My Fingers and Toes Get Pruney in the Shower.

So. I ALMOST got caught up. THIS post is going to be about my trip to Arizona. And my ax murderer neighbor.

So there I was. REALLY needing a break. I looked at the calendar and said, 'holy moly Celeste's spring break is REALLY SOON!' so I called a few people, asked my boss if I could take off one Friday, and made some plans to go see some family. Then one day I was surfing on FB, and saw an ad from a high school friend about a great deal on mommy and me portraits...now see, if you ask me, I will tell you the last time we got family portraits done was when Celeste was six months old. From Walmart. If you ask Greg, he will tell you it has been only a year, last Easter. See, the picture is hanging on the wall. Then I will tell you that the family picture on the wall from last Easter was done by setting my camera on the top of our trash can and putting the timer on. Family portraits indeed. See?

So since Greg is deployed, I figured I fit into the category of mommy and me portraits. I made the appointment because I knew that if I didn't do it now, it would be another year before I thought about it again.

Our first family visit was with our Ivanov family. Celeste and Caleb call them Baba, Diado (grandma and grandpa in Bulgarian), and Aunt Nanny. Of course we also got to see Aunt Brittney and Uncle Zach too! Celeste was such a task master, she made Baba and Aunt Nanny go for a run. Then she made them do Shelleyrobics! OK....well, that may have been me making everyone (including Celeste) go running. While we freshened up, Celeste got to play with BABY CHICKENS!

 After that, us girls went shopping ALL DAY!! It was so blissful. Little Monster got to chill out with Diado all day. I had to get a wardrobe for my family. The next day was portrait day! I am soooo blessed to have JulieAnn in my life!! She was an absolute life saver when it came to distracting the kids and making them smile. Jessica did such an amazing job, I am so excited to see the rest of the pictures! Here are the ones that have sneaked onto FB.

I love my babies. And beautiful pictures. True story. The rest of our time with the Ivanov family was spent with the baby chickens.

Then you know what? Something very silly happened. The chicken decided she didn't want to balance on Celeste's arm. She wanted to stand on Celeste's HEAD!! So up she flew, to CC's head!

So after saying goodbye to Baba and Diado, we went to stay with my sister! We went to Peter Piper's Pizza! There were some annoying kids there. A little boy who got like 10 freebie rides cause he would stay on the carousel...

....and then when I put Caleb in the ice cream truck, the other kid moved to the back of the truck for like 5 more free rides.

So parents, please make sure to pay attention to your child. It's sooo annoying having to supervise other peoples dumb kids. I kicked him out of the truck (he tried sneaking in to the passenger side) for the next ride.

Then there's THIS little JOY. This little girl kept pinching and grabbing Paisleys face!! I had to scold her several times for it! Of COURSE, no parent around! Parents.....supervise your kids!! You may think they're the sweetest cutest little things and how could ANYONE not just instantly LOVE them....but that is NOT the case!!

We had some delicious ice cream at Swensons for dessert that night! Totally a blast from the past. I remember EVERY dance recital, we would go celebrate at Swenson's.

It was pretty awesome that my babies got to experience something from my childhood. We had to leave the next day, and the trip was fairly uneventful.

Sunday, however, is an entirely different story. I was out running errands all morning, but couldn't help noticing a police car parked next to our park. By 5pm, it was still there. When a neighbor called PMO, they told us it was an ongoing investigation and no threat to us. A few minutes later, SWAT trucks show up, and housing comes to unlock a house connected to the people in question (the connecting house is empty currently). Next thing we know, the police are taking pictures of this guy's car, gutting it...seats, carpet, taking pictures as they go. The wife, who is a playground duty for the kindergarteners and knows Celeste, is outside crying. We still have no idea what is going on.
However....today in the news is a story about how a wife of a deployed marine is missing and suspected of falling victim to foul play. The story continues that the suspect is a Camp Pendleton Marine who was arrested yesterday (Sunday), and was actually accused of stealing an assault rifle before being a suspect for the case of the missing wife. One of my neighbors says the article she saw said the vehicle of the suspect is a white SUV with a Marine Corps sticker....and my ax murderer neighbor drives a white SUV with a sticker.
While I REALLY DON'T KNOW if the two stories are connected (what are the odds!), it is still kind of fun to say I live across the street from an ax murderer. Mehehe. Just another funny story of my life, I suppose.
Cheers and Tally ho!