The Gray's Wild Adventures

Day 15 - Golfland.

2011-03-17T21:17:00.000-07:00

Plans for today - head to Mesa and enjoy the afternoon at Golfland. And that we did! ☺

We even managed to sneak in a little shopping!

We enjoyed a french toast breakfast (thank-you Daddy!), packed up our lunch and drove into Phoenix. It was hot & and lovely! We went to a few box stores first as golfing didn’t open until noon. The girls wandered through a few favorites while the boys checked out the auto center. We had a “tail-gate” lunch before heading into the castle. It was very busy (Spring Break for the AZ kids) so we sent the guys in to get the tickets while us girls (and Matthew) sat in the shade. We teed off on the “Lost Dutchman” course and enjoyed an afternoon of laughs & multiple putting strokes! I think Daddy was the winner with Joshua & Grandpa tying for second. It was lots of fun and Matthew enjoyed watching all the golfers along the way. After our game of golf we crossed the street and checked out the go-cart races. David, Joshua, Megan & Grandpa all hit the track and raced! It was fun to watch them go & they all had fun too. Everyone was feeling pretty hot, so we loaded up and found some slurpees, thank-you Circle K, and iced coffees before making our way home. We found a Hobby Lobby on the way home and the men were gracious (again) to let us stop and enjoy a final shop at the greatest craft store EVER! ☺ We picked up some material (Megan has some new sewing projects awaiting her) and a few scrapbooking goodies (Happy Birthday to me from Mom & Dad Gray!!). We enjoyed delicious leftovers from Jim’s Indonesian dinner last night and then the kids played Dutch Blitz until bedtime.

Welcome to Golfland.

Sarah hung out at the climbing park until we had our golfing tickets.

First putt of the day.

The Lost Dutchman.

munch, munch.... still no teeth.

Joshua thought this rollercoaster loop was cool.

The racing fans.

Enjoying Grandma cuddles :)

We RACE!!

Megan's Driving...

Getting passed!!

The racers!

A fun day at Golfland.

Day 14 - Hanging out in Florence

2011-03-16T10:29:00.000-07:00

We had a lazy day today hanging out in Florence. It was neat to be able to come out this way as the area here is so much different from Goodyear. Big farms run into desert areas and then here and there housing areas and of course box stores pop up all over :) The pool at this house is not heated and the hot weather has just begun so it was COLD. We had a very warm day in the low 30s so Grandpa and Sarah both went in for a QUICK and “refreshing” dip. Sarah said it was COLD, Grandpa would say it was REFRESHING :). We had a lunchtime BBQ and enjoyed eating outside in the heat. By the afternoon everyone was ready to do something, so we made our way to the nearby park and everyone played some soccer & football. We ended the evening with an extra special treat.... INDONESIAN DINNER. Yummy. Thank-you Grandpa Jim!! Joshua was his little helper and hopefully learning and watching carefully!! haha. We ended the evening with a family movie night and then once the kids were all tucked in, we pulled out the cards and played a couple rounds..... the boys can’t seem to win :)

A new hat :)

Great park nearby with perfect grassy areas!

Football champs!

Pinned!

Sarah's sassy shadow.

Megan's funky Egyptian shadow.

Sarah took some icy cold water out of the UNheated pool (and it was COLD!) and decided to cool herself off by pouring it over her head :)

Baby, that's cold!

Refreshing!

Sweet ♥

Day 13 - Goodbye Goodyear, hello shopping :)

2011-03-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Sad to think the holiday is coming to an end. Two weeks goes by far too quickly! We had one more move to make so this morning we packed up our things, stuffed the truck and made our way to town. Today was a day of shopping before heading to our new location in Florence, AZ. This was exciting and fun for the ladies of the group, but patience testing for the males! They did great though and let us take our time as we strolled through our favorite US stores - TJ MAXX, Hobby Lobby & Old Navy {to name a few}. A stop at Costco to pick up a few items and then we were on the road and made our way to Florence. Grandma & Grandpa have friends who own a home there and they were gracious to let us all spend a few nights there. With Spring Training going on in Goodyear it was next to impossible to find places to stay, so we were thankful to have this house in Florence as a back-up (and it was needed!!)

The goodbye shot by the pool :) It was very bright on the eyes!

I'm not too sure WHY Joshua is wearing a hoodie, I guess morning temperatures in the mid-20s was a little cool for him ;-)

Early birthday gift from Grandma & Grandpa Jim

Woohoo... some US spending money!

Sarah also got an EXTRA early birthday gift....

... a beautiful new sweater, thank-you Grandma!

All packed up and ready to go....

Day 12 - Relax & soak up the sun!

2011-03-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying "our" house here in Estrella and wish we could stay the full week. It was booked so we are just thankful we were able to squeeze a few days in! This morning the guys got up and cooked a delicious breakfast that we enjoyed outside on the back deck. It was already nice and warm out - love that! After breakfast, we packed into the SUV and went to the lake for a walk. The palm trees were beautiful and we enjoyed a leisurely morning walk. Matthew loved the ducks and looking about. He’s getting really good at sitting up now. He drifted off for a nap by the end of the walk :) We got back to the house, had lunch and then everyone lounged by the pool. We spent the afternoon laying in the sun, splashing in the water and sipping cold drinks. Ahhh.... love holidays!!

The BBQ was fired up for some burgers for dinner and we continued to enjoy a day/evening of relaxation. The kids played some Dutch Blitz with Grandma & Grandpa and David and Joshua went for an evening swim.

Another great day in paradise.

✷

Beautiful flowers around the lake, they smelled so good too!

Our walking path & views

Hug a {palm} tree :)

Our boys!

Kids are sure loving Grandma & Grandpa being with us :)

I think Grandma & Grandpa like it too!

Palm trees and blue skies.... and the heat = Fabulous!

Palm Masks

Sleepy baby who loves being able to put his soother in his mouth all by himself... even if it is upside down!

Sunshine cuddles with Grandma

Grandma played A LOT of games :)

*** we've been away from internet for a few days.... will update as soon as we can.

Day 11 - Sunday & Sunshine

2011-03-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

Arizona did not disappoint and we enjoyed a day of heat & sunshine. We got up and the boys made a delicious breakfast which we enjoyed outside on the back deck. Then it was off to church. We were excited to go back to Harvest Baptist in Goodyear and see the pastor and friends we have met again. We went over to the McLellan & Prittchets for lunch and got to to know them a bit better. Then it was off to Walmart for some groceries and back to the house to enjoy the afternoon poolside!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, visiting, swimming, bbq-ing, hot tubbing, and playing games.

Tummy time in the shade.

Ahhhh.... the goggles are back!

Matthew loves the water (it's a heated pool, so it felt really nice in there!)

Drippy Baby.

Daddy & his kids :)

Matthew's first "swim" :)

Let the diving for darts begin!

Hot tub time with Grandma!

Prune Face!

Arizona Smiles

An Amazon order arrived :)

David was pretty happy to be back on BBQ duty :)

Dinner outside in the heat -- I don't think we'll be "allowed" to eat a single meal INSIDE :)

Joshua thought the fireplace was pretty cool. In the evening he lit a small fire and we all sat around and enjoyed a bowl of ice cream & a mug of coffee.

Day 10 - Road trip

2011-03-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

After "living" in the hotel for 9 days I was impressed with how quickly we got packed up and on our way. It was a cooler day in CA and it felt fantastic to feel the temperatures rise as we made our way to AZ. Sarah travelled with Grandma & Grandpa Jim and the kids nodded off & on as the sunshine poured into the vehicle.

Lovely.

We stopped in Palm Springs for lunch (thank-you Costco) and then were back on the road.

We got to our house here in Goodyear around 6pm and the kids had fun running around checking it all out. It's a beautiful home and we are looking forward to our few days here!

We had a bite to eat and the guys went down to Safeway to pick up a few groceries for breakfast in the morning :)

Bathing suits were quickly put on and the kids had an evening swim and soak in the hot tub.

Once the kids were put to bed we played a round of cards before heading to bed ourselves.

Goodbye Disneyland.

Day 9 - Last day of Disney Magic

2011-03-11T16:01:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe today was our last day at the parks. We've had such a great time, everyone has had so much fun & Matthew has been amazing - perfect combinations!! :)

Joshua was still DETERMINED to get me ON the Screamin' so we started our day over on the California side, first stop - Screamin'. I was SHAKING in my boots as we stood in line.... and "luck" wasn't on my side this time as David & I ended up in the VERY FRONT!!!

5-4-3-2-1-SCREAM!

And... that's exactly what I did! hahahah.

It was {actually} fun and I even did it a second time :)

On the Cali side we did the Golden Zepher, Jellyfish, Hemlik the Caterpillar, Monsters Inc., Crush the talking Turtle & Toy Story Mania as well as the Screamin'.

We bought our signature Disneyland mugs and then left the park for some lunch, iced coffees & pool time at the hotel. Grandma, Grandpa & Megan went to a little bakery too :)

After a little relaxing, we packed up and went to Disneyland. Here we managed to get on Big Thunder a few times, Pirates, The Jungle Cruise, Autotopia and the highlight - FIREWORKS! It was great and this time Sarah was able to see Tinkerbell fly across the sky.

After the fireworks, there was one final ride on Big Thunder & then we took the monorail to end our time at Disneyland.

Sad to say goodbye to the happiest place on earth, but we are looking forward to our time in Arizona :)

It's a Small World.

It's a Bug's Life

Megan in the teacup, purple of course!

Lots of construction at California Adventure.... looks like some great rides are being built!

Me, freaking out!

The second time we sat behind Megan and Joshua.

Megan and a cupcake :)

Monsters Inc.

So nice to see all the pretty flowers.

We sure hope so!!

Day 8 - Magic Morning

2011-03-10T22:32:00.000-08:00

We woke up around 6:30 this morning to get out by 7:30. We did great! We made it to Disneyland for our Magic Morning, 8am entry :)

We started the day in Fantasyland. Matthew could go on ALL these rides which was so fun. We went on Peter Pan's Flight, Pinocchio, Dumbo, teacups, Alice in Wonderland and then over to It's A Small World. Matthew is a typical BOY... this is the ONE ride he fussed on a bit ;) Hahaha. Well, not really, he was just hungry :)

We made our way to Big Thunder Mountain (Matthew fell asleep) so everyone went on and Jim & I had a bench visit while we waited for the 'wildest ride in the wilderness' to come to an end.

It was hot today and everyone started to feel the heat so Daddy bought us all a pineapple ice cream treat. YUM.

We wandered over to the California side to check out Screamin' (Mommy too!!). As "luck" would have it, it was shut down (WHEW!!) for a bit this afternoon. The boys all cooled off on the River Run. We wandered around a little and everyone was feeling that 6:30 wake up, so we left the park and walked back to the hotel for a couple hours to rest, grab a bite to eat and relax. Felt nice.

By 5 everyone was ready to get back to the park for a few more hours. We went to the California side again and made it on Soaring over California (twice) and Toy Story Mania (and and the boys did Screamin' as it was back up & running).

It was a jam-packed day of sunshine & good times!

✷

Through the castle to Fanstasyland.

The Dumbo line :)

Grandma & Sarah in the front, Megs in the middle, Matthew & me with Joshua in the back.

signature teacup photo :)

This time we went on the teacups, first for us!

Snuggle time with Grandma.

Pineapple ice-cream and floats - YUM.

The boys went on the Grizzly River Run to cool off in the afternoon.

Day 7 - Sun & Surf

2011-03-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a slower morning, had breakfast, and packed up for a day at the beach with temperatures in the high 20s. We made a quick stop at Target for a beach blanket, Starbucks for some coffee, & Chevron for slushies :)

An afternoon of sun & sand was wonderful. We had a picnic lunch, played football, searched for seashells & shark teeth, built sandcastles, & laid in the sun.

