Fall 2022

 Fall is officially here, which means low 90/high 80 temps which is pretty nice in AZ. We've got a little catching up to do, so let's get to it!

We went to the Phoenix Zoo back in January and met Uncle Eddie there. We had a great time, Mom even rode a camel with Dylan!  (she won't be doing that again BTW, look at the picture). We've had a lot of fun doing Home Depot kids projects each month, the girls are getting pretty handy with a hammer. We went to Wildcatz adventure playground for Dylan's 4th Bday with family and friends. They always have fun there, and it's a really safe and well run place.  We spent a little time with our neighbor friends Zaara and Arriz who let us have their roller coaster which gave them hours of fun. We even ran into them at the Tucson zoo which was a fun surprise :)

Grandpa and Grandma Ladd came for a visit in late March. I had a little run in with the law while they were here, apparently you're not allowed to fly your drone in a state park. Oops. The park ranger let me off with a warning since we were honest with him. Honesty is always the best policy!

In May we took our second trip to Puerto Penasco, Mexico AKA Rocky Point. Mom's great aunt Judy was kind enough to let us stay at her beautiful condo on the 9th floor. It was pretty cool, and of course the girls loved all the stairs. We built a cool new clubhouse together when we got home, what a great spring vacation.

Dylan's dance class had their spring Recital in June. We were so proud of Dylan, she and her class went on stage and performed in front of hundreds of people! You can watch for yourself right here. They all did a great job, that earned us all some ice cream after the show :)  The girls also had their first dentist visit, they did great. The rest of the summer was spent with a lot of playing in our blow up pools and slides. Spending a couple bucks on ice cream and using the air condition playground at McD's is a cheap way to beat the heat too. 🍦🌞

Our biggest milestone since the last update is Dylan started preschool! She goes a half day Mon-Thurs at Sunshine School and will start kindergarten next year. She really loves it and even learned to write her name!  Payton had her 3rd birthday the next week and we had a really nice party, with a great rain to cap it off. Nerd alert: if you ever want to know exactly what the weather is like here at Ladd headquarters, check out my weather station.  Payton has also fully started potty training, we've had a few half hearted attempts, but we're going full steam ahead now. I dream of a diaper free future.

So that's what's been going on. If you don't believe me, then just look at these pictures 📷

Fall 2022

88 new items · Album by Brian Ladd

December 2021

Wow, what a year it's been. Plenty could be said about the state of the world and America these days but we'll save that chat for another day. All in all things are pretty good in the Ladd house. We've had a lot of fun and first times since our last post in April. In no particular order, here's a bit of a recap.

• Went to our first carnival, rode some rides and had some carnival food in April.
• Payton has started to show interest in potty training. Still a bit early in the game, but she's got a great sister/coach to show her the ropes.
• Dylan drew her first picture of identifiable humanoid shapes. Some with 3 heads, but it's a start.
• First haircuts at a salon. Not as good as their first real haircuts from cousin Tina, but a cool milestone.
• Dylan started taking dance classes once a week. She was pretty nervous (looked like a statue her first time) but is really getting the hang of it. First dance recital should be in the spring! Payton goes along for moral support and tells us she wants to do gymnastics next year.
• Got our first fish tank. Then upgraded to a 55 gal tank a month later. Nobody told Mom and Dad how much work it takes to keep an aquarium from becoming a cesspool.
• We visited and registered for Dylan's preschool, she'll go for one year August 2022 before starting kindergarten.
• Speaking of Dylan, she gave up her pacifier one morning, declaring she was all done and was rewarded with a cool little bike. Payton wants a bike too, but she still wants her "bop" (what we call a pacifier for some reason) more at this point. Maybe next year.
• First family trip to Mt Lemmon. It was probably 20 degrees cooler than our 100 degree summer day, so that will be the first of many trips I'm sure.
• Mt Lemmon is about a 2 hour ride, and was good practice for our 6 hour trip to San Diego! We rented a place on Mission Beach in July and had a great time. Dad and the girls first time in the Pacific Ocean.
• We had some awesome storms and had the 3rd wettest Monsoon in recorded Tucson history.
• Mama was diagnosed with a Melanoma, had it removed and is doing fine now, but a good reminder it pays to protect your skin.
• The girls have graduated from baths in the sink to a real live tub. They've also moved into a full size bed, leaving the crib and toddler bed in our memories.
• Mama's Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bill came for a visit from Illinois. Grandma and Grandpa Ladd came in the spring and fall all the way from Maine.
• We went to Rocky Point, Mexico in October. The 4 hour drive went well, but the last hour or so in Mexico was a little scary. We learned to keep your head on a swivel, some people are apparently quite anxious to reach their destination. But we had a ton of fun and will be going back next year at some point.
• We went to our first hot air balloon festival, our annual visit to the Marana pumpkin patch and another trip to a street carnival.
• We've seen plenty of wildlife around the house, catching a lot of bobcats and coyotes live, and even captured a mountain lion on video. You can see some videos here

