Phoenix Zoo.

We bought an annual pass to the Phoenix Zoo, figuring that it'd be something to do when we have visitors. This was our second visit to the zoo and Yia and Pops joined us this time around. We were able to do some things this time that we didn't do the first time around like....

The Petting Zoo

Me at the entrance to the Petting Zoo with my two little munchkins.

The kids loved brushing the goats. 

At the close of the petting zoo, the kids could milk a fake cow. Cassie really got into it! 

More cow milking. 

Mom and daughter chillin in the shade near the giraffes.

Father and son watching some monkeys. Wait, were they just looking in a mirror? 

Great view of the giraffes having an afternoon snack.

I can't get enough of the cacti here. I think this one is a prickly pear cactus.
I need to get a book on cacti from the library. 

We lucked out with a gorgeous 80-degree day (it was unseasonably cool that day). Perfect for walking around the zoo.

Easter 2014.

We spent Easter doing Easter things -- dyed eggs, hunted for eggs around the house, ate too much chocolate and too many jelly beans, went to church, had ham for dinner. That's a typical Gough Easter.

Papou and Yiayia with the kids all ready for church.

Dying eggs.
Cassidy enjoys dying the eggs, Lincoln likes to eat the eggs.

Linc making a half-and-half egg. 

Cassidy's going for a golden egg.

Look at the enthusiasm on Linc's face. He just can't contain himself. 

 

The finished products. Gorgeous and delicious.

Loot from the Easter bunny and the grandparents. 

Happy Easter everyone! 

Tempe.

Yiayia and Papou (my parents) arrived for their first ever visit to Arizona just before Easter. They helped with lots of small projects around the house and we spent time exploring the area. We headed to Tempe to meet Matt for dinner after work one of the days. We saw some of the ASU campus, walked around the downtown area, enjoyed dinner at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant, and climbed "A" Mountain.

ASU campus.

Lincoln and Cassidy.

Julie, Cass, Linc, and Yia.

A view of "A" mountain from campus. We later climbed this with the kids.

Time for dinner!

Lots of outdoor restaurant seating everywhere we go.
My personal review of the Greek food: 3 out of 5 stars.
The pastitio (mine and Linc's favorite) is far better in Detroit's Greektown.
The spinach pie and saganaki were respectable. 

After our meal, we walked over to "A" Mountain. The kids and I climbed it when we first arrived in AZ, but Matt's been busy working so this was his first opportunity to climb. The old folks opted to sit on a bench in town and people watch. Smart. 

View of the Sun Devil stadium.

Two cuties resting at the first lookout point.

One cutie climbing all the way to the top. 

View from the top. Certainly different landscape than we are used to seeing.

View of Tempe Town Lake. 

About half of the climb up is on a paved path and the rest requires that you climb up several large steps. It was not Cassidy's favorite thing to do. One day she claims she is afraid of heights and the next she wants us to "go up higher". I can't make heads or tails of her brain. Here, you can see that this was an "afraid of heights" day. 

Linc - not afraid of heights. 

Here is the step path that we climbed to get to the top.
 

Much better going down.

And super fun racing dad to the bottom!

six weeks in.

We have spent the last six weeks busily unpacking and getting settled in our new home. I have tried to take some pictures along the way to document and share out adventure. Here goes...

This is what brought us here.
The office is in a lovely area of Tempe, AZ right next to the Arizona State University campus. 

Our new southwestern home. 

Another view of the front of the house.
We are learning lots about desert landscaping and are happy to have several flowering bushes in the yard.
As you can see, the front yard is all rock, which is quite common here. We do have a nice grassy area in the backyard. 

Big bro and little sis at the front door.
Note that we are proudly displaying our Detroit Tigers flag!

The kiddos sitting in front of the cactus in the front yard.
They are not big fans of it as it has popped two of their playground balls!

Notice the red flowers on the cactus.
We're all rather amazed by how well things grow here, especially after trying to dig in the yard.
The ground is as hard as a rock.

Another pretty, flowering bush.

Guess we should move the little mower to the backyard! 

Back of the house.
Here is the grass that Cassie can mow!
Of the houses we looked at, this one had the largest grassy area which was a big selling feature for us Midwesterner's.
Gotta have some of the green stuff! 

Another view of the back of the house.
You can see the large patch of sand/dirt. We are guessing the previous owner had a swing set or something back there. We hope to landscape it at some point, possibly to match what we've got in the front yard. We've also seen several homes with nice, paved areas with fire pits in their backyards so that's an option as well. 

And another view from the other corner of the backyard.
Here you can see the pool with the grassy area off to the right. 

We have a pool! 

We've noticed several hummingbirds in the yard.
They seem to enjoy some of the flowering bushes, like the one above. 

Here are the kids standing in front of our citrus tree! I never thought I'd be saying that.
We aren't sure yet if it's a lemon or a lime tree. Our neighbor has grapefruit, orange, and lemon trees. How cool.
The kids are already talking about having a lemonade/limeade stand. 

 

Cassidy dipping her feet in the pool with her fish floaty friend (whom she has named Dorothy). 

Lincoln taking one of the first dips in the pool.
Papou (grandpa) was actually the very first person in the pool on Easter weekend! Our pool isn't heated, which is kind of a shame as a heater would extend the swimming season quite a bit. No doubt, it will be like bath water when the summer heat hits, but springtime swimming is not for the faint of heart. The pool has been holding steady at about 78 degrees. Our thick, midwest blood can handle it though, so we've all been in a few times since we had air temps in the 90s on a pretty regular basis throughout April. Most people have said that Arizona newbies are in their pools in April their first year here and not until later in May during subsequent years.

Cassie floating around in Dorothy. Her body is like a furnace (always hot) so she seems to do fine in the chilly pool water. Lincoln, on the other hand, has blue lips after about five minutes in the pool. 

This is our chlorine buddy aptly named "Sharkie". 

How much fun was it to unpack all of these boxes? So much fun!
I am glad we are through the boxes and packing paper. It's all been hauled away and we are feeling pretty settled in our new home. One of the biggest differences for us here is that we no longer have a basement. Hence the 3-car garage. The third car area is packed with our "stuff". I continue to question why we have so much "stuff" but somehow we can't seem to get rid of it.