We packed up, loaded up the truck, and then took a walk along the pier. The wind picked up but it was still nice to walk along and see all the surfers out there. It's no wonder sharks mistake them for seals! There were so many of them in a big cluster waiting for waves; surfers that is, not sharks! :)

We drove back to the hotel in time for the kids to make it to the rootbeer float night. They were happy. Grandma & Grandpa went to Costco to pick up dinner (chickens and salads). After dinner we got ready for tomorrow and went to bed early. We're heading to Disneyland tomorrow with our Magic Morning, so we hope to be walking by 7:30 - That will be a challenge!

We'll see how we do.

It's due to be another high 20s day - should be fantastic!

Lunchtime on the beach.

Matthew stretching out in the shade.

Grandpa Jim's sunning spot.

The first handful (of many) seashells.

Sorting out the collection to pick the best ones.

A perfect shell :)

Megan helping Matthew test out the waters... they were FREEZING!

The shirt:

"Baby - Pee all you can pee"

☺

Our family ♥

Miss Megs enjoying the warm ocean breezes.

Joshua working on his hole...

Joshua's swagger wagon ;)

Seals? Nope - surfers!!

Day 6 - California Adventure with Grandma/pa :)

2011-03-08T22:37:00.000-08:00

Everyone slept fantastic last night and woke up feeling well rested and on the mend. Praise the Lord! Still a few wobbly legs, noses to blow & heavy heads... but so much better than what we've all been feeling!

We all went and had breakfast, packed up and had our morning walk to the park :) We decided to head over to California Adventure as we had to get fast passes to the new presentation World of Color. We did Soaring over California and then Joshua & David did Screamin'. Once they came off of that ride we went down to the pier so that I could feed Matthew. While I fed him everyone went on a tour at the bakery (one of Megan's favorites!). Everyone stopped to snack on some of the freshly baked bread Grandpa bought and then it was off to Toy Story Mania! The boys quickly hopped on Screamin' (again) and then we went down to Bug's Life to watch the 3D show "It's a Bugs Life". Matthew didn't like that one too much - it was on the verge of being unbearably loud for us adults! Not sure why it was SO loud, but it was so David took him out for the last bit of the show. We then wandered over to watch "Aladdin". We love this one!

It was such a beautiful day - so warm! A few sunburns were noted :)

We left the park for a little trip to Costco for some supper & treats :) Nice to get out for a little break. Kids were eager to get back though so we dressed a little warmer as we knew we were going to be at the park a little later tonight with the show in the evening. We went over to Disneyland for Sarah's favorite ride, Big Thunder Mountain. Grandma & Grandpa BOTH came on this ride with us too. YAY! Although, I think Grandpa has officially volunteered to watch Matthew when we do this ride again! :)

We then made our way back to California to take in World of Color. WOW - truly spectacular (as all things Disney seem to be!).

It was late and we had a bit of a trek through the crowds and back to our hotel. Kids did awesome and Matthew had another fabulous day! Such a blessing!!

We got back to the hotel and Sarah said she wasn't sure she had the energy to pick up her toothbrush and even brush one tooth :)

We take a break from the parks tomorrow and with it being the hottest day (suppose to be 27C tomorrow) we're planning on hitting the beach for the day! :)

We're ready for a lazy day of sunshine!

All ready to head to the park!

Matthew is ready for another day of sunshine!

California Adventure - loving all the spring flowers!

The bread tour :)

Doesn't look like they're having fun does it?

I think Sarah has been glued to Grandma since their arrival!

Toy Story Mania, my favorite ride :)

Joshua & David are pretty disappointed their favorite ride, Splash Mountain, is closed... looks like Screamin' is the new favorite this time!

Squeezing in one final ride over at Disneyland, Big Thunder Mountain. Guess that flash was pretty bright.... Sarah opted to just keep those eyes CLOSED! :)

World of Color. This photo obviously does it NO justice... this was just what they had on while it ended and people were leaving. It was truly spectacular!

Day 5 - DISNEYLAND!!

2011-03-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

Megan was feeling quite a bit better this morning, but David has taken the dive into Sneezeville! It was now his turn to have the brutal day of being attached to a box of Kleenex. We took our time getting up, having breakfast and packing up for Disneyland. We decided to skip the shuttle and enjoy a nice walk to the park, it only takes us about 20 minutes.

Of course the FIRST ride of the day HAD to be Big Thunder Mountain :) YEHAW!

The kids and I went this time and Daddy and Matthew were onlookers (apparently Matthew is too little for this ride, *smiles*)

It felt particularly odd this entrance into Disneyland. I'm not sure if it was because we were all still battling sniffles and coughs, if it seemed surreal that we were back or just simply familiar... it was wonderful though and we were ready for a fantastic day.

Next ride was Pirates and this time Matthew came too! I wasn't sure how he would do (flashbacks of the airplane danced in my head!), but he loved it. David held him and he enjoyed the drops and just looked at everything with amazement.

We enjoyed lunch and then Daddy was needing some medication so we walked back to the hotel, took an afternoon break and David went out to get some meds. Once he returned, we reloaded and walked back.

First ride was using the fastpass and getting on Space Mountain, great ride! Joshua tried it out this time, but he still prefers Screamin'. We then went over to the California side. Lots of construction going on; looks like some cool rides coming! We made it on Soaring (Matthew & I sat out this time), Toy Story Mania (my favorite and Matthew quite liked it too!), Screamin' (the boys did this one) and The Mickey's Ferris Wheel.

A full day, but so much fun. Matthew did so amazing. Totally exceeded my expectations. He loved looking about, and he'd fall asleep when he was tired.... hoping tomorrow goes just as smoothly.

By 8pm the park closed down and we made our way back to the hotel. We reached the lobby and the kids had a big surprise awaiting them.....

GRANDMA & GRANDPA JIM were here!!!!

What a fun surprise - kids are super excited (as are the grown-ups!)

We chatted for a bit and the kids actually got a game of Dutch Blitz going with G&G ... and then everyone called it a night - we have a big day tomorrow.

Sarah & Megan had a sleepover in Grandma & Grandpa's room, David downed some Night time Cold meds and hit the pillow, and everyone settled in for a good nights sleep :)

All packed up and ready for our first day back at the park :)

Matthew's first ride - Pirates of the Caribbean.

After Space Mountain, we took Matthew onto Astro Blasters - Daddy still rocks at this game!

What's a visit to Disneyland WITHOUT a cream cheese filled soft pretzel! Mmmmmm.

While Joshua & Daddy hit Screamin', the girls & Matthew took Mickey's Ferris Wheel. It was getting windy and it was a bit chilly at the top tonight!

So excited to have Grandma & Grandpa with us! Matthew didn't make strange at all and just stared at Grandma :)

Smiles for Grandma....

Looking forward to another fantastic day!

☼

Day 4 - Anaheim Garden Walk... and sniffles.

2011-03-06T20:14:00.000-08:00

Today was Megan's day to be sick. Poor thing couldn't even get out of bed this morning! We all laid pretty low, trying to regain some energy. This bug seems to be hitting us hard. Sarah & Joshua have really perked up, although Joshua is still coughing & complaining of a sore throat - they are feverless! I'm thinking that may not be a word - feverless. Aw well, I'm using it! :) By 12:30 Megan had managed to get a glass of orange juice down and meds kicked in and she felt she was up to get some fresh air. So off to Costco we went to start off with a nice cool treat. Megan's favorite thing about Costco in the USA? The ICE CREAM BAR! That hit the spot! From there we enjoyed a nice walk near our hotel. We went to the Anaheim Garden Walk. It's a collection of restaurants, shops, a theater & a bowling alley... just a nice place to take a stroll :)

We ended the night with pizza & Amazing Race.

Then lights out.... we're off to see Mickey Mouse in the morning :)

Just an empty lot we saw on our walk and were amazed at all the wildflowers growing in there. It was so pretty!

Strike a pose!

There were a bunch of very cool murals at the Anaheim Garden Walk.

JUMP!

Lots of beautiful poppies planted there too.

Boys will be boys!!

The family shot.

Pizza Night brought to you by Costco :)

Day 3 - Huntington Beach

2011-03-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

We woke achy, and pretty much everyone is feeling sick. Megan so far has been feeling the best. We all got up and went for breakfast, and did start feeling a bit better. We decided to head out and find a beach, nothing like a bit of fresh air! First off... the warm air feels amazing. Although the trip here would be classified (so far) as our worst yet, the warm air feels lovely! Secondly... we're all together. We're all sick together, but still together, and I love that.

Before checking out the beach we decided to grab some grub at Costco. We love Costco :) We have a suite here in Anaheim so wanted some food so we could eat in. We took food back to the hotel (usually we're worried about things freezing, now we don't want things to spoil in the heat, gotta love that!) and then headed for the ocean. We knew we liked Huntington Beach, so we decided to head there for the afternoon.

Matthew is still not quite himself and would not settle in his stroller. We finally took him out and plunked him in the sand. WOW! He loved it. So cute. He grabbed at the sand and thought it was the greatest thing.

Megan slowly started taking a turn for the worse and David started coughing as well. Oh boy!

We got back to the hotel, had a bite to eat, showered & everyone was in bed before 9!

Our swagger-wagon :)

Matthew is loving the sunshine.

The pier at Huntington Beach.

A quick stop at Target for a football. You can't go to the beach without a football!

Our little beachcomber! Her pockets were bulging with shells.

Beach toes.

Matthew loved the sand!

A quick smile without the soother. We were hoping the soother in the mouth would keep the sand out!

Joshua dug a hole for Matthew to hang out in :)

I think he likes it!

Megan & Daddy playing football - check out that blue sky!

Leaving on a Jet Plane.....

2011-03-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

What a day! Our wake up call went off at 5:30 and I'm not sure anyone got much sleep. With all the coughing, sneezing and blowing noses... the cold/flu bug seems to have caught us. Joshua & I are the worst as Sarah came down with it a couple days before we left.

We got down to get our breakfast and then back to our hotel room to get all our things together and down to catch our shuttle to the airport. We got to the airport around 7:30. We checked in. All our luggage got on and we made our way to our gate. We flew from Edmonton to Vancouver. Joshua thought the views were amazing!! He would look out his window and keep saying, "This is so cool!" :) Matthew had other thoughts, like "GET ME OFF THIS PLANE" - He cried pretty much the whole way - stressed me out, but everyone around us was very gracious! On the decent all the kids had sore ears with these nasty colds. The flight attendant gave them warm clothes to hold over their ears. Not sure if it helped too much, but it was a bit of a distraction. After landing in Vancouver, we had a few hours before the next flight. We wandered, Joshua tried to sleep... it was pretty exhausting. No one was feeling well, and we were beginning to think, turning around and heading back NORTH was more appealing.

We pressed onward and caught the flight to LA. Matthew did better - but screamed on the decent again, poor boy, he was NOT happy!

We picked up our luggage, caught another shuttle to the car rental and David stood in line and got us a sweet ride! :)

We drove to Anaheim and got to our hotel room. We made it! The warm breeze felt marvelous, but honestly the only thing everyone wanted at this point was....

sleep!

At the airport, all loaded up, ready for ... achooo!.... a new adventure.

Kids watched our plane come in... last time we'll snow for a bit :)

Let the thawing out begin!

Day One - Let the Adventures Begin... again :)

2011-03-03T20:17:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to say we're back on the road for a 2 week adventure! This time we're flying which is a first for us with the kids and they are very excited about that part! Unfortunately everyone has come down with a bug & fevers.. oh boy! We've made it to Edmonton, and will get a 5:30am wake up call to get our things together, catch the shuttle and head to the airport. PRAYING that we're all feeling better come morning time.

We'll touch down in LA tomorrow evening.

