Shootaround with the Phoenix Suns

In August, the Phoenix Suns hosted a "shootaround" event.  You could shoot hoops on the actual game court (it was actually the Mercury court set up that night) or the practice court.  They also had areas for younger, smaller, players to shoot as well as inflatables.  Ryan brought his friend Shawn for the fun.  They had a great time shooting and playing around.

Walkway leading to US Airways Center

The boys posing with the large basketball

Phoenix Suns Operation Orange

Ryan & Shawn on the big court
waiting to shoot

Ryan taking his shot

Having fun with the inflatable hoop

Shooting on the lower hoop

Ryan & Shawn with the Gorilla

I got to pose with the Gorilla too

With Dan Majerle (I didn't realize he was that much
taller than me!)

Going to play in the Gorilla Greenhouse

Ryan's ready for that rebound

And to finish off the evening - Ted's Hot Dogs!

Mazes at the Science Center

Doug & Ryan getting ready to enter the maze

Ryan finding his way around the yellow line of the maze

In August, we went to the Science Museum to enjoy their mazes.  They had all sorts of hands on mazes to weave through and learn about how your brain and eyes function.  It's always a fun time at the museum with lots of hands of displays.

First Day of 7th Grade

7th Grader

And so it begins,  Ryan started 7th grade this year.  He was very excited (and nervous).  He was definitely looking forward to the new experiences.  His school has uniforms.  He has the choice of purple, yellow or white shirts.  On his first day, he choose the purple shirt.

Goodbye to summer

Ryan and Derek

Even though our temps are still WAY up there.  In the beginning of August we had to say "goodbye to summer" getting ready for school to start for Ryan.  The last full week before school started, we took Ryan and a friend of his to Big Surf for some water park fun.  The boys had a great time.  Doug & I hung out in the wave pool almost the entire time.  It was so relaxing.  So much so that when I went to bed that night, I could still feel the waves moving me around.  A wonderful day all around.

Here's a Trip Down Memory Lane

Ryan decided he wants to collect soda bottles.  I have a rather large Coke collection - been collecting since my teens.  I love the look of Coke bottles and all that old diner style stuff.  Ryan wants to collect a variety of soda bottles - and T-shirts too apparently since he has several different T-shirts - Coke, Sprite, orange Crush, Mountain Dew, and more.

The one bottle he really wants, and we have had a super hard time finding, is a Mountain Dew bottle.  I mentioned this to a friend of mine and she pointed me in the direction of a store on the other side of town.  We decided to make a day of it (way back in July) and go to lunch at a Mexican restaurant about halfway there.  And of course, we invited my parents and brother to join us in our adventure.

Lunch was great, but Ryan was anxious to check out this store.  So off we went.  It was a pretty neat place full of all kinds of candy and soda that you can't find anymore.  When, low and behold what did they have but . . . The Pop Shoppe sodas.

Total walk down memory lane.  When we lived in Virginia that was the name of a store - The Pop Shoppe.  You would take these soda crates and fill them up with whatever soda you wanted.  You didn't buy them in packs.  And they had the most fun - and delicious - flavors.  Such as pineapple, black cherry, cream soda, grape, I think there was even strawberry.  Stuff you couldn't get anywhere else.  We all had our favorites and you always knew which ones they were because they were the ones left until the end.  Once you drank the sodas, you put the empty bottle back in the crate and then when you went back for more, you took the empty bottles back to them and got a refund towards your new purchase.  It was fun.  And us kids always looked forward to going so that we could help pick out our favorite flavors.  

To make the day even funnier, while I was standing there reminiscing with my brother Kelly about going to the shop, his cell phone rang.  It was another brother, Warren - who had just moved out of state - calling.  When Kelly told him where we were and that we found The Pop Shoppe sodas, Warren started asking if he remembered that soda place we used to go to and picked out the flavors that we wanted.  Kelly was like, yeah it was called The Pop Shoppe. 

Here I am with my parents holding one of the beloved
The Pop Shoppe sodas.  Yum!