We've had a great summer so far and we've been kept seriously busy with lots of fun activities, and some less than fun ones *cough cough* selling our house. Here is a recap of the highlights. 
Back in December I bought Zoey and myself tickets to Taylor Swift's Reputation tour. The months leading up I kept feeling guilty about the expense and I was apprehensive about going in general and we almost didn't! But I am so glad we went! I kid you not, it will be up there with one of my favorite experiences of my life. It was the most incredible show, and holding Zoey in my lap as we sang our hearts out to every song was an amazing mother/daughter moment that I will never forget. Zoey was a trooper arriving at the stadium at 6:00 and staying awake and happy until almost 11! We are Swifties for life!
On one of the last cool days in May I took the kids to Sabino Canyon for a nature hike. It was hot but also very beautiful from all of the spring desert blooms. We saw a black lizard, some weird beetles, a few rabbits, lots of ground squirrels and beautiful butterflies. I'm hoping we can make it to Sabino one more time before we leave Tucson because it's truly become one of our favorite places right here in the city.
We spend a lot of time at the Children's Museum of Tucson because it's amazing, and because it's air conditioned, haha! I love this photo of Des in the STEM room!
Another air conditioned place that doubles as a fun activity and practical errand is grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. Our local TJ's is the best because the workers know us and always catch up with the kids. Zoey and Des are now both at the age where they use the mini carts and I don't have to push anything. However, I'm not sure how this is much of a benefit for me considering that I spend the entire shopping trip with an eagle eye making sure no carts slam into the ankles of some unsuspecting shopper. The stress is real. On top of having their own carts, they get an awesome snack in the sample area, they get to look for the hidden raccoon, and they get suckers and stickers after returning their carts. Trader Joe's knows what it's doing.
After church one Sunday we hopped in the car and headed up Mt. Lemmon for some cooler temps and exploring. We had a wonderful couple of hours on the mountain. I love how much my kids love being outside and collecting something as simple as a rock to take home with them,
Zoey had her 3rd recital and she danced beautifully! It ended up being an extremely long day for her (and me!!!) but she was a trooper, performing in multiple shows with 4 dances with some very quick costume changes. If you think I look horrible in the above photo, it's because I do but for good reason - I felt like crap and ended up barfing my brains out later on that night, haha. Good times. Also, I'm looking at that Spiderman bear Des is holding and realizing I haven't seen it since the dance recital so I'm assuming he left it in the auditorium. So long $30 we spent on you that weekend, never to be seen again.
We don't go swimming all that often but every time we do I'm like, "why don't we do this more often?" We have been having fun putting in some swim time at the base pool. It's never crowded and I love the zero-depth area. The kids worked really hard at swim lessons the last few months and I am so glad they have improved so much! It makes me nervous disposition a lot more calm, haha.
Des started a sports team at the YMCA. He kind of hates it! But we make him go anyway! That's what parenthood is, right? Haha. We are still exploring what sort of activities he might like to do, so this class has been good for him since it's a mix of different sports. So far he likes soccer the most, but like I said, he doesn't ~love it or anything. I'm thinking we might have him try out karate next!
