Sweet Friendship

 A dash of cute to brighten your day!

(Thanks, Sara!)

Awesome Arizona!

If we hadn't already had a big enough week - driving to Medieval Times on Thursday, going to Disneyland on Friday - Violet and I were also busy packing for our weekend adventure.

Stace took us to Burbank Airport on Saturday morning for our flight to Phoenix, where Sara and Alli picked us up for a fun girls' weekend getaway!

Once back in their hometown of Gilbert, we went to the cute old town area, where we had a yummy lunch at Joe's Real BBQ.

After lunch, we went home and chatted, while the girls played. Then, Sara and I had naps! I'm not good at napping, but I needed this one!

That evening, Tony made a lovely charcuterie board.

Sunday afternoon, we went to the lovely new regional park in Gilbert that we visited in October, when Christina, Cami and Melanie were with us all.

These two have such a sweet friendship!



















I love this pic Sara got of Violet trying to take a selfie with her polaroid camera. She hasn't used this much in recent months, but was very excited about bringing it on this trip. We ordered new film and a new carrying case on Amazon while we were having our Dole Whip at Disneyland, and had the order delivered to Sara's house.

On Sunday night, Sara, Tony and I went to their favorite sushi place, where they have Happy Hour all day on Sunday. It was yummy, and so inexpensive!

Back at the ranch, Alli and Vi had s'mores, and then watched Harry Potter outside.

On Monday, after we got packed up, we went to Top Golf, a fun place that Sara and Alli had taken Violet to when she flew out on her own to visit them.

It's a driving range, with electronically monitored balls and points awarded for hitting the ball into targets.

We then went to an Ethiopian restaurant, a place special to Alli and family because of her Ethiopian heritage. I enjoyed the meal very much, and especially enjoyed learning about the cuisine.

 We then headed to another cool park, with this giant climbing structure.

And then, it was time to say goodbye and head back to the airport! What a fun weekend! 

Girly Getaway

 Violet and I had a great adventure over the weekend with Christina and her girls. We flew out Friday night to Phoenix to spend time with Sara and Tony and their girls, and then drove home Sunday in a car Christina got from a family member.

Cami and I sat together...

 ...and Christina sat with Violet and Melanie. Melanie was nervous about flying, and Violet helped comfort her. Christina said it was very sweet to watch them together.

We got into Sara and Tony's around 10, and had a late night catching up. It was so great reconnecting again!

 In the morning, the girls enjoyed a pancake breakfast - thanks, Tony!

We then hit up Sonic for half-price slushes, which we took to a beautiful new park that had just opened in Gilbert.

Since it was Arizona in October, it was in the upper 80s. Not too hot to be outside, but the slushes definitely were a necessary treat!

We then went into Gilbert's cute older (and revitalized) downtown area for lunch.

 Love this friend!

 Liberty Market had great food, and was a former small grocery store. This odd small window was where the shopping carts used to be pushed in.

Love this friend, too!

 We then said farewell to Christina and her girls, who went to visit other family, and walked around the stores. I had to grab a pic at the "SoCal Fish Taco Company."

 Sara has such a great eye for photos! Love this one, just in between two buildings! Thanks for all the pics, Sara.

We went back to the house, rested, and hung out the rest of the evening. Vi and Alli did their nails.

On Sunday morning, we went to their church, which reminded me a bit of Real Life. Then Tony took us to meet back up with Christina, and we were off on our long drive home.

It was a great weekend!

Bearizona!

On our last day of our vacation, Grandma and Grandpa wanted us all to experience Bearizona, a drive-through wildlife park they'd visited with Melanie and Nick a few years ago.

You first drive through various areas, where the animals are separated by species. Here are some adorable bears.

The wolves were awesome to see.

Mountain goats!

You then park and enter the rest of the attraction, with smaller animals on display, a bird show, and a petting zoo. Violet took this photo of  Joe the turkey.

The youngest bears were in this area, too. Look high in the trees. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's.. a baby bear! This, despite the wraps around the trees at the bottom to try to prevent the bears from climbing them.

Cora bonded with this gorgeous jaguar.

We then started on our long drive home. The girls stayed busy watching movies on their personal DVD players we bought as a family Christmas gift. The sound of silence from the girls across the 430 miles was quite a gift to us! We were home before 9 p.m. - not too shabby.

Jerome Joys

 On Sunday morning, we packed up at Sara and Tony's and headed two hours northwest to the old copper mining town of Jerome.

We'd all been here as teenagers, but our kids haven't been. We checked out the old mining equipment but decided to ski the actual museum in favor of lunch and wandering.

We had lunch at the Mile High Grill behind us. Jerome is that high up, set in the hills with the red rocks of Sedona visible in the distance.

Shopping...

 The best shopping was at the old-fashioned candy store, of course.

 We bought a pack of candy cigarettes, and then did what you do when you have candy cigarettes.

 Especially when you're really a bunch of goody-two-shoes.

I can't look at this photo without laughing. I see Alli, and wonder how the heck this 9-year-old knows how to pose like this. Then I see the other three bigger girls, all pulling off smoking way too well.

And then I look at Violet. Mouth full. Crunching sugar. Like she just couldn't wait another few seconds for the photo to be taken.

After saying goodbye to our friends, we drove to our hotel in Flagstaff and headed to the Cornish Pasty Co., where we had dinner and played pool. We went here last year, too, so I think we can safely call it our local now.