And then....

we'll THAW OUT!

Ahhhh.

✷

Day 57 - Goodbyes are never easy.

2010-05-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Today was pretty gloomy here although the sun poured out heat and the kids & their friends lived in the pool all day long! David & I puttered away at the packing all the while feeling that little tug of not wanting to leave and not wanting to say goodbye to our sunny Arizona.

HOWEVER- we did have a little birthday celebration for our sweet Sarah.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!!

So hard to believe she is already nine years old!!

Sarah could hardly wait to dig into those presents :)

Great Excitment - and someone pointed out to us that the plant in the background just adds to that excitment! ☺

Daddy was a little prickly on the face, so she opted for the head smooch! :)

♥

We were at the urologist this afternoon and it looks like the stone has settled a bit, but could reactivate at any time. Not very reassuraing for a 30+ hour drive home, but we figure we can't wait here forever. David needs to get to Alberta and see a doctor who will take another scan and see where the stone is and then will make a decision as to what the next step will be. At this point our goal is to make it back to Alberta without the stone moving. The urologist did give David a prescription for some stronger pain medication to take as soon as he feels the pain come on so that is a little reassuring (although then he can't drive so we're in another prediciment - but we'll cross that bridge if that should happen - one thing at a time! ☺). He's been feeling pretty good the last few days, so we'll see.

The kids continued to play in the pool for the afternoon/early evening while we packed up, loaded up and hooked up the trailer.

It's 7pm and we're *ready* to go. (No one is really ready but we knew the time was coming)

We'll make a stop at Walmart to pick up the prescription and then begin our during back. Not sure how far we'll get, but we'll try to update as we find internet along the way.

As this adventure ends, we know it's the beginning of another!

Pray for safety in our travels, good health, easy access to find & see a doctor for David & of course finding a suitable home as quickly as possible.

God is faithful. We are truly blessed!

☀

Day 56 - Packing Up & Preparing for our Goodbye :( ... and a little Birthday Celebrating!

2010-05-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

Everyone was pretty heavy hearted today knowing it was {for sure this time} our last day in our Havasu house. We were just saying today that over this past year we've been in Arizona more than anywhere else... I guess that's why it feels like home. ☺

After "morning math", we started to get all packed up. *sigh*

Megan & I left the gang and got some much needed haircuts! The hairdresser was so nice and actually pregnant and due the day before me!

That is actually the FRONT of Megan :) See what I mean? - she needed a haircut! ☺

Once we got back and had a bite for lunch, Sarah & Daddy went on a birthday date to Starbucks. She was pretty excited about this!

And yes... she drank that WHOLE thing. David said the lady held up a small cup and asked her if that was a good size, to which Sarah responded, I'd like the large one! :) Once they got back home the kids spent the afternoon playing with Emily, basketball and then went in the pool for a few hours!!

Tyipcally the kids get to pick their birthday dinner {Sarah's this year was ham}, but seeing as we'll be traveling for her birthday we let her pick what restuarant she wanted to go to tonight. She wanted Chinese Food, but wanted to eat at home. So off David & I went to pick up some supper and a birthday cake! Emily was over for the afternoon and stayed for Sarah's birthday dinner. After dinner {and very full bellies} we went for an evening walk {or waddle, depending who we're talking about ☺}

Cake time! A Butterfinger DQ Log... YUM.

It was now nearing 9pm and the kids all wanted to go for an evening swim/hot tub. So they spent the next hour enjoying their last night together. They're going to miss Emily!

We had a good day!

Also wanted to say thank-you to everyone for your prayers for David. We still haven't seen this stone that is traveling through his body! We go and see the urologist tomorrow afternoon and hopefully we'll get some direction as to where we go from here.

Goodnight,

☀

Day 55 - Hanging out in Havasu

2010-05-24T16:22:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day for David. He went for his morning walk to see if he could bring on any pain and had a bit of discomfort that seemed to subside fairly quickly. Strange how he tries to bring on the pain, but he's thinking pain might be movement therefore pain is good!?

We went out to IHOP for brunch and have come to the conclusion that US food portions are much, MUCH larger than ours in Canada. It's either that or we just don't eat out very often and have forgotten how much food they give you at restaurants - WAY more than you need!

We got word that the rental we're in is being rented out Thursday so we have until Wednesday afternoon which had us doing a bit of packing this afternoon. Kids played outside most of the day/afternoon with the neighbor kids.

We put our feet up for a family movie night and then worked our way to bed.

The goofy gang acting silly at IHOP as we waited for our food.

Day 54 - A rough night

2010-05-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

David has been off the painkillers trying to see if he can manage without (and therefore able to drive), but he was pretty uncomfortable throughout the night and he was hurting most of the day. This stone seems to really enjoy it in there as it seems to be taking it's time to slowly, painfully make its way down! Megan & I went out and bought tons of fluids and fruits to try and flush it out, and although his pain levels have increased there's still nothing to show for it.

The pain subsided a bit late afternoon (he did take the painkillers again this morning) so we decided to go check out the local old fashioned ice-cream & soda pop shop. Very cute! The kids were delighted to pick out an ice cream treat {as was I, let's be honest!} and David had an old fashioned cherry soda float (more fluids!!). It was nice to get out even for the 1/2 hr and give David something to look at other than his pillow or the hot tub! We feel so badly for him, it's such an unbearable process!

We knew we couldn't go out for dinner with David in this condition so we ordered in from the locals favorite restaurant, Angelina's. It was good, but we ordered way too much food, so we'll enjoy it for lunch tomorrow :)

Kids played with Emily again for most of the day - they're going to be basketball pros at the end of this trip!

What do you do with all this fruit?....

You make a delicious fruit salad!!

I loved the little message on the chalkboard...

"ice-cream makes you pretty"

☺

Sarah enjoyed an orange, hand-mixed "old-fashioned Phosphates" - which is soda-pop!

It was a darling little shop with pink & brown striped walls. Megan enjoyed a double-scoop ice cream cone down to the last drip!

Megan has always wanted to try a Cannoli so when I saw these on the menu at Angelina's I knew we HAD to order a couple! :)

Joshua's dessert pick was 7 layered chocolate cake.

No, he didn't eat it all ☺

Day 53 - More waiting.....

2010-05-22T20:29:00.001-07:00

David slept really well last night which was great. We're still trying to organize everything with the insurance company and make sure we've got everything in place to head home. The major decision now is if we head back to Canada prior to this kidney stone showing itself or not. We've done lots of reading online and it seems these stones can hang around for awhile. David tried lots of walking, even a number of laps in the pool to get the discomfort levels back up (which worked) but then it fizzles out again once he's not active. So now he's thinking perhaps he should lay low in order to drive home & then finish dealing with it all once we're back in Alberta. Hmmmm. Decisions.

It was a nice day though and if you have to be "stuck" somewhere, we'd choose here! :) Megan took some time this afternoon and baked some cookies (she wanted to make cookies with Smarties to share with friends as they don't have Smarties here). Emily came over for the afternoon again and the kids had loads of fun playing together in the pool. David was feeling up to going out for dinner tonight (and our insurance covers meals right now) so we enjoyed a family dinner out at Red Robin's tonight. It was a real treat and I wish I had taken my camera to capture Joshua's face when his Oreo Milkshake arrived to the table. YUM!

We got home fully stuffed, kids quickly had an evening basketball game with Emily & her brother and then it was time for bed.

☀

Hoping to see a Kidney Stone tomorrow!!

Thank-you for your prayers.

Mmmm, Megan you make gooooood cookies!

Day 52 - a day of waiting.

2010-05-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

David slept on the couch as he struggled to find a comfortable position. He did sleep off and on though and felt the pain medication was helping. He was still uncomfortable, but nothing like the excruciating pain he was experiencing yesterday! The kids did their math and that's it. I have packed up all their school stuff and only left their math out so they were done "school" very quickly. Kids are out of school for the year here in Havasu so they were happy to hang out and play with Emily most of the day. She came over for an afternoon swim in the pool and even stayed for dinner.

David took walks and tried to get things moving as we await the arrival of this kidney stone! Nothing. He was even starting to feel a lot better which we weren't sure was a good or bad sign. Does that mean it's snuggling in somewhere and no longer moving?? It's a wait and see sort of thing.....

Makes me think of labor... all that walking around trying to get things moving! LOL

Going in for a dive off the highest level!

Missing his pool....

Dinner with friends after a day of swimming :)

Day 51 - The Unexpected

2010-05-20T08:59:00.000-07:00

We started the day with delicious chocolate chip belgian waffles, complete with fresh strawberries and {hand-whipped} cream out on the deck in the warm sunshine. We made our plan of attack for the day to get packed up and ready to go.

As the work began though, David started experiencing excruciating pain. He took some medication and carried on thinking it would pass. It didn't. It worsened to the point that he was unable to do anything and I knew I had to get him to the emergency. It looked to be up in his kidney, and we suspected a kidney stone, though he's never had one before. He just knew it wasn't muscle or bone. The staff at Havasu Hospital were wonderful and even though 4 ambulances had just come in he got in rather quickly. The pain would come and go much like contractions - he can't believe we women go through that kind of pain! He'd be okay for a wee bit and then the pain would come on so terribly strong. He was hooked up to an IV with fluids and pain medication. They say kidney stones are the second most painful thing to child birth and I believe it! After a lot of blood work and a CT scan it was confirmed that he had a high kidney stone. He stayed in the hospital all day and then by about 7pm they gave him the choice to stay or come home with pain medication. He decided to come home, but I'm not sure he was happy with that choice when the pain came on and he didn't have it directly in his IV. Megan was such a blessing holding down the fort while I was with David, keeping the kids busy, fed and working in the house as we didn't know if we'd have to move to a hotel or what was going to happen. The owners of the vacation home were wonderful and have allowed us to stay until David is feeling better. We will be staying until the stone passes, he is off his meds, has seen the urologist and feeling up to a 30 hour road trip! They say it can take from 2-7 days so we are praying that it is on the lower end of that scale. We would certainly appreciate your prayers. We are thanking the Lord for his watchful care over us as we were planning on leaving yesterday and could have been in the middle of the desert when this began.

So... the adventure continues for a little longer --

Day 50 - hot, hot, hot

2010-05-19T17:53:00.000-07:00

Sarah was able to get a bit more schoolwork done today thanks to a half a teaspoon of Dimetapp!

☺

With only a couple days left in Havasu, school has been pared down to the minimal. A bit of language and some math and we're good to go. We can catch up when we're back in McMurray. Actually the kids are nearly all done their school for this year so it's really nice to be able to do less these days.

After lunch Megan and I went out to do a little shopping while the others played outside and in the pool. We hit 37+ today and I think we're due to see 40C tomorrow so it is hot. Feels awesome, we are loving the heat!

Kids spent all afternoon outside, playing with friends and in the pool. Everyone came in when they were hungry for leftover supper and then back out. It really is amazing to have such consistent weather. Something we've never experienced other than here and never tire of! David and I did a number of laps walking our "loop" while the kids played basketball next door. Hard to think that was more than likely our last sunset walk, we're feeling pretty glum with having to leave a place that feels so much like home to us.

Kids were called in as the sun went down and the streets were dark and headed out back for an evening hot-tub & swim.

One more day....

☀

Cheesy grin Sarah enjoying an afternoon swim.

The new game - Jackpot!

Although it's after 5pm and the chairs are in the shade, this is usually David & my sunny spot to sit, chat & sip cold drinks!

A random photo on our walk. I get a kick out of the "fence" built with cinder blocks and old logs.

Typically where we find the kids - across the street playing basketball with Emily.

The man cave.... ahhhhhhhh.

Another fabulous evening swim.

Cheers to a great day!

