loved it!

We stopped in Sedona and did some shopping. Tlaquepaque is always a beautiful stop while in Sedona. 

We tried to go up to the chapel, but there wasn’t a place to park. It was super busy. So we just pulled over and went up into the red rocks for a photo opportunity. 

We went to a Dback/Astro game. We sat in the left field bleacher seats. Our seats were amazing! There was a lot of action. Hope wasn’t terribly sure of the rules, but when the crowd cheered, so did she! She was hilarious and very entertaining. She just drank it all in. 

This guy claimed he goes to every home game. He was super chatty. So I told him that Hope was from the UK and had never been to a baseball game, so getting a ball would be amazing. In the last inning, our new friend caught a ball and walked over and gave it to her. It was so cool. Hope spoke to her mom and her mom sent her a screen shot of us from the television they were watching the game on in the UK. Hope’s stepfather is from Baltimore and is a huge baseball fan. 

A baking day is always fun. 

While we were entertaining Hope, Jack was playing volleyball in Madison, Wisconsin. They made it to the gold bracket, but didn’t bring home any hardware. He was disappointed, but said he had a great time. 

We took the girls bowling, which was fun until Millie got butt hurt and started acting out. Her mood is difficult to predict these days. 

While the girls were in the arcade, Stuart and I watched the volleyball game. 

Owen and Will were also on the Arizona team. These boys play together in club and at school. 

Jack missed five days of school, so had to make cookies for his culinary class as a make up for an assignment missed in class. 

The resemble each other. This was poker night. 

Hope requested we go to ‘your friend who has the boat’ house. So off to Jeremy and Christie’s we went. We had pizza and an evening cruise on the lake. She really enjoyed herself. We all did. 

This is Camden. He is Jeremy’s youngest. He has a condition called CMD. He is fourteen years old. I love him. Jeremy bought my book and I signed it for him. He looks thrilled, right?

Hope went with me to wash my car. She had never been through an automatic car wash. She was amazed. 

We took the family to Top Golf for an evening of fun. 

Canyon Lake was our last outing on August 2nd. We spent a couple of hours there on a paddle board and in our kayaks. We had purchased the kayaks during COVID as going to the lake in 2020 was allowed. 

I couldn’t get Millie to take a picture, so I kicked Jack out as well and just took this picture of Stuart and Hope. 

You can’t go to Canyon Lake without getting prikly pear gelato at Tortilla Flat. 

And of course the obligatory picture with a giant saguaro is an absolute must!

June 2025

My first ever Açaí bowl and I didn’t like it. Millie and Andie went to volleyball camps the first week of June. Between the camp at Athletes Only and ACP camp, I fed them. Not my favorite for sure. 

June 2 marks the day my friend Terri died. I met her mom and sister for lunch. She’s been gone for 21 years. 

Stuart was in the UK for two weeks after our Long Beach tournament with Millie. He had lunch with Hope. She will be in Arizona for two weeks in late July. We are so excited. 

Millie and Andie are besties for sure. 

The boys had a sleepover. Despite the fact we have ample beds for them to sleep in, they insist on sleeping on the floor. 

These boys chose wisely. 

Another floor dweller. 

Millie had her friend Brinkley over for a sleepover. They had a shopping trip to Queen Creek Marketplace and bought this blow up volleyball net. 

My morning shop at Wal-Mart presented me with this. So are swimsuits a normal attire for Wal-Mart? I’m guessing it is. 

June 7th we attended Tatum’s dance recital. She is so talented. 

When we got to Long Beach for our 4 day family holiday, we went to a hat shop. I don’t ever wear hats, but this one was too perfect. This is a brand my Aussie family swears by. 

We spent the day at Seal Beach. 

Kids peppered the volleyball and actually did get in the water. 

Chris, Tom and Owen joined us the day before the SoCal tournament for Jack and Owen. We ended up going to Seal Beach again. The kids had fun. 

SoCal Cup tournament wasn’t as much of a success as we had hoped, but the boys played well. 

The day after SoCal cup tournament Will and Jack were invited to an Elite 2027 graduate camp at UCLA. It was amazing. Jack loved the campus, for sure. 

This was a building on campus. The UCLA campus is beautiful. 

When we got back from Los Angeles, I washed clothes and repacked to go visit Liz in Oregon. 

Mt. Washington. 

The Peter Iredale is a ship that ran aground in 1906 on the shore of what is now Fort Stevens State Park. 

We walked around the beach and tried to find sea life in the tide pools, but no luck. 

We headed to Silver Creek Falls to get a glimpse at the waterfalls. It was definitely on my to do list. So amazing and beautiful. 

Waterfalls are timeless. 

We had strawberry shortcake at a Farmer’s Market on the way home. I also bought some local goods. 

When I returned from Oregon, Stuart and I were delighted the following day to have lunch with these two handsome fellas. Carter and Jack were both doing summer weights. We invited them for lunch and they shockingly took us up on it was 

Our next stop for summer was the Florida National tournament. We got there a day and a half before we hactually had to play. We had lunch and beach time at Daytona Breach. Maddax is Vicki and Ryan’s you

Me, Chris and Vicki also had some beach time. 

After the beach, we checked into our Villatel airbnb. It was amazing. 

Jeremy and Stuart decided to shave their facial hair into fumanchus. It wasn’t my favorite, but it’s just hair. It sill grow back. 

Vicki decided Millie’s hair needed to be her mustache. 

While in Florida we went to a dart place with Kristi and Bob. We had so much fun!

Once the tournament was over, we went for lunch and ran into Jack’s coach, LaVelle. He wasn’t able to tell the team goodbye as he is a softy and couldn’t handle it. When he saw us outside the restaurant, he ran outside and hugged the boys. We love him!

Jack’s team made the gold bracket, but lost in the first round, so we’re definitely disappointed. However, Jack was given the honor of being selected as one of twelve players to receive the All-American trophy for his age group. We are so proud of him. 

The last night in Florida we sent the kids to a movie and we headed to a local bar for drinks. Jeremy and Christie had left, so it was the perfect time to invite Bob and Kristi to go with us. Again, another good night was had by all. 

We got home on July 4, just in time for burgers and fireworks. 🧨