Pancake Chef

Doug has been on a little pancake making binge, cooking up a storm. We found pancake batter that squeezes out of a whipped cream can at Cosco, so they started with that. When those were gone I showed him how to make batter from a mix(we'll move to scratch later). Yesterday he added strawberries, and plans on blueberries for today. He enjoys cooking to order, and made a well done pancake for Nana the other day. Next lesson: how to clean the kitchen.

down by the river

We took a walk to the river this morning. The boys got new fishing pole the other day, so they wanted to try them out. There was a nice log to sit on and watch.

Our river access point is where people drop in their kayaks and canoes. The boat had just gotten in the water. There's a new place in town for renting kayaks and canoes, so we'll be checking that out for sure!

Max is taking a break from fishing to have a little chat with Nana.

The cactus are starting to bloom!

visitors

My parents are in town for a quick visit this weekend. We have spent most of our time by the pool. Water has to be pretty warm for mom to get in. Today's water temp: 87!
Cathy, are you looking?

Sedona Hike

Took a nice hike yesterday with my friend Mary in Sedona at Boynton Canyon. We didn't take the trail we meant to, but who cares. We hiked for almost four hours(a little longer than intended) with a sandwich break in the middle.

We thought we were in the middle of nowhere, but then all of a sudden we saw a golf course through the brush. That's kinda how Sedona is. It can be a little weird, but I like it anyway.

This dying Prickly Pear cactus looked cool to me with the dirt on it.

Some Agaves in the forest. Very diverse plant life around here.

Our hike took us along a dry creek bed-awesome! Got a few rocks(duh).

The trees were really cool yesterday. I got some close ups of their different bark. I feel a project coming on now.

This bark looked like mosaic tile.

Great day. We probably hiked close to eight miles. At least it felt like we did. Most of the uphill was on the way out, so the trip back was much faster.

pool progress

I painted the wall around the pool purple the other day. I like it. Eric was doubtful(silly man), but he likes it too! There's just enough dirt between the fence and the deck to plant a few things. I'm thinking Agaves.
Current pool temp: 81 :)

chickies

The Chickies are growing really fast. Most of their feathers have grown in, and their feet seem huge! Today Eric is going to put up a fence with a chicken wire roof for a little chicken yard. When they're small, hawks and other birds of prey can scoop them up if they're not protected outside. We have been letting them out, but have to watch them. Can't do that all day.

Grand Canyon Hike

Suzy took these pictures on our hike in the GC. The tree was shot on the way back up during one of our many breaks.

We were pretty near the top here. As we hiked, the color of the dirt changed with our altitude. Kinda like walking through eons. On the way back up, we were psyched when the dirt turned from the reddish color to a lighter shade of beige.

A little stretch on the way down. We had just begun at this point. If you click on the photo above, you can see a line of trees way far down on the left edge, just below the tree branch. That is Indian Gardens, where we had lunch.

Nice Pics Sooz, thanks!

house guests

After our trail ride down in Black Canyon City, we headed north to a little larger canyon. On Thursday, Suzy and I hiked about halfway down the Bright Angel Trail, to a camp called Indian Gardens where we had lunch and a little sit down. It was 4.5 miles each way. Let me tell you, the hike back up seemed WAY longer!! It took us 2.5 hours to hike down and 3.5 hours to hike back up. Lots of breaks to catch our breath. I think we made good time! I didn't feel like lugging the D70, so Suzy took all the pics. When I get some, I will post.

Here we are Cathedral Rock. I know I keep posting pics of it, but it is a beautiful place, and really easy to get to.

When you hand the camera to strangers, you don't always get the picture you were thinking about. I personally would have included the rock in the background. Oh well. I'm not lacking in Cathedral Rock photos. By the way, I found a hat. It was the one I had seen last summer at a Dairy Queen up north of Sedona in Oak Creek canyon. Yee Ha!

The three amigos. The sun was in everyone's eyes. They had a good time together. My boys were sad to see Ben leave, but glad their friend got to come and see where they live, meet some friends, hang out and do AZ stuff.

I have no idea what this non picture is about. If I could figure out how to cut it, I would. Now that I published the post, the picture showed up, but I can't seem to cut it. Oh well. Three amigos time two!

We were up in Jerome in front of the Gold King Mine, when the Hummingbirds were all over this one feeder. Pretty cool. I put a feeder outside our front window. I saw a hummingbird near it the other day, but not at it. I might have to move it to a tree or something.

Besides our house guests, we had some day visitors in the past couple weeks. Karen came up on her way to Flagstaff to visit her sister, and bought this Goddess pendant9among other things). It was great to see her, and get caught up on Dawes(she is the principal there). I forgot to get a picture for the blog-sorry Karen!! Thanks for stopping by. Next time I will remember to pull out the D70(i have been slacking a little lately).

In between our trail ride and the Grand Canyon, my long time friend Dorothe' and her two daughters, Lillian and Ann Marie stopped for a quick visit. They were staying in Sedona. The girls enjoyed the baby chicks, and had fun with the boys. While they were here, the pool guy came to start up the pool, so it was a little crazy. Again, I forgot to get some pics-Sorry!!

So, we had a great time with our house guests. It was the first time we had people stay for that length of time(besides family), and it worked out really well. I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time.

Thanks for coming out guys!! I hope you visit again. The pool will be ready for sure-and warm :)

Thanks to everyone for purchasing all the jewelry-enjoy!!

Pool Progress

Just a quick entry, American Idol is coming on and I MUST watch! The pool was swimmable(is that a word?) just in time for our house guests(more on that later), but the water is COLD. This Thursday, they will install the solar panels, so hopefully it will warm up quickly.

Trail Ride

We have some visitors staying with us this week, so we're off doing Az things. Yesterday we took a trail ride at the Canyon Creek Ranch in Black Canyon City, about 40 miles south of CV. Let me just say, I had a BLAST!! I think everyone else enjoyed themselves too :)

Over the river, and through the desert. The cactus aren't blooming quite yet, but there were lots of wildflowers(and dust).

We rode for awhile, then stopped to have lunch, throw some axes, shoot some guns, and rope some "cattle". Max and Ron are giving roping a shot here.

Check out the rock painting-AWESOME! Jerry, one of our guides, said it's about 250 years old.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE the Giant Saguaros? I have a few photos of them, so I will be posting more:)