Alyssa Visits!

Alyssa came to visit us! And we had a fabulous time! The weather was perfect while she was here. I really enjoyed visiting with my sister. And, the kids loved all the attention they got from their Aunt Alyssa!

Alyssa gave the kids their Christmas presents while she was in town. (I'm pretty sure the kids felt like Thanksgiving Day was Christmas with all the gifts they received from Alyssa and my grandparents.) Alyssa gave them binoculars and bird books. We have all become avid bird watchers.

Lucky for us, we have two duck ponds within very close walking distance. We have been able to identify a few different ducks.

We almost always spot Great Blue Herons or Egrets on the shores of our ponds. This time it flew to the top of a nearby house.
We took Alyssa to the Phoenix Science Center while she was in town. We had free passes from the library. While at the Science Center we went to a "Reactions" demonstration. The demonstrator asked for volunteers from the audience. It didn't take much to convince Susie to volunteer. She was chosen from the crowd! Here she is, an electron, running in circles around some protons. Susie is always a great performer. :)Alyssa decided the kids needed some bird food (so she bought them some) and bird feeders for the backyard to improve their birdwatching. We have all sorts of birds visiting our backyard now.
Alyssa, the kids, and I went on a great hike for the kids. Pretty challenging for Susie, but do-able. Tyler insists he could have run up and down the entire trail. The end of the trail brought us to a beautiful 360 degree view of our entire city. It was really neat to look for familiar landmarks-- our school, library, etc.



We made it to the top!

We headed to our city's Glitter Festival to celebrate the Christmas season. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but definitely a little under-dressed. I was cold! The lights were pretty, and it was fun.
Cute picture of Alyssa and Amyah!
On Monday morning, Alyssa, the girls, and I (Tyler was at school) drove out to see my Great Uncle Steve and Great Aunt Marguerite. We had a nice visit, and the girls were very well-behaved in their immaculate house.

We pulled Tyler out of school for the remainder of the day, rented some Wii games from our library, and played Mario Kart and Just Dance all afternoon.

We had a great time with Alyssa! Looking forward to next year when it will only be a 5 hour drive to see her (Kevin's med school is 5 hours from where Alyssa is located). Just as long as she doesn't move anytime soon...