Day 49 - Family Movie Night

2010-05-18T17:10:00.000-07:00

Sarah seems to be sniffling & sneezing today and we're hoping it doesn't become anything for our long journey home. School went well, but Sarah had a shorter day with not feeling great. Once school was done and lunch munched down, David took Megan & Joshua out quadding for the afternoon. Sarah laid down for a rest and I actually had some quiet time to put my feet up and relax - it was lovely!

Kids played outside while dinner was being cooked and then we ate supper and watched the Duggars. The sun began to set so we went out for a nice family walk before coming back for our family movie night. Everyone was sleepy after the movie ended, but Joshua had his heart set on an evening swim so while the girls got ready for bed, he and David went out for awhile and swam under the stars!

We've extended our stay here for a couple of days, so that's a treat. We pull out Friday instead of tomorrow. We'll have to soon start to think ab0ut packing....

not today though.

☺

Megan took a couple pics of Josh at their favorite quad spot.

Day 48 - School & hanging at home kinda day....

2010-05-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

Monday morning. David was out for his early bike ride and after such a late night the kids all slept in... even Sarah slept until 9am!! I can't remember the last time she did that. School was a later start and Sarah even hung out in her PJs a little longer :) We worked until about lunch time and then splashed in the pool and hung out at the house. David BBQ'd for dinner, we went for a family walk and then Daddy made drinks as Sarah wanted to have a dip in the hot tub before bed. Joshua then went for an evening swim while we were out on the deck. A nice quiet day ---

✪

School time....

Megan's favorite spot for Silent Reading... she's going to miss her hammock!

Afternoon pool time!

Some K'Nex building time with Dad!

I thought this was so cute. When Sarah knew Mike, Leslie & Isabella were coming over she made this poster and taped it to the garage door.

The bump continues to groooooooooow!

A little orange julius this evening by the hot tub.

Day 47 - Sunshine, Friends, BBQ & Pool

2010-05-16T00:06:00.000-07:00

We were off to church this morning in the sunshine. Our friends came over for the afternoon today and we BBQ'd, had some time in the pool/hot tub, kids played with Isabella... and we had a great time. We will miss them!

The kids were up late tonight as we let them stay up and watch the Survivor Finale. I wasn't sure if Joshua & Sarah would make it as there heads dropped now & then, but they did. ☺

Sarah could have stayed here all afternoon and evening playing with Bella!

Isabella kicked back & enjoying the hot tub!

Joshua dives over and over as he tries to dive in one end and glide to the other with one breath (and no kicking) :)

Our favorite spot to eat :)

Day 46 - A lazy Saturday :)

2010-05-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

Everyone (except David) enjoyed sleeping in after such a late night last night. I don't think David got to bed until 2:30! Insane. David was still up early and off on his morning bike ride... he's going to miss that route! After breakfast David was out to do some errands and decided to stop in at Food City for donuts. We heard they have the best and Megan was REALLY wanting to try them out! The size of them were INSANELY huge and, of course, *only* 55 cents. We are seriously going on a no-sugar diet once we're home - need to detox! :)

David took the kids to family day at Chase Bank for a little bit and then we spent the afternoon pool side. It was 38 degrees today - lovely.

We enjoyed a late BBQ dinner outside, boys had an evening swim and everyone was ready for bed nice & early :)

Chocolate iced cinnamon bun - Check out the size of that thing!

Joshua sporting his tattoos from Family Day.

Sarah concentrating as she swims in the deep end :)

✤

Day 45 - Final Day at Disneyland and a 1:00Am arrival home

2010-05-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

With the park opening an hour earlier and knowing that today was going to be our last day, we got up early to be there for opening. The night proved to be quite long though..... my foggy mind thinks it was around 1AM that I heard a vehicle alarm go off. Being totally out of it, I didn’t think it was OUR truck alarm and sleepily dozed off to sleep again. At 2AM when I heard the alarm again, I KNEW it was ours and immediately woke up David to go check things out. Sure enough it was our truck, but all looked fine so he came back to bed. Now everyone was awake and snuggled down to return to dreamland. The phone rang around 2:30AM, it was the front desk informing us that our alarm had gone off and we needed to turn the alarm off. I must say that this whole time we thought the alarm was disengaged. We don’t set it anymore when we are at hotels or home to avoid those false alarms. They wanted us to move the truck, but after explaining that the diesel engine would disturb everyone all over again, our only option was to leave the truck unlocked. Wearily, David crawled back into bed only to find himself tossing & turning over the fact the truck was parked and unlocked. So pillow in hand he went to sleep in the truck. By 6AM he was too cold and came back to the hotel room to catch a few warm ZZZs. By 7AM we were starting to stir and everyone was groggy and moving slowly. We still managed to get our breakfast in, pack up a bit and head to Disneyland before opening! WHEW!! We stood in the crowd as they announced the opening of the park. That is always exciting as everyone awaiting bursts into cheers & applause! SO FUN! Our favorite all-time ride is Big Thunder Railroad. This ride has been closed the last couple of weeks and we planned our trip during this time KNOWING it was due to be opened today! So we rushed to Big Thunder only to find it wasn’t QUITE opened. So the boys and Megan went to Splash Mountain ( it was empty so they went through twice) and Sarah and I went to Pinocchio and the Carousel rides. We met up at Big Thunder and everyone went on excited to {finally} be on the “Wildest ride in the wilderness” :) This time round, being pregnant, I had to sit this ride out so I sat and enjoyed some sit-down time while they rollercoastered it! ;) Megan & David were off to Indiana Jones so Joshua, Sarah & I headed over to Dumbo. This was the first time for us on this ride and we all thought it was fun! Again we met everyone back at Big Thunder -- Indy had been shut down due to technical difficulties before they got on the ride, Megan was disappointed :(. Using the fast-pass they avoided the crazy lines at Big Thunder and hopped on again! David & Joshua left the park to check us out of the hotel and pack up the truck. While they were gone, Megan, Sarah and I had some time to check out some rides. We managed to get on Mr. Toad’s Wild ride and then it hit. We thought we’d get through ONE Disneyland trip without it, but alas.... Megan got sick. She began to get hot and so we got a frozen lemonade with raspberries for her to slowly sip.... no luck. We met the boys back at Big Thunder and she was in agony. Poor Megan. I took Megan out of the park to lay down in the truck (we didn’t make it.... ), Joshua, Sarah & David took a final ride on Big Thunder Railroad and then met us at the truck. Megan was feeling a bit better, but so disappointed that this is how her time at Disneyland ended. Joshua really wanted to get on Mulholland Madness (it was shut down yesterday) so while Megan rested, they quickly went to California Adventure so Joshua could get his final ride in. By the time they got back, Megan was perking up a bit, but it was getting late and we had to travel home still. So, we said goodbye to the park and made a stop at Costco for lunch/dinner. Megan seemed to be feeling a lot better, but was really disappointed not to get on her final rides, so we decided to head back to California Adventure for a couple hours. The girls did Mickey’s ferris wheel while David took Joshua on Mulhalland again. We then went and stood in line to do Toy Story one final time. After standing for nearly half an hour, this ride broke down. *sigh* Twice in one day?! So we took a few photos and slowly wandered out of the park. We began to work our way towards Havasu, stopping at Costco for a little treat. I think we finally arrived around 1AM, it was late! Hard to believe we only have five days left on this grand adventure - we shall do our best to savor each and every one!!

King Arthur's Carousel

Big Thunder Railroad... getting ready to board!

They're on the last "car" - can you see them waving?

High up on the Dumbo ride.

Waving to Joshua, our photographer!

Getting Megan a frozen raspberry lemonade to see if that would help her feel a bit better...

it didn't :(

Megan still a little pale, but feeling MUCH better after a little rest.

She was so excited to head back to the park to get on the Mickey Ferris Wheel.

THANK-YOU DADDY!!!

Some great views from the top!

A final family photo - next time there will be more!

We miss you already too!

Never a shortage of sweet treats and baking ideas for Megan.

Goodbye Disney, it has been a blast!

Day 44 - Disneyland and a little California

2010-05-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

Today we took our time getting ready. It is nice to have some extra time in the morning, enjoy breakfast by the pool and leisurely get our gear together & head to the park. We went to Disneyland this morning and went to Astro Blasters. From there we hit a number of rides: pirates, Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh, King Arthur's Carrousel, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.... we then ventured out of the park for some ice cream, frapps and snacks. After feeling a bit rejuvenated, we went to California Adventure Park to grab a ride on Toy Story Mania before the park closed - we managed to squeak on twice! Once California closed, we then went back to Disneyland to do a few more rides before closing.

Legs tired, and bodies weary we dragged ourselves back to the hotel - we had a fantastic day! David picked up some yummy onion loaf at Toni Roma's (conveniently located RIGHT BESIDE our hotel) before we all went to bed.

Sarah's new hat! :)

Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters - we're finally getting this game figured out and Daddy is now racking up the points!

Our boat ride into the mouth of a whale as we enter into Storyland.

It's all the classic Disney stories.... in miniture land! Very cute.

This is Cinderella's castle. There's even the pumpkin carriage coming down the hillside!

All the plants and trees are real.

All the blooming flowers are beautiful.

Joshua's FAVORITE Disneyland treat! Cotton Candy!

Megan's smiling even though she's on a raft and sitting on a container of Dynamite!

Off to explore Davy Crocket's Island.

Checking out the treehouse.

First time was the big pumpkin, second time the enormous Christmas tree, this time...

a huge envelope!

Late afternoon Sarah was EXHAUSTED....

...it's amazing how a Mocha Frapp perked her up! :)

Outside of Pixie Hollow.

King Arthur's Carousel

I even managed to get up on a horse!

A great day at Disneyland - g'night!

Day 43 - California Adventure Park, ice cream & Disneyland

2010-05-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

Today we were up early and excited to head to California Adventure Park. Breakfast is served at this hotel, so we made our way down and had breakfast by the pool. A very basic breakfast, but it was nice to have the option! After breakfast we made our way to the park. It was a beautiful day today, and we hit all the rides we could! We started out with Toy Story Mania, and then all the other rides followed.... California Screamer (Megan went on with David every time!!), Mickey Wheel, Maholland Madness, Grizzly River Run, Jellyfish, Maliboomer (only Daddy!!), Monsters Inc, Heimleck the caterpillar, Talk with Crush... a very full day. The only major line-up was at Toy Story which we stood in a couple of times. We left the park in the late afternoon to grab some ice cream and head over to Disneyland to catch Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh & Pirates again. Time ran out so the other rides will have to wait until tomorrow. The park closes this week at 8pm so we made our way back to the hotel before David went out to pick up some dinner. We're all good & tired and had a fantastic day!

Megan was delighted to see DONUTS being served for breakfast!

Our first ride of the day - Toy Story Mania.

♥

The little birds were very friendly & enjoyed our lunch too. ☺

No, we didn't do the Beer Walk as noted in the sign in the background. HA!

Megan loves cupcakes, even the ones tucked in the woods.

Daddy is still the *only* one who will do the maliboomer!

INSANE!

Megan, eyes closed, teeth clenched & ready to do the Screamer!

The countdown to take-off! David & Megan are in the second "row" :)

Day 42 - A few hours at Disneyland

2010-05-11T22:50:00.000-07:00

This morning everyone was up early and excited to get on the road. We were packed up & on the road by about 11 and had a beautiful ride through desserts, green hills, and even saw some snow capped mountains. We made our way to our hotel in Anaheim, unloaded and off to Disneyland we went for a few hours before it closed. We’re just across the street from Disneyland, but in a different hotel than last time so it works out great for just walking into the park. We’re actually even a little closer than our last hotel :) Once in the park Joshua was bouncing to get onto Splash Mountain! So off we went and Megan joined them for a wet log ride down the mountainside. Sarah and I sat that one out and went on Winnie the Pooh instead ;). From there we went on Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear’s AstroBlasters, Autotopia, back to Splash Mountain (and yes Winnie the Pooh again), and then just before closing got on It’s A Small World. The boys dislike this ride, but it is one of Sarah’s favorites (even though we’ve only been on it once before). The few hours we had in the park seemed to whiz by and the sun went down quickly around 8pm. As we wandered through the park, we made a quick stop for some delicious cream cheese stuffed soft pretzels and a spicy cheese one for Daddy! YUM. We got back to our hotel, had a little dinner and then it was lights out for everyone as we planned our day for tomorrow - sounds like it’s California Adventure first thing to get on Toy Story Mania (one of MY favorites!!) So fun to be back again!!