Here's a photo album capturing some of our better times in the past 8 months. Here's hoping for a great 2022!!!!

PS: I started an education savings plan for the girls, if you ever want to throw a few bucks their way, you access Dylan's here and Payton's here.

December 2021

98 new items added to shared album

Spring has sprung in 2021

We've already had some 90+ degree days, and the girls have been enjoying their little pool and other water toys. Some swimming at Papa and Mimi's can't be far off.

Dylan has mastered her scooter and Payton has just got into the action also. Pretty impressed with their skills at this age, can't wait until they get their first real bikes.

Dylan is a bit over 3 feet tall now, and Payton around 2.5. Payton just has a couple teeth left to come out, they are both healthy and mostly happy. Their favorite shows are Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street. Dylan loves Cocomelon too, Mom and Dad do not. Their favorite toys are blocks, babies, Little People, markers, crayons and bubbles! Anything to do with bubbles. And of course whatever the other one has.

Our biggest challenges are waking up too early and remembering our potty training. They play and share together pretty well most of the time, but things can get ugly pretty quick! Typical kid stuff I guess.

Well I think that catches us up for now, here's some pics from the first part of 2021.

Apr 2021

33 new items added to shared album

2020 pics

The girls are doing great! Dylan is about 95% potty trained now, they are sleeping in the same room finally, and Payton has never slept better. She has a lot of words for a 19 month old too, at least compared to her sister at that age. But Dylan didn't have the benefit of an awesome big sister to teach her. It's definitely monkey see, monkey do time, Payton wants to do everything big sis does :)

Enjoy a look back at the year that tested us all...

2020

163 new items · Album by Brian Ladd

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a while since our last post, so we've got a bunch of photos and updates to share. To Dylan and Payton reading this sometime in the future, hopefully "coronavirus" and "pandemic" are foreign subjects to you. We're almost 9 months into this crap and everybody is ready to try and get back to normal.

Anyways, we've had some pretty cool milestones since June. Dylan had her first time on a big girl potty. That training lasted about a month or so before Mom and Dad threw in the towel and decided we'll give the whole potty training thing a 2nd try soon. She was doing great and then lost interest so we decided to stop torturing ourselves until she was ready again.

Dylan did start sleeping in a big girl bed several months ago though. She took to that like a duck to water, Payton was very happy to take over the big crib. Speaking of Payton, she's got a mouth full of teeth now, just a few more to go :). Both girls got their first haircuts this fall also. Their cousin Tina who came out with cousin Becca, Uncle Scott and Aunt Kathy did a great job!

Dylan is talking way more than she was in June (I'd be worried if she wasn't) and Payton has some words too. Up, Down, Elmo, Apple and Ball are some of her favorites. Not bad for a 15 month old and she gets a lot of help from her sister who she absolutely adores!

That's all we've got for now, hope to post again before the end of the year. Until then, enjoy the photos!

Nov 2020

74 new items · Album by Brian Ladd

June 2020 update

Hello world, quick update here, wanted to share a pretty cool video that Google Photos made. Great quality for something put together by machines. Hopefully we'll get one for Payton soon.

Speaking of Payton, she has about 6 teeth now, 4 up top and I'll let you do the math of how many on the bottom 😊 She has been crawling for a month or two, and has been doing a lot of assisted standing over the past few weeks. She should be walking any day now!

Thanks to Mama and the girls for making it a great Father's Day weekend 👍

Bobcat video

Forgot to share this video of a Bobcat paying us a visit the other day. It's long but pretty interesting 🐈