Page Springs and Jerome, AZ

Such a big boy now , last time we were here I was 8 months pregnant and went into pre term labor the next day...Haha! Lots of good times I guess


So yesterday our dear friends Mel and Brian accompanied up north to Page Springs and Jerome for a little wine and a photo shoot called "Dirty Glam" . The pictures will be posted later on our blog www.jatart.wordpress.com and our website www.jatart.com. We have always enjoyed coming up to the vineyard for relaxation and good times. This was Mel , Brian and Alistair's first time here! If you ever go yourself bring your own cooler with cheeses, crackers, chocolate and fruit, the food at the vineyard is very slim and expensive to purchase. The wines there are excellent though and the favorite is called "Mule's Mistake" its a bold red wine packed with flavor! Though the temp was a hot 99 it was still breezy and nice under the big oak trees by the creek. Jeff got some great pictures of this monkey aka "Brian" we found in the creek. After some much needed relaxation at the creek we took our model Mel to Jerome for some sensational photos. Jerome is this very small haunted town up in the mountains , back in the 1920 's there was a population of 15000 and now there's a meager 500. It became a Ghost Town after the depression and a myth about an asylum that got in a little trouble with their patients......

We ended the night with hamburgers at the Haunted Hamburger restaurant, I had a BBQ Chicken sandwich.

The Many Faces of Alistair

Helmet Head Issues

"Up top , down low, too slow"

"you got something to say to me?"

Hanging upside down like the little monkey he is

Baby Food coming out of our ears!

Loving his new food adventures
I would remove the skins if I did this next time...
Very easy to do , I might add. Be sure to puree very well though

We decided to try our hand at making fruit babyfood. That seems to be the favorite for breakfast for Mr. Alistair. So I took our trusty Baby food receipe book and looked up the next stage 1 fruit to eat and it was Pears! Boy were they a hit too ! 2 pears made about a medium salsa jar and enough for just a week. Alistair is now going through about 6 plus jars of baby food a day and getting hard to keep up on making it homemade, so we buy some when we see it on sale in the stores. Gonna try to make the Butternut Squash receipe tonight and see how it fares with the little man.

Children's Musuem of Phoenix

Alistair loves the musuem
this was the entrance to the musuem , where the Kids crawled through these colorful tubes
Keegan inside one of the many color tunnels

This little house is completly made of piant and the kids grabbed paint brushes and added some more

This is the Noodle Forest and the boys got lost in these for what seemed like hours

While our nephews and Sister in law were visiting us last week , I decided to find us all something fun to do as a family. So I got up early Wednesday morning to be the first person at the door to recieve the "culture passes" at the library, I got there about one hour before opening and to my surprise there were 9 moms camped out in front of the doors. When I say "camped" I mean with blankets , lunchboxes , diaper bags, games for the kids to play and of course their minivans......

The Libriarian's now hand out the passes at the door and you must already know where you would like to go when you get to her/him. Well I really wanted to take the kids to the Phoenix Zoo or the Science Musuem but they were snatched up right away. So I took the only "child orienated" pass left and it was the Children's Musuem of Phoenix. Boy was I lucky , cause it turned out to be a blast !!! Here is their website : www.childrensmuseumofphoenix.org . its $9 for everyone over 1 years old and I believe its worth it . Alistair even had a great time , they have a seperate hands on baby room that he enjoyed alot. Can't wait to go back when he's a little older to understand more.

Back from Paradise

Our Arrival into Hawaii , we were greeted with Lei's from Jeff's Mom
The Two of Us
Alistair Travis McNeill
The Three of us Loving our time together, on our first Family Vacation
This picture was taken from the hike to the top of Diamond Head
Some of the beauitful flowers of Hawaii
Family picture taken in the backyard of the Beach House
A storm was coming in , just as we were leaving
The Valley of the temples by Ahuimanu was a beauitful garden and there were places to hike and enjoy the ponds
This picture was taken at the Buddist Temple near the Pali Highway
The boys being cute for the camera, Kelton and Alistair have the same expression about having this done.

Hawaii was pretty amazing , the sites we saw will always be inbedded in our heads and our hearts. Due to there being so many pictures and so much to tell you, I'm going to pick the highlights and fill in the blanks as I remember them. Jeff , Alistair and I arrived in Honolulu after the family got there on Monday, so the rental beach house was well christened for us when we arrived. We stayed on the North Shore of Oahu and was able to enjoy everything that shore had to offer , such as the Sea Turtles and many of the top beaches. We visited Pearl Harbor and Wikiki Beach to name of few of the places on the Southern shores. Jeff was in heaven taking pictures and I think the final count was 550 pictures ! The weather was hot and sticky , but on some nights it was cool and rainy. Alistair slept pretty well while on vacation , I think he really enjoyed himself while he was there too.

Hawaii or Bust!

Leaving tomorrow for our very first Family Vacation !!!! No pictures to post yet , but expect plenty when we return or even during our trip. The flight is about 6 hours , this will be the baby's longest trip and also his 10th plane ride of his short little life so far. Today we are running around doing errands before leaving early early tomorrow morning. Gonna say goodbye to some friends today and tonight (Deon, Amie, Mel and Brian) and say Adios' to the Desert and hello to the most tropical state of the country. Jeff and I have never been and we are excited to share our first time together as a family! Mom and Dad are planning on renewing their vows on the beach with the same church they were married in so many years ago.

We're Back !

Our visit to Florida was great. It was so nice to see family and friends while we were there. Alistair was nicknamed "Cash" by his Uncle Daryl and his Grandfather GiGi. We had so much fun at the beach and a even a slumber party at Aunt Ro's house. We are really hoping to be there again for Christmas, hard to believe Alistair will be a year and a month old at that time.....yeesh time is flying. He had new foods to try while we were there too: Pears, Green Beans, Bananas, Squash, and Sweet Potatoes , we are mixing some of these with cereal and he just gobbles it all up. Some nights he even eats a full cup ! We are sporting tans too, golden momma and son :) We miss the Florida already , but very happy we are back home too.