We've been to several parks. Thank goodness most of them are shaded!
We've spent lots of time at Cabela's. We are living on Cabela Drive after all. It's only a 4 minute walk to get there.
Here's a picture of Christian and Kate at the shooting gallery (or shooter gallery, as the kids call it) at Cabela's. Initially James was really scared of it (I think because it was dark and loud), but his fear quickly faded. There is a big animatronic deer head above it that talks and it always makes the kids laugh.
We spent some time at the Tanger Outlet Mall. This was Kate's favorite part.
We walked around the Mesa temple. It is very, very beautiful!
We took a tour of the Cerreta Candy Factory. It's only about 12 minutes away. It's much smaller than other candy factories we've visited (Jelly Belly and Hammond--how do we keep ending up by candy factories??), but it was still really fun!
And here he is, Mr. Cerreta himself! He was such a nice man. He still has 3 of his 4 sons working with him (one retired) and it really is a family candy business.
The kids loved the chocolate dipped marshmallows that Mr. Cerreta gave them after we watched him make them.
We found this beautiful fountain at Glendale City Hall (right next to the library). It was the perfect spot to have a picnic.
We found a new story time. I really believe that the first thing you should do when you move somewhere new is to go check out (no pun intended) the library. We've had so much fun there! Also, the library system has 'culture passes' that you can check out use to go to museums for free! Hooray for libraries! These two librarians are so much fun to watch. They really enjoy their job!
We went to another library, too. This one is such a good place to hang out when it's hot. It had train tables, Duplo tables, lots of toys, and a big shaded outdoor play area. Oh, they also have books.
I used my trusty sewing machine to turn all of Kate's pants into shorts. I used Pinterest (oh Pinterest, I love you so much) to learn how to keep on the original hem. This was my first attempt. The shorts got better the more I tried.
We went to the big outdoor mall by our house. I loved this mosaic.
I had read online about how the mall had an amazing water show with lights and music. Here Christian and Kate are diligently waiting to be awed.
The 'show' was basically just a fountain that played music every half hour. It wasn't as impressive as the internet made it out to be.
We compensated with ice cream. I'm not sure how Kate got ice cream on her forehead, but she did.
On Sunday Christian and I both spoke in Sacrament meeting and then afterward Kate said a scripture and a prayer in Primary. She was so cute up at the microphone!!
Our church doesn't start until 1:00 which makes nap time hard. Mornings, however, have been really nice because we get some good time together as a family. Last week the kids helped me make strawberry pancakes.
For some reason we keep ending up at Target. The kids discovered the dollar section and it has become their favorite, closely followed by the toy aisle. Last time we went, Kate decided to decorate her brother, poor boy.
Well, there you have it, our life in Phoenix. Sunday we had our first day over 100 degrees, followed by 102 yesterday. Summer is going to be very interesting! I'll try to keep you up to date on all they ways we find to keep cool.
We agree with you about finding a library first thing! Our children had major anxiety when we moved because we had to wait a few weeks for our first utility bills with our new address (had to have 2 forms) to prove we were residents so they could get their own library cards. It is rather traumatic if they are not able to check out books whenever we visit a library.
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