A little school work on the drive to Disneyland.

Megan helping Joshua out with math.

Hello Mickey!

All decorated for Spring.

The first ride HAD to be Splash Mountain.

The wet riders!

The Mickey Hat.

Joshua taking Daddy for a cruise.

Megan in her car! Only nine months until she gets her learners permit!!!!

Sarah was THRILLED to go on her favorite ride, It's a Small World... the boys found it somewhat torturous.

Leaving the park as the sun went down.

❤

Day 41 - Back to School... well for one day!

2010-05-10T20:34:00.000-07:00

We were back at school this morning, but are heading to Disneyland tomorrow for the rest of the week, so it's an extremely short week! Megan is very close to finishing up her year, many of her subjects only have a few more days left and then she'll help with Sarah a bit. Joshua & Sarah are beginning to get a lighter load as well with really only Math as a full course left. We'll focus on that a bit more these next few weeks so we can get finished up, have a little break and move into the new year!

Today was in the low 30s so after lunch at the palapa, I headed out to run some errands while the kids finished up school & David encouraged them along the way :) By late afternoon David & Joshua were in the pool, games were played, some packing began and dinnertime arrived. After dinner David went for a walk with Sarah (who rode her bike) and then I tagged along for the second lap.

Bedtime devotions and lights out. Kids are very excited so hopefully they'll be able to get to sleep quickly. Although we're in no rush in the morning, I'm sure they'll be up early and eager to help get us out and on the road!!

☆

Day 40 - Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T21:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!!

This morning I enjoyed my first coffee in MONTHS!! We found a naturally decaffeinated coffee from Starbucks (Sumatra) and after being off of coffee for so many months, even decaf tasted wonderful :) We went to church this morning and then came home for some lunch and a quiet afternoon. Sarah had put her training wheels back on her bike after not riding for awhile, but then decided to take them off and "try". Joshua was quick to help take them off and away she went! It was pretty windy out today, but she did great riding up and down the street. Megan & I played a couple games of Carcasonne (she WON.... BOTH!!) and Sarah & David took a dip in the pool. OK, Sarah took a dip and David swam! David picked up dinner which was yummy and we watched the Amazing Race finale with the kids. We had a good day and even got to chat with our Moms! :)

Joshua getting those training wheels off!

Passing by the house and up the hill - it's the turning around that caused a bit of trouble today.

Not the best photo (absolutely NO ONE is looking at the camera) but I thought I'd include a baby bump photo! OK, it's officially larger than a bump now isn't it!

Taking off down the road!

Day 39 - cruisin' around Goodyear

2010-05-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

No photos again today.... we enjoyed a full day in Goodyear, cruising around, shopping & enjoying the 39C heat!

We headed back to Havasu in the evening and enjoyed watching the sunset for most of the drive!

☀

Day 38 - a day in Goodyear

2010-05-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

We pulled out around 11am this morning and made our way to Goodyear after a little Havasu tour to show the kids some of those incredible houses. The weather was beautiful in the high 30s. The drive was so pretty without a cloud in the sky. We smiled as we saw the outdoor “barns” again with the rows of open pens and fans. In Goodyear we did some looking for a few baby items as the prices are so good. It’s fun to have all the kids give their input as to what they think is best or cutest. We enjoyed exploring new areas of Goodyear as well and drove through different communities and areas. Of course Costco was on the list as well again. We checked into our hotel after enjoying a day in Goodyear.

Day 37 - Dinner with Friends

2010-05-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Knowing we were heading to the Phoenix area tomorrow, we had a bit of extra school today. Kids worked hard to get done and get some cool-down time in the pool. After lunch, David & Joshua helped with some clean up and then went quadding, Sarah dove in the pool, and Megan & I played a game of Carcasonne (we tied!). We did a bit more clean up before the boys got home & then everyone jumped into the pool before getting ready for friends joining us for dinner. Mike, Leslie & Isabella came for the evening and we enjoyed a delicious BBQ outside, a great time visiting and the kids had an evening swim. It’s so neat to watch the kids with their baby girl - hard to believe that will be us in a short while! With only 13 weeks to go, it’s going to become believable very soon!! :)

Day 36 - Pool Day

2010-05-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today was officially HOT; I think it showed 39C on the thermometer! After school & lunch we spent the entire afternoon pool side. Sarah’s doing fantastic with diving down to the bottom of the pool to collect darts. David started to throw the darts in the shallow, 4ft. end and slowly moved his way to the deep 9ft. end. By the end of the day she got all the way down to the deep end & retrieved a dart or two. :) It’s been amazing to watch her growth - we’ll have to make sure to get her into swimming lessons once we’re settled in Fort McMurray. We came inside for some quick leftovers before getting the kids to youth group. After dropping them off, David & I drove to Walmart to pick up a few things and then drove around Havasu to look at some amazing houses he’s been finding on his morning bike rides. He actually found a lot with a sale price of $600K in an area of homes that looks like it’s almost Beverly Hills!! After our little tour (and sighting of a road-runner AND a coyote) we made our way back to the house & David went & picked up the kids. An evening snack, bedtime and then David & I sat and watched a movie. :)

These large cactus' are starting to bloom.

Day 35 - The heat is back!

2010-05-04T22:46:00.001-07:00

We hit 36C today and it's suppose to be even warmer tomorrow! :) The kids worked on their schoolwork while David & I ran out to do a few errands and pick up some much needed groceries! I know I say it repeatedly, but I cannot get over how much cheaper groceries are here! We enjoyed lunch outside and then everyone was ready to close the books and get in the pool! The rest of the afternoon was splashing around, playing in the pool and laying in the sun.

☀

We enjoyed another evening BBQ - Megan said it was the best steak she's ever tasted (I'd have to agree!)... way to go DADDY!!

We went out for a warm walk (it was still 31C at 7pm) and then an evening swim & hot tub.

What a great day!

Sarah thought these empty pods were very interesting.... and wanted me to take her photo :)

These wispy trees are very interesting in the neighborhood & they are loaded with these yellow/red flowers.

Day 34 - Hangin' in Havasu

2010-05-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

Today we had a big day of school. So nice to have David here to teach too! :) In the afternoon David, Joshua & Megan went quadding - it was a hot day!

Megan & I played Carcassone when they got back; she's determined to beat me! She tied me yesterday and was only 4 points behind today! One of these days she's going to win!! :)

David BBQ'd for dinner and we enjoyed the evening sunset!

Joshua went for a quick dip in the pool before heading to bed :)

Day 33 - Back "home".

2010-05-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

We had a slow start this morning with a very late night yesterday. Well, all of us except for David who's body cannot bear to sleep through an Arizona morning! :) The wind was blowing hard this morning so we drove to church. The rest of the day the wind howled and kept us inside for the most part. The kids played outside with the neighborhood kids, but there wasn't too much we could do out there in those extreme winds. Made for a lazy, relaxing Sunday, which after such a full day was kind of nice :) We even enjoyed a Sunday afternoon nap - ♥

We watched The Amazing Race before bed and got ready for the school week ahead of us. Temperatures are forecasted to soar this week, so we're looking forward to that Arizona heat again!

☀

Day 32 - A trip to Joshua Tree National Park & Palm Springs

2010-05-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

After such a late night the kids were very sleepy this morning. David was up early for his morning bike ride. The mornings here are so beautiful and he enjoys starting his day this way. Joshua was up early, but the girls needed a bit of prodding to get up so we could get going. We packed the cooler with our lunch and got out around 10am and made our way to Joshua Tree National Park. This time we took a different route and went to the North side of the park. Along the way we think we found the official “middle of no-where” :) We also nearly ran over a VERY LARGE snake... eww.... seriously it almost took up the full side of the road (it was stretched out). We came across another one on the way home, but I don't think that one got away. ☹ The North side of Joshua Tree National Park is loaded with thousands of Joshua trees of every shape & size, some amazing rock formations and a beautiful view point overlooking the Coachella valley. From a vantage point of 5200ft. we were able to look down at the Salton Sea which is 235ft below sea-leve, see the San Andreas Fault, and across to two mountain peeks that are 11,000ft high! Amazing elevation changes in a very short distance. After touring the park we made a quick stop at Desert Hill Outlets and had supper in Palm Springs. It was a full and very enjoyable day!

The Colorado River near Parker, AZ.

Train bridge over the Colorado River.

Officially the MIDDLE-OF-NOWHERE.

A critter who popped out of his hole while we were at the visitor's center.

We didn't realize that the Joshua Tree blooms!

So many pretty desert flowers!

Salton Sea

San Andreas Fault

We thought it was quite something to be down in the desert and yet see a snow-capped mountain.

So many of these "piles" of rocks.

If you click on this photo to enlarge it, you'll see a person climbing on there to give you some perspective as to how huge these rocks are. Some of them appear to just teeter up there!!

The kids thought this "cave" looked cool, the thought of rattlesnakes inside kept them from actually crawling in there though.

"Split Rock" - yes, it's called Split Rock.

The kids thought the rock perched up there looked like a diving board. I'm not sure I'd want to picnic at that table below!

The endless rows of windmills near Palm Springs... and yes, it was VERY windy!!

Day 31 - Dinner with friends

2010-04-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

The end of the school week arrived and we were able to be done just after lunchtime. We had a bit of a breezy day today which cooled the pool off a bit. After a BBQ lunch out on the deck, the kids finished up and David took me to Michael’s to get the kids all the art supplies they would need for this year's Art Course. Looks like a fun year ahead of them!! (I knew I’d have a hard time finding the specifics in Fort McMurray). Once we got home we blended up some cold drinks & sat out by the pool - love those kinds of afternoons! The kids have made neighborhood friends, so they were across the street playing basketball for the afternoon. Megan & I played a game of Carcassonne again. Great game! We were all excited to get together with our “American Friends” for a dinner tonight. It’s been so great getting to know Mike & Leslie and now their new little baby girl, Isabella. Such kind, generous people. We had a fantastic time and the kids loved the baby and also their two little dogs!! As we enjoyed a yummy dinner and a patio fire, the time ticked away and before we realized it, it was 11PM! Sarah was fast asleep snuggled up to Megan who was reading and Joshua was tucked in on her other side dozing off. Too cute! We packed up for the evening, bellies full and time well spent with friends & headed home. We look forward to getting together with them again before we leave. Kids crawled into bed, Sarah still fully clothed! We have a field trip tomorrow so it’ll be a short night for them..... perhaps we’ll head out a bit later than planned :)

By the end of the night Sarah fell fast asleep, Joshua tried to open his eyes for the photo :)

awe.

Day 30 - A Little Drizzle

2010-04-29T16:54:00.000-07:00

David got up & went for his morning bike ride ☺. It was a cloudy day today and we wondered if we’d even see a little rain. After school the kids played outside while David was waxing the truck. We began to feel a little sprinkle of rain so Sarah ran and grabbed her umbrella, and yes, she LIVES in that bathing suit!! It didn’t turn out to be much rain, just a few minutes of sprinkles. It was a quiet day at home, pizza for supper & "Survivor night" in the evening with the kids.

