Arizona Day 7

Baseball! We went to Surprise to watch a game between the Texas Rangers and the Colorado Rockies. We also visited an excellent outlet mall but I don't have any pictures of all our shopping bags!

Bob caught a baseball during warmups. 

Somewhere in that sea of people by the dugout is Jenn getting her baseball signed by 4 of the players. 

We also met up with an old friend of Bob's family. As soon as I get the photo from Bob I will put it on here.  It was a fun game!

Arizona Day 6

It was Wednesday and we decided to take it easy.  Bob explored the area while I took Maria grocery shopping and the girls swam. Maria had class in the afternoon. It was a very relaxing day with a visit to a famous Scottsdale ice parlor, The Sugar Bowl. The girls laughed so hard they cried!  They were laughing at me while I tried to take pictures. 

Day 5

Today we went to the airplane boneyard in Tucson. It was fascinating! We saw rows and rows of planes awaiting future use or repurposing. I had planned to lunch in Tucson at another fabulous place but, alas, my plans where squashed yet again. Tickets for the tours are only available at the museum so its first come first served.  ( I think this is absolutely preposterous and ridiculous. How can you plan anything if you don't even know when you can see the place until you get there?) We arrived at 9:50 but couldn't get a tour until 1:30.  We hung out at the museum and took he smaller tram tour while we waited. We also ate at the restaurant at the museum. Here are the pictures. It was very educational but not my favorite day mostly because my time schedule was at the mercy of the museum. 

 

Arizona Day 4

Today we left our cute little cabin. 

Last night we took a hike through the woods and flatlands around the cabin. On Friday night we had seen at least 50 elk and we were hoping to see them again. We only saw one but spotted plenty of gophers, rabbits and birds. 

From the cabin we traveled north to the Grand Canyon. We have been there before but we couldn't pass up a chance to see it's splendor when we were only 90 minutes away!

We hiked the Bright Angel Trail into the canyon. 

This is a very well traveled trail used by the famous Grand Canyon mules. While we hiked we had to sidestep mule poop! Bob and I made it to almost the half mile point and then turned around to make the uphill climb back out of the canyon. The twins hiked down over a mile! 

After the Grand Canyon we headed south to Phoenix passing through Williams, Arizona. We were ready to eat a late lunch and I had researched another Food Network restaurant. I led the family to the Red Raven. 

It didn't look flashy or spectacular. I quickly did a search on my phone and realized we were in the wrong restaurant. We decided to stay anyway and had really great food! If you're in Williams eat at Red Raven and have the pork sandwich. 

Maria lives in Phoenix and we will see the sites during the day while she is in school. We checked into our hotel and I have to admit I was giddy to see the plush bed after spending the weekend in the cabin!

And the twins were equally happy to discover our hotel is hosting 2 different high school baseball teams!!

Arizona Day 3 Ballooning!!

Unbelievable! Exceptional! Bucket list! There are so many words that could describe our experience. We had to leave our cabin at 5am to make it to our ballooning site by 6am but was worth it. Ill just let the pictures describe our adventure. 

After our ballon ride we were greeted on the ground with champagne, muffins and fruit. That was the best food we ate all day!!

Arizona Day 2

Today we hiked to the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This beautiful church is built into the red rocks of Sedona. You can drive up the mountain to see it or you can hike a 4.5 mile loop on the Little Horse Trail and Chapel Trail. We hiked! We have great pictures on the good camera (not iphone) that I will add when we get home. It was a gorgeous day and we all got a little sunburned. Our legs hurt too after that hike!  The church itself was something we won't forget. 

After our hike we spent the rest of the day in Sedona. We shopped and ate another great mexican meal. My whole idea of visiting restaurents from the Food Network each day went out the window. In order to continue with my plan we would have had to leave the main area of Sedona and we weren't willing to do that just for a restaurant. So on days were we don't make it to my planned restaurant I'll just let you know if the establishment we did visit would be worth a spot on any of the Food Network shows. Taos Cafe gets a big thumbs up from me. I had the most creative salad called a Taco Wedge. Delicious!

