Summer Re-Cap

WOW!! The calendar is saying summer is about over and Autumn is fast approaching. Truthfully it doesn't feel that way here in Phoenix --- it typically stays warm up until November. I thought I would do a quick recap of our summer activities.

Our one big outing was to the Children's Museum. It is in a refurbished old school in downtown and it is pretty cool. Since it still has the old charm it made me feel like I was back in the 4th grade -- no running in the hallway and keeping your voice a bit lower. The activities were not only created to spark imagination but allow the kids to play in each other's imaginary world. Maddy can be a bit shy around others - she stands there and stares at them - but when asked to play she is all in. She watches what others are doing as if she is seeing an instructional video before she starts any activity. There was the rolling balls through a maze [different start points have different endings], the  pretend market / restaurant, and there was pool noodles hanging from the ceiling maze. Which was a BLAST!! When you first walk in to the museum you see this mammoth play structure and the first thing I thought is that Maddy will never go in that. Well .. I was wrong. Mind you she wouldn't go by herself but she did have a buddy who was willing to go into 'The Cage'. Are you guys taking in just how HUGE this thing is!! The pictures don't do it justice .. this thing was ginormous!!!

We balance our Grandparent outings with just bringing her home to enjoy some quieter times such as movies, games, pool, or just laying on the grass and watching the clouds. 

Watching kitten videos with Pop-Pop

All The Missing Girls

I was so, so, so excited about wanting to read this book. I wanted to absolutely love it and even now I am still not too sure if I like it .. I think I need to re-read it. This is more mystery than thriller that truly started 10 years prior. After a night at the fair a group of close teen age friends disperse to go home and that evening one of the girls goes missing. Soon after our main character, Nicolette [Nic], flees and tries to leave her past far behind her.  Fast forward and Nic returns back to her small town with all its secrets to help her brother sell the family home to pay for their father's elder care. A few days after her return another girl goes missing. Nic believes that the two disappearances are connected to each other and somehow also to her. As she starts to dig into the vanishing of her friend she uncovers some dark secrets and how sometimes you can never truly run from your past.

I know it sounds like a great story, however, it is not the plot that dooms it but it is the creative writing style. This book starts on Day 1 and jumps to Day 15 and works it way backwards [Day 14, Day 13, ect]. You are a bit confused not just of the story plot but the relationships developing. The main character is suppose to be sleep deprived and at times irrational. Remember as a kid ... you would spin and spin so fast with your eyes opened that everything got blurry and when you stopped you felt so disoriented and you couldn't focus well THAT is how I felt reading this book. The jumping around made you feel Nic's desperation to find 'the truth'. I kept loosing the plot so much that I got frustrated - so a few chapters in I started to read the book chronologically .. yes it lost a bit of the suspense but I didn't care at least I could follow the story. The chain of events made so much more sense. It's not the worst book I have read but it is definitely not the amazing 'compulsive read' that it's made out to be.

*SPOILER* The only real question I have is 'what happened to the baby'?