Padres vs. Diamondbacks

When Jamin snatches my phone...

A nice morning for sandcastles

Flood day

After a night of house-rattling thunderstorms, we woke up on Monday morning to rain. Lots of rain. 

Our patio was the first sign that this wasn't a run-of-the-mill storm. When we stepped outside, rain water covered our feet. 

Reports of flooding came in, so Scott left for his commute with caution in mind. He saw this overflow on his usual route (before turning and going a different way):

In the meantime, the kids and I found out that school was closed. Many of the roads were impassable, and the busses couldn't exactly leave the district office.

NO SCHOOL!!! Ben and Travis dropped everything to look for frogs (they were loud in the desert behind our house!).

The Phoenix area had record-breaking rainfall-- they had never recorded this much rain in one day! This normally bone-dry wash (just down the street) measured 4.8 inches of rain in 3 hours:

Photos from our neighborhood-- water rushing through a walkway and a thoroughly soaked fairway: 

Down the hill, many roads looked like this: 

And two freeways basically turned into rivers.

Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt... except maybe this seal. 

Soccer practice

Lego Day weekend

Our long weekend was fun and productive. We grilled, swam, rearranged furniture, and took a lot of naps. Weeks ago, the boys dubbed the holiday "Lego Day," and they (along with Libby) had Lego contests and games all day. 

New furniture layout (please excuse the messy art table and the lopsided clock):

Much more open. Scott joked that I should start a design business where I decorate a home and then redecorate it months later so that it looks far better in contrast. Brilliant.

Back to school, round 2

Elizabeth: pre-k, Ms. Lisa & Ms. Carlie