I'm thinking this is quite a talent... on a scooter, Megan's size 10 hole-shoes while holding an umbrella! :)

Day 29 - Family Breakfast

2010-04-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

This morning we decided to get up and have a big family breakfast out on the deck. It was a gorgeous morning! We sliced strawberries, whipped cream (by hand!! no mixer) and cooked up some Belgian chocolate chip waffles - delicious!! We got going on school a bit later which ran into the afternoon a little bit. David & Joshua went for a quick quad ride together then is was POOL time!! David did lap after lap after lap after lap!! I think I got stronger just watching him! :) Once the kids jumped in they spent the afternoon, diving, playing their “dart game” and enjoying time together. Everyone finally got out and we had to move quickly to get the kids to youth group. They decided to try out the youth group at the Baptist Church we have been attending. Sarah was even allowed to go which gave David & I an opportunity to head out for a date night! So once the kids were settled in we went out for a nice dinner date. We picked the kids up and they all had a good time. After bedtime snacks they were tucked in. Joshua got up not feeling so well, so we made a bed for him in our room and went to bed early ourselves. It’s amazing how the heat can tire you out! :)

It was a very bright morning... Sarah needed her sunglasses, but chose squinting instead ☺

Day 28 - School & Quad Time

2010-04-27T16:41:00.000-07:00

Kids are doing great with their school work. Megan will be done her Math in the next week or two, and Joshua was thrilled to have completed his novel study unit and have one less thing to do each day! I’m hoping to start the new year with them July 1st as we’re going to run school this year as 3 weeks on and 1 week off for the whole year. This gives us mini breaks all year long and we’ll also take some extra time off once baby arrives. It also will coordinate well with David’s schedule; I love the flexibility we can have. Once school was finished David, Joshua & Megan left for some quadding time. We ate dinner while watching one of the kids’ favorite shows, 18 kids & Counting, and then the kids were back outside playing with friends until the sun went down :).

☀

Day 27 - a morning ride on a smokin' hot day.

2010-04-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

This morning David took Megan & Joshua out quadding early. It was due to be a hot day (we did hit 39C!) and they wanted to not only beat the heat, but also try out a new spot down towards Parker. It didn't end up being the greatest spot (a bit too rocky) so they headed home, unloaded and just drove from the house to their "usual" spot near the house. Joshua cannot get enough of it! Sarah and I worked on school, baked muffins and watched A Baby Story (her favorite show nowadays!)

The afternoon proved the weatherman correct and we hit smokin' hot temperatures in the high 30s and even hit 39C, didn't quite see 40C. The pavement on the deck was burning hot and the pool was perfect. Sarah and I swam for quite awhile & then the hot, sweaty ATVers arrived! That pool sure felt good to them and they wasted no time getting in to cool off! The rest of the afternoon was spent in the pool. The afternoon rolled into evening and David made a BBQ dinner before we went out for our evening stroll. There are no street lights in Havasu (there's actually a 10PM curfew! If the police see kids out past that hour, they will pick them up and take them home) and so once that sun sets it's very dark outside. With that curfew though, the streets and city is very quiet! The kids and Daddy suited up again and enjoyed an evening swim. The hot tub was on and they would sit in there and then dive into the cool pool. It was a great day, fun evening and another late night. The kids fall asleep in no time with all the outdoor activities these days. We sure are having a fantastic time!

All geared up & ready to ride!

You'll have to excuse the video quality, it's just taken off our camera and it's not good at all, but at least it's something :)

We found orange nail polish at Claire's awhile back and it looked awesome against Sarah's tan (although the color of her skin is a bit off here & I was too lazy to edit ☺)

Matching hands AND toes ☺

Beautiful moon-lit walk tonight!

Day 26 - Sunday Service & Amazing Boats!!

2010-04-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

It is so nice to be able to walk to church in the sunshine. We have been attending the baptist church that is down the street from us. After the service this morning and a quick lunch, we made our way down to the lake as this weekend there was a boat show and race. It was ending today so boats were heading out, but we still managed to see some absolutely amazing boats! Some of the race boats do approx. 200 miles per hour and they are too big to travel down the highway on their hulls so they have customized trailers that tilt them up sideways. We were told some of the boats were worth about $1.2 million dollars and the custom trailers about $500,000 (I'm not sure if that includes the trucks they tow them with)! All told, that's close to $2 million per boat; and I thought a Mastercraft XStar was expensive at $80K. We went down to the lake for a walk and it was packed crazy with boats and people. We were thinking it must be insane in the summer, as this is still technically SPRING?! We hit 35C today and with those few days in the high 20s it felt quite hot. We didn't stay too long down at the lake, snapped a few photos of the frenzy and then came home to our pool and all went in for a dip. We enjoyed a vanilla bean frapp while we relaxed by the pool. Joshua met a couple boys in the neighborhood and played basketball in between riding his bike. :) After dinner at the palapa we went for a walk and the kids played outside until it grew too dark.

Note the side by side. This is the preferred second vehicle in Lake Havasu. In Arizona you can license basically anything, even homemade stuff! It's awesome.

Did someone forget to tell these guys there was a recession?

A Spring Sunday afternoon in Havasu. This is in beachcomber channel, not far from the London Bridge.

Where the channel enters the lake.

"The Terminator"

Check out the matching paint job on the semi.

Note the sportbike in front of the boat, I guess if you can do 190 mph on the water you don't want to be left standing still on land! Oh yeah, the sleeper is a small workshop.

Who needs a haircut?

Daddy getting his face free!

"Ta-da!"

Princess Megan enjoying her vanilla bean after a swim.

Cheers to another great day!

☀

Day 25 - Saturday School

2010-04-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

We got up and had school today as we took the day off for our trip to Vegas. Kids worked hard and we were done by lunch time. David & I took a trip to the Walmart Superstore to pick up a few groceries and a movie for a family movie night. They have new release movies for $1 - can't beat that!

The grill was fired up for lunch and we enjoyed burgers out on the deck. After lunch David & Joshua spend a couple hours shopping. MALE shopping: dirtbike and boat stores! The girls stayed home and enjoyed an afternoon of lounging by the pool, reading & relaxing. We also enjoyed the first homemade vanilla bean frapps of the season :) Mmmmm.

The grill was fired up again and we enjoyed jumbo shrimp and veggies for dinner. They were so good! David has become the KING of the grill! We've gotten into the routine of going for a family walk after dinner to enjoy the sunset - it's so beautiful.

We rented the movie Blindside and enjoyed popcorn and time together.

Cheers on a yummy drink!

Sarah's new bathing suit from Vegas :)

Day 24 - school & biking

2010-04-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

School went well today and that in part I'm sure was because the kids knew after school they were off quadding! Funny how that works!

It was a pretty quiet day after our full day in Henderson, but I got some school planning done for "next" year and we enjoyed a quiet family night together.

☀

Day 23 - Vegas trip

2010-04-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

David was up early this morning and took the truck in to Ford to get our oil changed before our trip to Vegas. It took him longer than expected, so we got out a bit later than we hoped, but we still managed to get on the road by 10am. It was due to be a rainy day in Havasu, so we figured this would be a good day for a field trip to Las Vegas. Actually we never actually made it into the city, but went to Henderson (which is where Costco is) and enjoyed the day there. David drove us girls to some stores we were wanting to shop at, we went to visit an outdoor Catcus Garden, took a tour in a chocolate factory and ended with a trip to Costco. We had a great day.

We saw this sign the our first visit to Arizona, but never had the camera out in time to take a shot. We just thought it was hilarious with the slogan "TRY ONE" :)

Ethel Chocolate Factor Tour & Cactus garden. The sun was out so we wandered through the Cactus garden first.

We strolled along and saw so many different varieties of cacti, many of which were blooming.

Some of them were enormous!

It felt like spring with all the pretty flowers.

I thought this was so interesting as the "plant" was basically sticks, but it had these unusual flowers.

The garden was a mixture of cacti and desert plants & trees.

Our best guess was the "rocks" that lined the gardens were lava. They were interesting to look at as well.

This is Megan's favorite cactus, and now we know its name: The Pancake Cactus! ☺

This cactus was called "Rabbit Ears" and it was one cactus you could actually touch, it was soft!

These "twisted" trees were neat, and they blossomed with little yellow buds that almost looked like pom-poms.

You can see that a cactus is actually woody - this is a dead one to show those "stems" of wood inside.

Teddy Bear cactus (but this one didn't look soft at all!)

Missing those flowering cherry trees, it was wonderful so see all the blooms in the garden.

Desert Willow.

The dead cactus isn't very pretty, but is neat to see.

We saw some of these as bushes at the San Diego Zoo. The kids thought it looked like toilet bowl brush! :)

Megan always makes sure to take a picture of us :) It was a cool day in Las Vegas.

The chocolate factory!

Crazy to think delicious chocolate comes from this!

They had a few sculptures that were completely made out of chocolate.

☺

Day 22 - Baby's first quad ride :)

2010-04-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

School seemed to take awhile today. I think after the long break, our brains need to get back into the bookwork groove. ☺ David gave the truck a much needed wash & cleaning this morning! We did stop at a car wash on our travel down to get some of that McMurray muck off of it, but now it looks so much better! David started up the BBQ for lunch and we enjoyed burgers out on the deck in the sunshine again. After lunch there was still a bit of school to do and then once everyone was done, we loaded up and all went quadding. I even took a ride (very slowly & carefully) out with the boys to see the sand dunes. Boy do they have fun rippin’ around in there! It’s really hard for Joshua to handle his dirtbike in the sand so he hoped on the quad with me and took me for a very gentle ride. He was very sweet in how careful he was being. After our ride he thought it was pretty cool that he took his baby brother for his first quad ride in the dunes! :) Although the rain clouds looked heavy above us, we managed to avoid them during our ride and even managed to BBQ for dinner again. We saw in the forecast that rain was arriving tomorrow so we plan to head to Las Vegas for the day. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a couple of field trips in :)

Day 21 - A Windy Day!

2010-04-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

Today we hit the books in the morning and got school done by lunch time. It was a very windy day, so no one played in the pool. After school was finished David, Megan & Joshua went out quadding and Sarah & I did a little shopping. ☺ We had planned on BBQing for dinner (as per usual) but with the crazy winds, David didn’t think the BBQ would stay lit. Instead, we went & picked up pizza and a movie for the night.

Day 20- Back to school

2010-04-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

After a long break, it was time to crack open the school books again. Why is learning so much more enjoyable without the books?! :) After one day, Joshua was thinking we should take the next day off, to have a break! That's our Joshua. :)

Once school was done, the afternoon was spent in the pool again. The boys were feeling a very strong tug to head out quadding, but the afternoon got too late so I'm sure that will be a goal for tomorrow! The BBQ was flashed up again for dinner, our evening family walk and then an evening swim. David loves to swim in the evening with the stars above and the pool lights on. Joshua is just as happy to splash around under the night sky too!

Tonight David went out to take some sunset shots...

Day 19 - Church, Sand & chillin' in the pool.

2010-04-18T09:44:00.000-07:00

David took a quick bike ride this morning to see what time the service started - 10am, so we had to hurry to get ready so we could walk to church and be on time. After church David, Joshua & Megan went riding in the hills & sand dunes near the north end of the lake. Sarah and I stayed home and played in the pool. We thought it was a bit too warm (36C again) to sit by the truck and bake in the sun when we had a refreshing pool to play in. ☺

They got back late in the afternoon; hot, sweaty and ready to jump in the pool & cool off!!

One of Megan's favorite pastimes, reading a book in Grandma Gray's hammock ☺

Day 18 - Hangin' in Havasu

2010-04-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of unpacking, grocery shopping & spending as much time in the pool as possible ☺

We had to stop for an iced mocha in the afternoon.

