Reid Park Zoo

My favorite zoo yet - Reid Park Zoo in Tucson. It was small, intimate, no hills, no people actually. Just active animals having a ball pretty close to us. We had a blast. 

 Aaron was not such fan of all the pictures. But I had to, they were giraffes. So beautiful.

 A black leopard. You could see the black on black spots just barely. 

Trip to Sedona

Montezuma's Castle. I've always wanted to go here and it did not disappoint. 

 Jacob climbing right next to a sign that says do not climb. 

 The boys interacted with this diarama with narration. Gave us a good idea of what it was like for people to actually live up there in the side of a cliff.

 Let the biking begin! The boys went on bike rides both days. First day was on the Bell Rock Pathway directly off of the highway. Second day we explored Red Rock State park which had a bad attitude toward bikers. Two park rangers came up to us asking where exactly we intended on riding the bikes. A lot of the park was restricted to bikes and only allowed hikers. Oh well, later that day they went back to the Bell Rock Pathway.

Arizona Family Time

Sister's Weekend 2013 took place in Scottsdale. We went to a great antique shop (twice), filled up at Rehab Burger Therapy, went to the Mythbuster's Live show and tried to do it all in the rain. This picture at Rehab burger was us on the patio in the pouring rain under an umbrella with a heater. Yeah, we really wanted those burgers. 

 Our hotel was fun and trendy, had a yummy restaurant with tiny portions and cozy bathrobes.

 First time holding baby Clyde, what a sweety!

 I love how the boys all show their best flexing poses. The oldest boys know to look at the muscles while they flex, Garrett knows to scrunch your face to look tough, and the little boys don't quite know what to do with their arms.

 Nanny's cozy sunroom, where the bed is huge, the TV is tiny and its the best place to stuggle in for the night.

 Kathryn cut Jacob's hair and did the best job ever. This after he threw up a couple times in the night. He sat as still as a post.

 Katie let Eleanor hold Clyde for a minute. He loves the kisses. 

Veterans Day Parade

We will celebrate Veterans Day in the McQueen house. No forgetting a holiday that is trying to honor those veterans America has forgotten about. Those guys who preserved our sublime freedom, I will go to a parade and clap for them any day of the week. 

 Jacob waved his flag with gusto. 

 After the parade we walked back to our car and stopped at Voodoo Doughnuts first. This is Aaron's Oreo doughnut.

 Alex sticks to his favorite, the face doughnut. Its a huge maple triangle with more doughnuts attached to the front to make a face. Totally yummy.

Halloween

This picture cracks me up because appearantly Alex was not having fun at the elementary school costume parade. He had this "I hate this/I'm going to be sick" look on his face. 

 We dressed up as Sherlock Holmes and Watson for a costume party at a friend's house. When it came down to the actual halloween night, Jacob really wanted me to wear the Mario costume. So we were a bit of an odd couple.

 These boys look so old in this picture. 

 Alex and Aaron both went trick or treating with friends, supervised by their parents. It meant that Chris and I took Jacob trick or treating by ourselves. It was so awesome to spend time with Jacob experiencing all of Halloween for the first time. Everything was new and exciting. We have a great neighborhood on Halloween so there was plenty to look at and Jacob would have nothing to do with a house that had green, red, or purple lights. Only white lights were safe, the others were "too scary". They came home with a happy amount of candy and ate it all within a couple days.

October Around the House

Jacob is at a hard time in life. He has a love/hate relationship with napping. He hates to do it at 1 pm in his bed. He loves to do it at 5 pm on the couch. We all know the story. They sleep until 6:30 and are wired for the rest of the night. 

 Jacob struggles wearing shirts his size. He says they are "too tight" and so he opts for Alex's shirts as shown below.

 Aaron lost another tooth. His smile is down to 4 permanent teeth in the middle and four spaces surounding them. So cute.

Alex's Birthday

Alex wanted to go waterskiing this year for his birthday. Yay. Something we can enjoy as a family with some good friends (who happened to have a boat) It was the best warm fall day and the kids had a blast. Then for Alex's actual birthday we let him pick a restaurant for dinner and he picked Billy's Boston Chowder House and it was a huge success. Chowder in a bread bowl. Fish and Chips. Heaven. 

I even got on the biscuit and lived to tell the story.