All Seasons Sweet to Me

It's that time of year again and I am so excited about the summer I have planned for me and my kids! It's going to be so fun! I've spent the last few days creating a calendar of all the fun things we are going to do so we are sure to fit it all in!
For those of you who have visited this blog in the past, you'll be familiar with our Summer Magic weekly units. If not, or if you just need a refresher or great ideas of things to do with your kids this summer, visit my previous Summer Magic posts for all the details!!

This is the second summer that I will be doing these units with my little boy (he's 2 1/2!) and I am so excited to see what a difference a year has made in his ability to enjoy and comprehend these activities!

So, to kick off our summer right we started out with our first Summer Magic activity:

TOAST THE SUMMER

(For a complete overview of this see HERE!)

Here's what was on our list this year to welcome summer!

1. Create a Family Summer Calendar

Like I said, I created a fun calendar of our summer fun to use not only for my own organizational purposes (yes, I am a BIG planner!), but also to help my little guy look forward to all we're doing. Each night we'll look at the calendar to see what fun we've got in store for the next day so he can be excited!

FUN AROUND PHOENIX

In addition to our educational units, I've found free and inexpensive things to do with kids around our town, so all you Arizonians take note!

Arrowhead Mall Kid’s Club -Mondays @ 10 am
JC Penney Courtyard

FREE educational craft and activity

Peter Piper Pizza Kids– Every Tuesday @ 10am -12pm

$5.49 for a Craft and Activity, 5 game tokens, 2 slices of Pizza and a Drink

"Wildflower Kids" @ Wildflower Bread Co. 3:30 - 4 pm
Free Craft, Cookie and Milk

AMF Kids Summer Bowling

3 FREE Games of Bowling EVERY Weekday before 6pm
Register your child at https://freesummergames.amf.com/

McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale
FREE (Rides cost $2)

Jump Street Indoor Trampoline Park
($4 for 3 and under, $8 for kids)

Harkins Theaters Summer Movies
$7 for 10 Movies
If you didn't buy a pass, you can still buy a single-time ticket for $2
Details at www.harkinstheatres.com/summerMovieFun

$10 Tuesdays at the Phoenix Zoo

Culture Passes from the Library for free entrance to places like Pueblo Grande Museum, Arizona Science Center, Children’s Museum, etc.
Culture Passes FREE with Library Card

Glendale Aquatic Center Splash Playground and Pool
Info and pricing here HERE

Riverview Park Splash Pad in Mesa FREE

Rio Vista Splash Pad and Park FREE

3. Get New Summer Water Bottles

Beckam got a new water bottle and an insulated lunch bag to bring packed lunches in on all our summer adventures! They'll be perfect for these hot hot hot Arizona days. Can you tell he loves super heros?!

We also got some awesome Summer-themed fruit snacks! Gotta love Target!

4. Get Our Summer Treasure Box Ready

We got a pencil box to keep all of Beckam's summer treasures in. Every place we go this summer he can look for little "treasures" to put in it- a rock, a flower, a leaf, a seashell, a little token or keepsake or ticket stub - whatever it might be!

5. Go On a "City Tour"

For a more complete explanation of this and to see where we stopped on our tour last year, see HERE! Basically though, its a tour of fun places that have unique, special, or quirky character or are simply specific to or characteristic of our hometown.

This year I changed up our tour a little bit to better accommodate a new baby. I also made a "check-list" for my son to follow along. It had little picture clues of each stop and after we visited each place he got to check it off.

Our first stop was the new Phoenix LDS Temple that is being built about 10 minutes from our house. It was fun to check out the progress! It's getting close! I pointed to the golden Angel Moroni on top (who is sounding a trumpet) and asked, "Beckam, do you know who that is?" He said "Jesus! Playing a saxophone!" Haha!

Our next stop was the historic Fire Department. A special relief statue is out front. We took a good look.

Stop 3 was one of my favorite statues here- it's called "Old Friends" and is in our city's "town square" area.

Stop 4 was the historic Mosaic Walk that has pictures of special things characteristic of Glendale City.

My son, who is obsessed with instruments (not something he got from mom or dad), was SUPER excited to see one of a guitar! He kept asking "I have it?!!"

This stop was new for us this year. It is a cookie place called Coyote Oaties that I have been wanting to try. They are gourmet oatmeal cookies. Its located in our city's Historic District and is the quirkiest little cookie and tea shop ever, but has rave reviews and they even ship their cookies all over the world! The cookies are made with no white flour, no white sugar, and all natural, organic ingredients. We got a few to try and they were DELICIOUS!! Holy Yum! We got White Chocolate Coconut Macadamia Nut, Dark Chocolate Cashew, and Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate. Definitely worth a trip if you are from these parts!

They do not even look half as good as they tasted.

Our last stop was some place that has "Hello Summer" written all over it!!
Rita's!! It really is ice custard happiness and was the best way to Toast the Summer! Although when I said to Beckam that we were going to "toast" our gelatis, he said "No mommy!! Don't toast my ice-cream!" Haha. He thought I meant put it in the toaster ;)

BRING ON SUMMER!!!

xoxo

A lot of people have been wondering where we came up with the name Haiya. It is definitely different, but a very meaningful name to us, and I am excited to share that meaning.

Haiya is a unique name but not a new one. It was first given anciently to the Mother of All Living. Today, we know her as Eve. Unlike its English equivalent however, her original Hebrew name possessed deep, sacred symbolism. It embodied the entire idea of who Eve was and of her divine role as our First Mother and as a daughter of God.

Haiya's most basic translation is "the living one," referencing a mother's sacred ability to not only create physical life but to instill within her creations the gift of life experience. She enriches and nurtures all facets of her children’s lives, encouraging them to achieve their fullest potential, just as the ultimate Creator, The Living One, enhances the lives of His children through His covenants and promises. The etymology of the name Haiya additionally embodies the concept of joy, testifying of the joy that is to be experienced by all daughters of God through their divine role as mothers and co-creators with Christ.

I was first introduced to the name Haiya while living in Jerusalem several years ago. Its beautiful and complex meaning immediately moved me and as a result, the name has lingered in my mind and heart ever since, becoming a symbol to me of my time in the Holy Land and of the deeply personal and sacred things I experienced there. Because of what those experiences specifically meant to Caleb and me as a couple, we knew there was no name more perfect or profoundly meaningful that we could give our daughter.

It is our hope that in a changing world, when the sanctity of women and motherhood is increasingly marginalized, that our Haiya will look to the name she has been given as a reminder of her purpose and power as a daughter of God, that she, like Eve, might be steadfast in faith, resolute in wisdom, and through it all have joy.

Haiya's Birth Announcement

(Front)

(Back)

I am also so excited to show off her newborn photos! I am in LOVE with them and am so grateful to our amazing photographer Ashley Williams for taking them! She did such a fantastic job and was such a patient photographer. Beckam was not about to pose or smile for one single picture- he was a crazy handful that day- but she was so sweet and patient to try to work with him for over an hour to get him to hold still and smile. As you can see, we still didn't get very many shots of him, but what can you do, right?!

Sorry ahead of time for the picture overload, but there were too many good ones not to post!