Well Hello there!

Hello! (echo, echo echo)

Good news! We're still alive! After I pulled up our blog today to go read everyone elses, Zach asked," we still have a blog?" Yes, indeed we do. Although it has been months(2 to be exact) since my last blog post we have been staying busy.

Presley is obsessed with the Phoenix zoo right now. She asks almost everyday if we can go. Thanks to my parents being zoo members and getting free tickets we have gone a lot. Sometimes by ourselves, sometimes with friends. Her favorite thing about the zoo... wait for it.... is the carousel. :) That girl could ride the carousel all day if I was willing to fork over the money, cash, dow, but I'm not, so we settle for 1 ride and the little girl is content.

Thankfully after countless hours of me pushing and Presley swinging, the swing has broke.

It was a bit chilly this morning so she insisted on having her polka dot blanket. This photo was taken approximately 5 minutes before said swing came tumbling down. Luckily no one was hurt and Presley asks almost everyday if her "daddy will fix it." Does this make me a bad mom? Im not kidding, she will literally swing all day!

We were the Flinstones for Halloween. My costume stunk. Zach and Presleys were awesome.

Yes that is a REAL dog bone in Presley's hair. Zoey was kind enough to let P borrow it for the night.

Hopefully I can get my act together and we can all be blog friends again!!! I promise to blog more if you promise to read it. Deal?

Bearizona

A few weeks ago as I was sitting at the Car washer I came across a poster advertising a place called Bearizona. It looked really interesting so I made a mental note and went on my way. A few days ago my sister in law mentioned this place again. I don't know if it was due to extreme exhaustion or crazy pills but I decided to take Presley up to Bearizona in Williams AZ to see the Bears. Yesterday Jami and I braved the 3 hour drive up with a 5 month old, a 2 1/2 yr. old and a Birthday girl who turned 4 yesterday. On the way up Penny didn't sleep, the DVD players broke, slushies were being spilled and the Mamas were exhausted. But we did it. We went, we saw, we conquered. Or so we keep telling ourselves. Overall Bearizona was pretty cool. The animals were literally right outside your car. Its amazing seeing them up close. We saw Bison, wolves, Black Bears, Burros, Sheep, Goats, Hawks, and Racoons up close. I was kind of disappointed that it wasnt bigger. We drove up for 3 hours to drive through the Wildlife Park in about 15 minutes and experienced the at Walk Around area for another hour and a half or so, to turn around and drive home 3 hours. I'm pretty sure the girls liked it. Their faces when they could see the animals so close was priceless. So worth it.

Shake Your Groove Thang

Westwood High Schools Homecoming 2011 and 50th Anniversary.

Yes, that's my Dad. He was the star of the parade and Halftime show. You all know now where I get my sweet dance moves from! He and I worked very hard on his John Travolta 'Saturday Night Fever' dance moves. Hours and Hours... Okay 10-15 minutes. Presley could hardly stand it that her Pompa was on a float without her. She kept saying, "Hey that's my Pompa!" He was so nice to throw lots of Tootsie rolls her way. She loved it. Can you believe I didn't even get a picture of Presley, Grace and Penny in their special Homecoming attire? They looked SOOOO cute!

Labor Day Weekend

Zach, Presley and I were able to go up to Cedar Haven, Mom and Dad V's home away from home in Showlow. I have been dieing to go up so when this long weekend came up I was eager to head up to Showlow. It was just what we needed. We headed up on Saturday after my dance classes and spent Sunday and Monday morning with Mom and Dad V. They have been working really hard on getting Cedar Haven and it looks so good. On Saturday we had a BBQ with Dad V's new grill and watched a movie. Sunday after church and some much needed nourishment they took us up to Greens peak which was spectacular! It was so beautiful and green. Presley loved that there were cows and horses everywhere she looked. Dad V would stop and name the ones close enough to the car and Presley thought it was awesome. Every cow was a mommy or a baby cow and she would say how cute it was. We loved being in the cooler weather and loved being able to spend time with Mom and Dad V.

When you gotta go, you gotta go

Ive been quite the slacker when it comes to blogging lately. Hopefully I can get it together and then I can get my blog friends back.

We have been battling Pee here in the Vance house. Last week we unsuccessfully attempted to Potty train Presley. In 1 hour she peed in 5 different pairs of underwear. She didnt even care. If I wouldn't have been there hovering over her she wouldn't have even told me. We would sit on the potty, read books, drink juice, talk about everyone who went potty in the toilet, sing songs, etc. She could careless if Nana and Baca, Mom and Dad, Grace and Jami, Mimi and Grandpa all went to the potty in the toilet. She would sit on the potty and then as soon as she got up would run into the corner and pee. It even got to the point where she wouldn't even sit on the toilet at all. Not even her Princess potty. So I threw in the towel. Were going to just wait it out for a while. And if she is 5 years old and cant start kindergarten because she isn't potty trained then we have seriously issues.

In other news its seems like I am not potty trained either. Last night after teaching dance all day I got home to a locked house and Zach and Presley were no where to be found. Since Zach is in Young Mens I naturally thought he must be at the church for his Mutual activity. I drove to the church to get keys because I had taken his car to work that didn't have house keys on them. This whole time I have to go to the bathroom EXTREMELY bad, like I had been holding it for atleast 2 hours. I hurried into the church, grabbed Presley, grabbed Keys and headed out to the car. All of a sudden I could feel the tingling of a sneeze coming on. It came, it went, and I peed my pants. Completely peed my pants. My dignity now resides in the church parking lot. It gets better. I had forgotten to give Zach his keys to his car and now my pants were soaking wet. So I sat on a grocery bag home, ran inside to clean myself up and drove back to the church to give him his keys. Ridiculous.

Zach uses the toilet like a champ. He has had no accidents. Presley and I are so proud of him. :)

5 years and counting

5 years ago I married this handsome man. I couldn't be happier.

Summer Fun

WE ARE ALIVE!!!! We have just been playing summer away. Since its so dadgum hot outside we mostly have been basking in the sun at the public pools. This last week we ventured out to the Phoenix Children's Museum. Presley loved it. There was so much for her to do. At first I think she had sensory overload but quickly took action. She darted from place to place, smiling and laughing.





We also went to Jumpstreet with some friends. Seriously this place is amazing. It cost me $4.35 for Presley to jump on huge trampolines and bounce slides all day. Plus the added bonus of being inside with air conditioning. She loved it. I loved it. We will be going back for sure!