Fort Makin' Time

I usually try and do my cleaning whenever Camden is napping because he is such a good helper(wink wink). But today I decided to do something less productive, like take a shower. And when Camden woke up he was so willing to help me with the cleaning.
So in an effort to be a cool mom(aka distract my child so I can mop the floor), I decided to try my hand at making a fort. Now for all you fort masters out there...don't be dissing on my mad skills. So what, they might be a little rusty but I will kick your trash in no time.Much to my surprise, he enjoyed it more than I thought. It took a little coaxing to get him in at first, but he warmed up rather nicely.
He would crawl out of it, walk over to his toy bucket, and grab a toy one at a time to take into his fort. After he got bored of the toys we played a favorite of his, "peekaboo" around the chairs that made up this masterpiece.

I know you all are jealous you weren't hanging out in our fort today; but never fear, I'm pretty sure this will be a weekly ritual. So you are all welcome to bask in this glory while I mop the kitchen floor.

Water Park or Bust

This place is just too dang hot to live in. Why do I live here again?

To help us curb the misery from this blasted heat, we went to the water park with the Wrights. The kids had a blast running around wearing themselves out, and the mom's enjoyed getting a little sun on our white bodies!
The faces little miss Tess makes are such a crack up. I think she was chowing down on a little string cheese in this picture, and Camden was probably ready to pounce on her for a bite.
Tiff's kids were professionals at going down the slide which made for a jealous Camden. Luckily Tiffani was kind enough to help Camden while I snapped a picture.
This park was so much fun, it was free, not too big, not too small...it was almost perfect.
I LOVE this picture! When it was time to go and I was drying him off, all he could do was stare and the pigeons, he was obsessed. This obsession led to a fun little photo op for me, I love those simple distractions.

Randomness Around Here

Because Camden has become pro at walking, we decided we had better get him a good pair of shoes!
My mom would be proud to know her grandson has learned the value of hard work. We start em' young here at the Walker household.

He cracks me up because he does this quite often. If ever there is a rag or bib lying around, I catch him wiping up the floor. It must be something he has seen me do a bazillion times.

We, I mean I bought these crappy, cheap diapers(Dan tried talking me out of it) and Camden always has one cheek hanging out. It kinda defeats the purpose of even wearing them.

Note to self: stick with the brand of diapers that has done you well for an entire year, don't go cheap in this category.
Because Dan and I have such a sweet tooth, I figure my son does too. Lately I have been giving him a handful of chocolate chips during the afternoon for a fun little treat. He loves them and makes a huge mess!

It's Raining, It's Pooring

Tonight while I was at work, Dan and Camden braved the huge rain storm we had. Dan said Camden stood at the window for ten minutes and just watched it pour.
Rain in Arizona is such a funny thing. It doesn't rain very often or very long, but when it does, it comes down pretty hard. This place just isn't equipped for much water and so the entire city practically shuts down. People are afraid to drive, the roads turn into rivers, freeways are closed off, it just causes major chaos. But tis the season for monsoon weather, so bring it on!

Freedom

About a month ago Camden took his first real steps! If Dan and I stood on opposite ends he could make his way to us by walking. He would smile so big and I'm pretty sure falling into us was his favorite part. Everyone kept telling us that he would be walking on his own any day. Well, this lasted about a week and then he lost all desire to walk. We couldn't get him to take a step if our life depended on it. So we stopped bugging him about it.

During the last few days I noticed him walking from couch to couch, patting himself on the chest(as if he was so proud). But if we tried to get him to walk to us, he wanted nothing to do with it. He wanted this to be his thing, on his own timing. Slowly he made his way further and he hasn't stopped there!
It still takes quite a bit of concentration on his part, but he is getting around rather well. It is so fun to see him hobble around with a HUGE smile on his face! Every time he walks I sense he feels a bit of freedom that has been bottled up inside.

UGH!!!

The other day Dan asked me if everything was okay since I hadn't blogged in awhile, so I figured I had better get going! I was just in some sort of blogging rut. I had things to talk about(surprise, surprise) but it seemed like every time the urge to blog came, blogger wouldn't download my photos. Ugh!!! So careful...don't get overwhelmed with the abundance of posting that is about to occur.

What's More American?

Because it was the fourth of July I had that silly little song in my head "...what's more American than baseball, the fourth of July, and Uncle Sam..." all day long! So in honor of that silly little song, here is our 4th of July celebration.

What's more American than Strawberry shortcake? We ate this for breakfast, lunch, and dessert. And I actually felt okay about it because it was festive...ya know...red and white.

What's more American than having a BBQ? Dan's company owns some of the buildings downtown where the big celebration is held. One of the perks, I guess, for working for them is getting free food, parking, and admission. It was fun and free!

What's more American than watching fireworks with Dad? Camden was in ahh with all the noise and bright lights. I was actually really surprised with how well he did, considering the show didn't even start until it was already 2 hours past his normal bedtime.

By the time the show was over, Camden was all tuckered out. We stripped him down because he was so hot, and let him fall asleep on the ride home. All in all it was a fun night and we were ready to hit the hay when we got home.

An Hour Break

I've been a little hesitant to take Camden to the mall and play in the water because he isn't walking yet. But when Tiffani called I thought what the heck we'll give it a shot.
I am so glad we went! He crawled around that thing like it was nobodies business. He wasn't afraid to get to wet.
And it took an hour off me being the entertainment. I'm pretty sure we will be going back.

Thanks for the invite Tiff!

I'm Baking A Cake

I love trying new recipes. But when it comes to baking I always stay away from decorating cakes. For some reason this seems very intimidating to me. But today I bit the bullet and made this "flip flop cake".

The cake goes perfect with our Young Women activity tonight(decorating flip flops for camp), so I couldn't resist. I know it isn't perfect but it turned out a lot better than I anticipated. Hopefully it tastes good.

3 YEARS

Happy Anniversary Dan

Thanks for making life an adventure worth living

Thanks for always making me laugh

Thanks for teaching me what's important
Thanks for loving me

I love you!!!