Arizona, mid-April, 35C

☀

Day 17 - Final day in Goodyear & traveled to Havasu

2010-04-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a bit of a “get-er-done” kind of day. We had to load the truck with the trailer and our storage unit items which took some time. While David, Joshua & Megan did that, Sarah and I did a little shopping at Target ☺ (one of my favorite stores!!) It feels nice to be back in the warm breezes and sunshine of Arizona. We were surprised to learn that San Diego’s average summer temperatures aren’t any higher than ours. We made a final trip to Costco in Goodyear to pick up some items for Havasu and of course some lunch. It was then off to another favorite store, TJMaxx to do an exchange and then off to Estrella Mountain. We wanted to look at a few more homes, but didn’t get to see many as they closed sooner than we hoped. We were finally back on the road, heading West to Havasu! We arrived at the house in Havasu about 10:30PM and David did some amazing maneuvering to squeeze the trailer into the garage!! Kids helped unload what was needed for night and crawled into their beds with very heavy eyelids. My eyelids were involuntarily closing while David's were wide awake with such excitement to be back! Very cute.

No photos today, the last few days had enough to cover a number of days! :)

Day 16 - Ocean Beach & a drive back to Goodyear

2010-04-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a bit of a lazy morning this morning and casually packed up the truck. We went to Ocean’s Beach for awhile, walked the pier, played in the sand & watched the surfers. Then we took a drive to Coronado Island. After a little sight-seeing we set our course back to Goodyear. After a couple of very full days, this one was pretty uneventful :) We stayed at the same hotel we did our first night in Goodyear nearly two weeks ago, and had our final unload at a hotel. We are looking forward to settling into “our” Havasu home for the next month, although we really have a good system down now for hotel stays :)

We enjoyed some exploring at Ocean's Beach.

You can rent fishing rods to fish off the pier, kids had fun watching the fishermen catch *tiny* fish. ☺

The (not too) attractive brown pelican.

Reaching the end of the pier ☺

View from the beach to the pier.

Sarah loved playing in the sand, you can see Joshua "building" a tee for the football kick!

Some beach football!

Statue at Coronado Island

In Yuma on route to Goodyear, the kids used their Starbucks Birthday gift cards to enjoy a cool drink - Thanks Grandma & Grandpa V!!!

Day 15 - San Diego Zoo

2010-04-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

We spent today at the San Diego Zoo. Even though we stayed until well after closing before we got “kicked out” we didn’t get to see all of it. It really is an amazing zoo. The only thing a little disappointing about our time here in San Diego is that coming from Arizona it feels quite cool. When you get used to the low 30s, 18-20C with a breeze off the ocean is almost cold. That being said, we know we’re fairing better than our friends up north :) . The first thing we did was take the bus tour at the zoo to get ourselves somewhat aquatinted with its layout. It was a double-decker bus and of course we sat on the upper deck and we had a good view of many of the exhibits. After the bus we took the “Skyfari” tram, which the kids loved, to the other side of the park and started walking. It’s impossible to list everything we saw, but there were definitely some highlights for the kids. Megan’s favorites were the giraffes and the meerkats. Although she couldn’t feed the giraffes at this zoo, it was a great exhibit that allowed us to get much closer to them than the other zoos we’ve been at. There were also two “babies” which were cute. The meerkats (which I think everyone loved) cracked us up with their smiles and how they “posed” for photos!! Sarah loved the Skyfari, so we did it again at the end of our day. It took us high above the zoo and allowed us a great viewpoint down at all the animal and the park. Sarah’s list of favorite animals was quite long, the polar bears, panda bears, turtles & frogs, but I think her favorite was the sea lion show! Near the end of the show though she got stung on the tip of her nose by a bee :(. Poor thing! The stinger was in there as she tried to cry quietly in the crowd of people watching the show. We pulled the stinger out and she felt better after a short while. Joshua’s favorites included the porcupines, turtles but most of all the cougars. When we got to the cougars there was a family there with a baby. The cougars had heard the baby crying and came right down to the fence, pacing back and forth. Some other small children showed up and you could see that the cougars were transfixed on the little ones! When the parents left with the baby the cougars ran over to the corner of the cage and one of them even jumped up on a log with a snarl as they watched them walk away. It was really neat to observe but at the same time we were very thankful for the fence that separated us. They are a very beautiful & powerful animal and certainly best seen at a zoo! Everyone was exhausted after another full day of walking and after a little dinner it was lights-out! :)

Fun topiary at the entrance :)

No zoo is complete without the peacock!

All aboard for the bus tour!

Then it was off on the Skyfari (Sarah's favorite thing about this zoo)

view from the Skyfari (tram)

Polar Bear Exhibit

Apparently a goldfish (or Koi) will grow as big as the area it is given. These were huge!

Lots of ducklings were wading in the pools.

The panda bear was so cute. The lady chatting about them told us that they are not soft at all, very coarse fur.

The cougars were amazing to watch; Joshua's favorite!

They were fixated on the small children.

The Meerkats were a family favorite!!

The one-horned Rhino - their skin is so unique. Joshua said it looked like they were wearing a suit of armor.

"Birds of Paradise"

Megan's favorite... at every zoo.

All the Koala bears were having a nap :) SO CUTE!!!

Our little critters ☺

At the sea lion show we got to see a bit of a bird show too.... these came right down and just grazed our heads, it was amazing!

We thought this variety of turtle was so unique with it's curled up shell.

This croc looked more like a statue than anything. Joshua was very intrigued with it, especially that snout!

Check it out!

Close buddies.

Day 14 - USS Midway Museum (San Diego)

2010-04-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

We stayed in Yuma last night, got up this morning and drove to San Diego. We went to the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum. As soon as we stepped inside we knew Grandpa Gray would love this tour! We were given headsets for a self-guided audio tour, listening to presentations as we passed by particular areas. We had 60 different stations to visit and we didn’t quite get to see them all in the four and a half hours we were there! We were able to tour around the entire ship, chat with veteran sailors, see several displays of how things worked, take a guided tour on the bridge and look at numerous planes and helicopters on the flight deck. One of the veteran fighter pilots that we chatted with had well over 600 carrier landings! The Midway was in service from 1942 to 1992 and was the first of its class of carriers. It’s quite something to think that there were only 60 years between the shoot-out at the OK Corral and the commissioning of the Midway. What a tremendous advance in technology in a short period of time! Lots of stairs, narrow passageways and tiny sleeping quarters with 4500 on board certainly did not make for a comfortable Tour of Duty. The ship doctor’s said that there were countless head lacerations with sailors constantly banging their heads on things. When you consider separation from family, constant discomfort and the fact that their lives were often at risk, you really start to appreciate the sacrifice these men made. It was a great afternoon and we all really enjoyed it.

There's a lot of pictures here (David had a hard time trimming it down to these 30+!!). Remember too that you can click on the photo to see it in a larger format if you'd like.

Imperial Sand Dunes that seemed to just "appear" out of nowhere between Yuma & San Diego.

San Diego Skyline

USS Midway

Every inch of the ship was used, it was incredible how many of these bunks were stuck here, there and everywhere... and check out the size!!

One of the many, many, MANY hallways!

Wiring Nightmare! As new technology was added to the ship the wiring, etc. kept encroaching on the headspace. We were told when it was new the ceilings had 8' of clearance, but by the time the ship was decommissioned there were places where it was less than 6'.

Debriefing room.

Controls for 1 of the 4 engines.

It takes a while to get a ship this size to change speeds.

USS Midway Statistics

Chapel

Chaplain's Quarters

Ironing anyone?

For a crew of 4500, there were walls of ovens!!

Kitchen Stats

P.O.W. Table.

Please read the above plaque - it is very moving.

Metal Shop

Flight Deck, looking towards the front. There are 3 active aircraft carriers in the distance.

Part of the bridge

F-14 Tomcat

F/A-18 Hornet

Flight Deck looking towards the rear. Off in the distance you can see the bridge to Coronado Island.

USS Midway

Joshua thought it was pretty cool to be able to sit inside a "real" fighter jet!

Day 13 - Tombstone, AZ

2010-04-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

Today we travelled from Tucson to Tombstone, which is only about an hour away. We had a great time walking around Historic Tombstone. It was amazing to go right inside the OK Corral, see where the gunfight took place and watch a reenactment. The gun fight was staged like a drama and was really well done. The kids had to keep checking that the guns were fake and Sarah couldn’t quite seem to grasp that people were being shot, falling to their death, but not dead. Repeatedly she would ask me if it was real. After it was over we were able to take our photos with the Earps & Doc Holiday and that hopefully gave her some reassurance everyone was still alive & well, although now that I think of it, the cowboys that were shot, weren’t there to greet afterwards. ☺ We also got to watch a film on the history of the town, walk through the old streets and ate lunch in one of the old saloons. It was really neat to “experience” the Wild West; it’s hard to believe it all happened only 130 years ago! It’s truly amazing how much the world has changed in the last century. Human nature of course is still the same, but technology seems to be moving at light speed. We left Tombstone late afternoon and headed for San Diego. We drove through pretty mountain ranges, valleys covered with hundreds of catcuses and had a front row seat to another spectacular sunset.

The only building in Tombstone that survived both town fires.

Two of the Earp brothers.

The gunfight reenactment was excellent.

Doc Holiday, the Earp brothers... and visitors from the future.

The actual spot where the gun fight took place. In the foreground is the map Wyatt Earp drew after the fight.

Joshua & Megan attempting to lasso a bull :)

Cowboy Josh!

Tombstone Courthouse.

This is where we had our lunch :)

A little petting zoo.

A fun, full day of walking about - Sarah is looking tuckered (she had a good sleep once we were back in the truck ☺)

Picacho Peak

Day 12 - Leaving Goodyear

2010-04-11T22:10:00.001-07:00

This was a crazy morning. Even though we were up until midnight last night packing, we still were up by 7am busy getting stuff to the storage unit and packing suitcases for road trip. We decided we didn’t want to take everything with us so when we’re stopped in busy cities, we don’t have much in the back of the suitcases. So it took a bit of extra planning to pack clothes and items for these upcoming six days and get everything else into storage in Goodyear. Obviously we didn’t want to pull the trailer either, so we’ll head back through Goodyear to pick everything up as we make our way next week to Lake Havasu City. We had to be out of the rental by 10am and we also wanted to get to Harvest Baptist Church for one more Sunday, so the time crunch was on! We managed to get to church *only* 10 minutes late. It is the friendliest church we have ever been in! Such wonderful people, very sincere with a love for Jesus that shines brilliantly. After church we realized we forgot the burgers David had BBQ’d that morning for lunch in the fridge so we quickly popped by to get them from the fridge. It worked out perfectly as we were able to quickly heat them up, take them outside and enjoy a “tailgate lunch” :). The kids were able to play a little more at the park and then we did some sight-seeing up around Estrella Mountain. It is another beautiful community with a fantastic park and two golf courses. We enjoyed our time looking at show homes and the area. Joshua & Sarah were getting antsy to get back on the road so by about 4pm we pulled out and headed to Costco for an early dinner, ice cream treat to cool off and set the GPS for Tucson, AZ. It wasn’t a very long trip, only about two and half hours. In that time Sarah had guzzled a large water bottle and was anxiously needing a bathroom. We finally pulled off and found a Circle K. Feeling very relieved, she said “my uterus feels so much better.... no I mean my udder!” We all had a good chuckle and explained to her it’s actually her bladder that is feeling better. :) We pulled in to the Days Inn at Tucson and got the truck reorganized from the mess it was in and settled in for the night. We’re looking forward to our exploration tomorrow :)

We enjoyed fruit salad nearly every morning, this morning we had some vanilla bean ice cream that needed to get eaten before heading out - no one complained :)

The entrance into Palm Valley where we stayed this week.

