Summer of 2013 has very few pictures to sum it up.  We moved from Whiteman AFB, Missouri, to Luke AFB, Arizona in May.  Our first day of travel took us to Branson for Silver Dollar City and dinner at Dixie Stampede.  We found a roller coaster everyone could ride and lots of other things to keep us entertained.  Sydney even got to participate in the dinner show by chasing a chicken.

The rest of the drive was uneventful until somewhere in New Mexico when the dashboard lights went absolutely crazy.  We stopped at the Toyota dealership in Albuquerque, but the only speculation they had was that we had gotten a bad tank of gas and to get it checked out in Arizona if it happened again.

While in Albuquerque, Ben wanted to take all of us up the tram to Sandia Peak since he had visited there before when he was at Kirtland AFB for a TDY.  Everyone was excited about it except Tyler.  His face here sums it up.

We moved right into our vacation rental that would be our home until July 31.  Holy decorating disaster.  It belonged to an older lady who had married several years earlier when the housing market was bad so she couldn't sell it.  She moved in with her new husband (who has since passed away) and turned her old house into a vacation rental.  Good thing the price was right.

We went to Utah in June to be there for my dad's 60th birthday.  We stayed with my brother Stephen and his wife Kathleen.  My boys loved Uncle Stephen and playing with his crazy boys.  Their little girl, Lily chose not to make her appearance until July 4, which was after we left.  Stinker.  Good thing she's cute.

Of course we had to participate in the Summer Reading Program through the library.  The theme was Have Book, Will Travel, but from the pictures you might think is was Star Wars.

This seems like old news now, but in July, Sydney got glasses.  After watching her stand in the middle of the room to watch TV too many times, we took her in.  She still likes them, thank goodness.  I'm glad we got them at Walmart because of the warranty.  We've gotten them fixed four times and replaced (for free) once in eight months.

All of the glasses repair can be explained by the fact that Sydney is one of my athletes.  She wanted to play basketball so much, and it turned out that the base had basketball going over the summer.  She participated in a clinic and a league.

Other than that, we all adjusted to summer in Arizona.  We got quite a routine of getting up, dressed, and fed and heading to the park for an hour with water in hand before it got too hot.  Lots of books, TV, and some games and toys from Goodwill, with the occasional swim, filled the rest of the time.  It wasn't as bad as we had anticipated. When they say it's a dry heat, that actually does make a difference.