Early September in Arizona

September is certainly not the cruelest month--that would be August in Arizona. But it is one that represents settling into a new school year, adjusting to new routines, a lament of the need to still wear shorts and t-shirts, and a longing for jeans and light jackets.

Or in our children's experience, it means trying on Dad's shoes,

Making precariously dangerous pipe sculptures in the garage,

Reading books naked with your cousin,

Or keeping a pacifier that you're too old for in your mouth while the emergency pacifier that you're too old for is next to you--just in case.

Oh, September.

Labor Day Weekend Update

Over Labor Day weekend we made a sojourn to Tucson to visit Elizabeth and Josh and their new little son, Clark. In their development in Sahuarita (actually south of Tucson) they have a water park where we spent the afternoon reveling in the cooler Southern Arizona breeze and the gorgeous monsoon sky.

Darling Dylan was fairly cautious in the water, mostly staying out of it.

Amelia's fish gene kicked right in and she had a blast.

Here, Evan was as photogenic as ever, Dylan didn't like being in the water, and Amelia was annoyed that we made her stop playing to pose for a picture.

Elizabeth, my younger sister, took this next picture. This way, for once, I'm actually depicted in our blog. (I highlighted the photo so I wouldn't look so pasty next to Evan's bronze skin.)

And here Dylan and Evan watch some skateboarders while I snapped this candid shot. (Thirty-five doesn't look so bad on Evan.)

Actually, there were a few other candid shots of me. Yeah, apparently, I'm either cleaning my teeth or squinting when I'm not actually smiling for a camera.

Nice.

So the man of the hour was this little dude, Clark Joshua Gibson. The purpose of the trip was to meet him for the first time and participate in his baby blessing on Sunday.

And here are his proud parents and grandparents outside the church after his blessing.

And the whole crew who came to participate in the blessing event.

What follows is a preview of what might be our Christmas card photos if we don't find the time to have more photographs taken.






And this video just might make you smile. My dad recorded it Sunday afternoon after the blessing. Deb, my older sister, is making her youngest son, Marcus, laugh.



We spent Labor Day morning on Mount Lemon picnicking in the back of my parents' truck because we didn't stop earlier at one of many picnic tables along the way and because there was abundant poison ivy all over the grassier areas.

Dylan was in an affectionate mood hugging everyone who was near him.

At the top of the mountain, we partook of the ski lift ride. The monsoon sky burst in full force as we were trapped in the rickety chairs with only white plastic ponchos protecting us from the down pour. Needless to say, our shoes sloshed and our shorts were soaked through, but Amelia, Abby and Jacob laughed about it-- once they were dry.

And that concludes the Labor Day weekend update. Thanks for watching.

Dylan is two, and he knows it.

Dylan Ansel Rogers turned two on September 7th, 2008. His parents threw him a back yard birthday party equipped with air rockets, a pinata, cupcakes, a giant bouncer, a slip n' slide, and a basketball-hooped kiddie pool. All the day before he officially marked his second year.

Dylan lost his pants early on in the festivities, as pictured below, so we, his parents, changed him into a pair of swim trunks. We eventually found the pants.

The giant bouncer did not follow the birthday party theme, which was Elmo (Dylan chose this himself). But rather, the bouncer displayed giant faces of the Incredibles characters and read "Los Increibles" over the entrance. We got a kick out of this and figured that our eleventh hour rental of the bouncer meant that having an English title wasn't a priority.

Jared found the bouncer a great release for his abundant energy and a pants-less Dylan and Hyrum thought it was a great place to play with the air pump rockets.

Giant bubbles seemed to also be a hit. Abby and Jake brandished the giant wands and the Bowles neighbor girls were deemed the Bubble Princesses by party guests.

Dylan's friend Davis watched the bubbles through a mashed face print on the window.

And Davis' older brother Drew sampled the basketball hooped kiddie pool while experimenting with the air pump rocket and water. I think he determined that the air propelled the rocket farther than did the water.

Baby Wyatt (Aileen & Jaron's newest little dude) made his birthday party debut. One of many, dear Wyatt. One of many.

Here are Grandma Phillis, Wyatt and Hyrum.

Once again, a pinata met its end as a result of many feisty whacks from a stick. This fish shaped pinata (we couldn't bear to kill Elmo), was durable. A little too durable for my taste. We had to get some of the big kids to beat it and beat it before it gave up its belly full of candy.

After a few parties, Dylan completely understands the pinata game. He gave it a few whacks without any help this time. Go Dylan!

This was our pinata line. We had to remind kids to stay back about a thousand times, but luckily there were no casualties.

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Dylan and apparently, Jared determined that Dylan didn't really want to blow out his two candles, so Jared did it for him.

Dylan cooed to his cupcake, though. Candles, schmandles. The sugar was the goal.

Amelia was a great party hostess making sure that all of the kids had bags to put the pinata candy in. This was after she had her own bag, of course.

A note: there are no photographs of Dylan opening his presents because he didn't actually open them. Evan did. Dylan ran around the room, down the hall, and occasionally made a circle back to where the gifts were to check out what his dad had opened. He is soooo two.

On the actual day of Dylan's birthday, Grandpa Ed (who couldn't make it to the party) and Grandma Brenda (who did come to the party) visited.

Here Grandma Brenda is helping Dylan hold up two fingers.

The official day of his birthday, a normally mellow Dylan was pretty ornery. He's very likely figured out what two typically means.

But hopefully he won't be too terrible.