The city has done an amazing job with the medians, so beautiful with all the shrubs and palms.

At Estrella Mountain - one of the lakes and part of the water park.

While David was at the information center the kids decided to have a little game of soccer. The palm trees on each end made perfect goal posts!

Sarah finding a little shade to cool off.

Megan dipping her feet in the cool water.

At a pit stop on route to Tucson, AZ.

Between Phoenix & Tuscan... incredible sunsets night after night.

☀

Day 11 - outlets in Anthem, AZ

2010-04-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

We started the day with a little school and then were off to the Outlets in Anthem. What a beautiful place Anthem is! You can imagine how Joshua felt about shopping {again} so he & David brought their bikes along and after a little look around and some lunch, they ventured out and explored a nearby park. After a nice ride, they came back to pick us girls up at the mall. We found a darling little baby shop, and the girls helped me pick out a couple of little things for the baby. We also came across the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and after the boys joined us we purchased {and enjoyed!!} a couple of amazing chocolate caramel apples! After our treat, David drove us over to the park that they had biked around. It was one of the most beautiful parks we have ever seen with so my activities available to the community residence: basketball, beach volleyball, soccer, baseball, tennis, roller hockey rinks, huge playground, catch-and-release fishing pond, water park, train (similar to Stanley Park) for the kids, skate park - it was incredible!! We got back to Goodyear and started supper while the kids played with their new friends in the neighborhood. It’s amazing how quickly friendships are formed. After gobbling down their dinner, they were back out until the sun was no longer visible, stars were out and the streets were dark. Joshua called over the walkie-talkie “Mom, can I go scorpion hunting with Justin?” HA, not something you get asked every day! After seeing a scorpion on the doormat this morning I was quick to answer no! Apparently these kids have a black light that they use to shine about and a glowing green means there’s a scorpion. Their technique is to grab the scorpion by its tail and then they collect them in jars which they were quite excited to show the kids, claiming that they’ve really only been stung or bitten once. Once the kids were back home they helped as we continued to pack up the house for our last night - it was a late night for everyone as we had to be out of the house by 10am the next morning. We’ve had a great stay again in Goodyear and wish we had more time. Next time we’re down we’ll plan more than the one week we had this time.

A window shot at a few of the choices....

The kids picked "Rocky Road" and "Avalanche" - SO good!!

Anthem had a lot of cactuses - the kids like this series of 3 :)

There are so many different shapes & sizes!!

A little petting zoo in the parking lot at the outlets.

We stopped at the huge park and let the kids run off a bit of energy before heading home.

Little pond beside the playground.

Day 10 - an afternoon in the sun and sand

2010-04-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

We were up early again this morning (why can’t I sleep in?!) and got a start on school. I should clarify that “we” was me, Joshua & Sarah; David & Megan seem to be able to sleep in much longer than the rest of us. For Megan it’s the teenager excuse, for David it’s trying to sleep with me in a queen bed and all my pillows! HA. I think once I get out of the bed, he can *finally* stretch out, have some space and sleep! We are looking forward to “our” king bed in Havasu! It’s hard to focus on school with that sunshine streaming in the windows, the quails making their morning call and beckoning us outdoors... but we pressed through and got {most of it} completed. David went for a bit of a bike ride after helping the kids with their math and we finished up while he was gone. David went to pick up the trailer while the kids splashed for a couple hours in the pool and we enjoyed some sunshine. Once back, David whipped up a delicious iced coffee/mocha for everyone, packed up our lunch and water and we were off to the desert! An afternoon FULL of quadding in the sandy trails, temperatures in the low 30s, sunshine beating down on us - a perfect day! We applied and reapplied sunscreen, but still all came home a little pink and a lot dusty! It was around 6:30 by the time we got home and we fired up the grill for an evening BBQ and some America’s Funniest Home Videos! Everyone savored their burgers, put their feet up and enjoyed some down time. It was a full day and we were all ready for sleep. Actually David is snoring on the couch as I write this post ☺. Typically we walk down to the pool to get online (there’s a hot spot there and no wireless internet in the house), gather our email, and post our blog for the day. I think a nice bath and a cool bed is going to win out tonight. We hear that Fort Mac is getting 20-30cm of snow this weekend and it’s already falling -- sure makes being here all the sweeter! ☺

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Tomorrow is our last full day here and we pull out Sunday morning to continue on our journey.

Morning pool time ☺

Megan is a good sport and lets Sarah dunk her, climb all over her and gives her rides through the deep end too :)

ahhh... soaking up the sun.

A nice decision to be faced with.

There's a belly photo for you Julie! :)

Joshua loving the jumps!

Josh & Megan at the pit stop :)

That, was a good ride!

Sarah taking Megan out for a little spin.

Day Nine - Some Expected & Unexpected Excitement

2010-04-08T20:59:00.001-07:00

We seem to enjoy the routine of getting up for family breakfast & out for a morning walk. Today it was particularly warm out which we knew meant a hot one in the afternoon. This causes David great happiness. :) We decided to make our way out to Arizona Mills, which is a big, indoor outlet mall. Joshua & David weren’t as excited about it as us girls were, but they were good sports. I was in desperate need of summer maternity clothes and Sarah had her hopes set high for her Arizona highlight - getting her ears pierced. Her attempt to get them pierced three years ago didn’t work out well for her, and she’s been asking ever since to get them done again. The deal was that as soon as she was able to stop her habit of biting her nails she would be able to get her ears pierced. She has conquered that habit and done very well for a few months now, so she was over the moon to see Claire’s at the mall. She walked right up to the cashier, asked them her list of questions (among them.... can I still go in the pool?) and proudly sat on the chair with a little whisper to me.... “Mom, can you hold my hand?”. In her nervousness she chatted non-stop to the lady getting everything all ready. OK, Sarah talks non-stop regardless of what is going on, but this was in particular a lot of chatter, even for her! It was very cute to watch her great excitement build along with the nerves. She did awesome and the lady doing the piercing was fast & wonderful. For Sarah, this was a great day!! We continued to race through the stores as we knew our time was limited with the boys ready to go after an hour or so :) Everyone was pleased with their purchases (we even bought baby-boy Gray a couple of onesies) and we set the GPS to home where David whipped up some yummy fruit smoothies and we sat in the hot sun. It was at this very moment we heard someone outside hooking up our trailer to their truck!! Off we went around to the front only to find that our trailer was being impounded. UGH. Apparently the owner of the rental thought it was OK for us to park our trailer on the gravel area, and obviously this was not the case. Thankfully (we try to always look on the bright side, right?) we caught him in time and didn’t have to pay the full impound fee. So once we got all that settled we had to head to the storage unit to rent a space to store the trailer. This wasn’t a huge deal as we knew we were going to drop it off next week as we head out for a week to San Diego (and areas), it just caused a bit of a scramble, which one does try to avoid during a holiday :) We’re looking forward to a slower day tomorrow, that I am sure will involve some sun soaking, quad riding, cold drink sipping, good times! As for the rest of the night, we’re going to enjoy a late dinner and watch the sunset. Even though it was a bit of a crazy day, it was still a great one!!

The "Before" shot...

first one down, one more to go....

Yahoooooo!!!

Sorry about the sun glare, but Esther loves to be informed ☺

Day Eight - School, Errands & Major Pool Time!

2010-04-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

This morning we cracked open those school books for a bit and got some general schooling done. I think while we’re here, we’ll focus on the basics which allows us to be done within an hour or two. While the kids finished up their school work, David & I headed out to run a few errands and pick up some lunch. When we got home the kids were already down and in the pool. It was a warm day again with temperatures climbing a bit each day. After lunch David was out again to pick up the kids’ bikes from the storage unit and pick up a tool he needed to tighten Joshua’s new purchase - a trick bike! He used his Christmas & birthday money and he was pretty excited to purchase it! We hung out some more at the pool (hours were spent here today) and when David got home we fired up the grill again and BBQ’d up some chicken. Kids wanted to have another evening swim before bed, so down we went before getting them into bed and off to dreamland :) Although when the time came to get into the pool, it was just the boys who went in :)

The new bike!

David's evening ritual... photographing the sunset.

☀

Day Seven - Walks, Shops & Pool Time

2010-04-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

After breakfast this morning we went out for a morning walk. This is our first experience in a gated community and it’s nice to have everything so clean & tidy with great walking trails, although all of Goodyear has amazing paved & landscaped trails complete with parks with every subdivision. Even those that they have yet to build have the landscaping & walkways put in! I guess with the recession the building has really slowed down. Someone was telling David how Goodyear was booming and growing like crazy 2 years ago and now some of the retail and lease complexes have never had owners in them. After our walk we had some errands and shopping to do. We found a great store much like our Winners called TJ Maxx and it had some amazing deals. No maternity clothes, so I think we’ll hit the outlet malls later this week. The truck seemed to gravitate to all the ATV shops and the kids (and Daddy!) had fun looking at the “toys” :). We got home and David fired up the grill for some burgers outside on the deck. The wind was a bit chilly so we sat around the gas fire pit for awhile before heading inside. The kids decided they wanted to go for an evening swim so we went down to the pool for a bit too. They didn’t last too long... I think everyone was tuckered from the full day and ready to find their pillow!

Yes, she walks to the pool like this ☺

Heading down to the pool...

On our morning walk.

Trying on funky hats.

Why only one when you could wear two?

Day Six - Quad Riding & Pool cooldown.

2010-04-05T16:52:00.001-07:00

This morning Joshua & Sarah were up early with me, so we let Daddy & Megan sleep in and went out for a morning walk. I think back to my morning walks with David after he got off the bus and we were all bundled up.... what a difference to be in a tank top at 7:30 in the morning! We enjoyed a yummy breakfast together & then everyone was anxious to get loaded up and off to the sand trails with the ATVs. It took a bit of time to get to the storage unit, load up, fuel up, go back for the helmets (oops), and get on the road, but well worth the effort. Everyone had a blast and got some color on their skin! It was quite windy out there, but it didn't seem to slow them down at all. Joshua even found a jump area with David and they paced it off to see he made 8 feet of air! He thought that was pretty cool!

Everyone was hot, dusty and sweaty so once we made it back to the house, we cleaned up a bit and then made our way to the pool. Although it's nice to have a pool in your own backyard, the kids have enjoyed the HEATED pool in our gated community, and it's much bigger. There's also other kids to play with which has been fun for them.

After sitting in the storage unit for a few months, the quad took some effort to get started. After some pushing and a number of attempts, they got it running.

Sarah wishes she could go all by herself. She can drive on her own, but Daddy or one of the kids ride with her.... just in case :)

Megan loves to take off and explore new trails. Today she found an old car in the sand!

Sarah hanging out and waiting for a turn. She was getting pretty hot so borrowed Megan's hat for awhile.

End of another great day.

☀

Day Five - Easter Sunday in Goodyear, AZ

2010-04-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

We awoke to clear, blue sunny skies and enjoyed a great Easter service at Harvest Baptist Church. After the service we got unpacked into our rental home and then lounged by the pool for a little R&R. OK, the kids swam, but David fell asleep on the lounge chair (and burnt his head!). We flashed up the BBQ for supper - we’ve been waiting for that for 3-1/2 months! A very relaxing & enjoyable day. Also a day of great significance as we remember history’s most important moment. It was very cute this morning at the hotel for breakfast. Sarah was very vocal in her prayer of thanksgiving & we’re quite sure everyone in the dining area heard an Easter sermon even if they didn’t go to church today! :) Happy Birthday Grandma V!!

The view from our hotel window this morning.

A new friend who welcomed us into our rental :)

Bougainvillea in our backyard.

Palms by the pool.

Megan chillaxin' before jumping in.

No chillaxin' - straight into that pool!

Joshua not waiting for anything!

Our backyard overlooks a golf course.