Arizona Day 1

ÎThe twins are on spring break so we traveled to Arizona to see Maria. After arriving in Phoenix, we picked up Maria and headed north to Flagstaff. We are renting a cabin for the weekend. 

Our cabin is behind all the trees. It's really cool in the inside. Everything is made of wood!  

Bob enjoying the front porch. 

View from the porch. 

The owner raises chickens and these eggs were waiting for us. Aren't they pretty?

For dinner we checked out a restaurant featured on the Food Network. My plan is to eat at one we have seen on TV every day. We went to Salsa Brava. It was excellent just like Guy Fieri said it would be!

And on the way home we saw at least 50 elk in our front yard!

Thankful in March

It doesn't have to be Thanksgiving for you to be thankful. Yesterday Bob had a meeting in Chicago so I rode along. We also took his parents so they could visit with friends and Bob's older brother. The twins stayed home to go to school and track practice. I left plenty of food in the fridge but I think they had slurpies from the gas station for dinner.That's ok sometimes!

I had to pick up my passport in downtown Chicago at the Brazilian embassy so Bob dropped me off in the city before he and his parents headed to the suburbs. (We had originally planned a trip to Brazil in January. I had to get a visa for travel. We didn't end up going but my passport was already being processed before the change of plans. So my passport was at the consulate and could only be picked up in person from 12pm to 1pm. There are lots of rules!) 

I had an entire day all by myself in downtown Chicago!!!!!!!!!!! I am so thankful!

And here is how I spent my day...

1. Stopped in at Target. City Target is much different than suburb Target. Prices were much higher on everything. It's a two story store with a very cool escalator just for carts. I bought a pack of gum and I'm thankful I shop at Target in the suburbs and not the city. 

2. I had an awesome coupon for Carson Pierre Scott. $50 off any clothing purchase of $50 or more. Carsons used to be a great Midwest department store. We have a fairly good one in Indy with 3 floors and lots of merchandise. The only one I could find in downtown Chicago was 11 blocks from Target and very tiny. You could see the entire "department" store and all its contents from the entrance. I had a hard time spending that coupon!! With the deduction of my discount I spent a total of $1.60 and walked out with a bag full of socks and tshirts. I'm thankful I am a smart shopper.

3. I took a cab to the Brazilian embassy  because it was 17 blocks from Carsons. I'm thankful I didn't have to walk.

4. I arrived WAY before 12pm for my passport pickup time. I'm thankful I have an iPhone to keep me occupied while waiting. 

5.  After leaving the embassy I started walking north on Michigan Ave. After 2 blocks I realized I had left my Carsons bag on the bench at the embassy! All that shopping would go to waste! I went back and found my bag and I'm thankful it was still there.  

6.  I walked to Ann Taylor to spend another $40 off coupon. I found nothing so I gave my coupon to another lady. She was thankful. 

7. I spent the rest the day in my favorite store. Marshall Fields (Macy's) on State Street. I love that place. I spent the rest of the afternoon casually shopping and I'm thankful that store has never closed even when Macy's took it over. 

8. My final destination was the Art Institute. Bob picked me up at the entrance to the modern art wing. I'm thankful they have comfortable couches by their entrance because I really needed a break!

Time to clean

The other day I was just hanging out in my kitchen. It was a beautiful sunny day. The sun was shining in every window. I took a long sip of my coffee and looked up. I saw this...

Look at all the dust on that light! I'm not a bad housekeeper so I was appalled at the sight. It's time for spring cleaning!

Tonight we watched the Pacers beat the Knicks at the Fieldhouse in Indy. We had a great time. This is the first time the twins have seen a professional basketball game. Now they are real hoosiers!

I am getting good at taking "selfies".

Jenn and Leah are so cute! 

We got on the jumbo screen!!

Welcome to Indiana

Bob has been traveling for the past 3 weeks. He has been to Finland, Spain, Switzerland, France and Portugal. He has been home 12 hours and just made it in time to deal with 7+ inches of snow. Welcome home Bob!