Red Rock Crossing with BOYS

Yesterday, we went to another well travelled spot in Sedona, Red Rock Crossing at Crescent Moon Ranch, or as i like to call it, Cathedral Rock. I did not photograph Cathedral Rock yesterday, we were a little farther down the path, so we had a side view. Lots of crazy boy energy yesterday, since I had four of them with me. This was actually towards the end of our day, in between rope swinging. The boys found the cat tails quite entertaining, in a few different ways. After they held them in various perverted positions, they proceeded to shred them and throw the fuzz in the water. Doug referred to this as 'pollinating'.

When I wasn't throwing the rope to people, i was chilling on this nice rock in the water, snapping pics, and enjoying the sunshine, nice breeze, and fabulous view :-)

Fun at the rope swing! We spent most of the day here, but took a couple snack breaks and some little hikes. There used to be another rope swing in the woods upstream a little, but there was just a broken rope yesterday...:-(

I'm still playing with the new camera. I had it on sport mode here.

Doug had some good air!

They climbed up this rock face for a little out of the water time.

Lifeguard poses...

Rick found a little dead trout that they named Hank, and had a little fun with. Hank was good for at least 40 minutes of pure entertainment.

On our way back throught the woods to the car, Max caught Jorge, who was also a great source of entertainment before we said goodbye, and left him in his woodsy home by the creek.

Jorge was very accomodating when the boys wanted him as living jewelry.

Another great field trip in AZ in the books!

Last week, we took a little field trip to Slide Rock State Park, in Oak Creek Canyon. Yes, it's touristy and crowded, but the cityfolk in us doesn't mind that once in awhile :-) We took a short hike upstream, and there was noone around :-) You have to get there on the early side, or the parking lot fills up. the day we went it was cloudy, adn rained a little, so we spent most of the day out of the water.

Takin a litlle hike, and searching for lizards.

Found this old house...

Good lizard catching here.

We found this little secret spot with ripe blackberries! My lens was wet, but I thought the shot looked cool.

This century plant looks like it had tipped over before blooming, but the flower stalk is reaching for the sky anyway.

Nice view on the way back to the car. Dairy Queen for lunch on the way home made for a fab summer day!

visitors

A couple weeks ago, our long time friend Andy came up for lunch and a quick dip in the pool. It was great to see him, and another friend's daughter Amanda. They came up from Tucson that day.....No time for cathedral rock, where I usually photograph visitors ;-) Kid Chileen's Bad Ass BBQ, in Black Canyon City. YUM

A little dip in the pool. My friend Mary came up from Phoenix that day too, for a mini reunion.

Williams

Once in awhile, we take the boys up to Williams, the last town on Route 66 to be bypassed by Interstate 40. Ther's an indoor skatepark up there, so they go there, and Eric and I explore the small town a bit. Next time, we might venture out and take a hike somewhere. Ther's only so many souvenier shops to see there... Bill Williams, a mountain man who settled in the area sometime mid 19th century, I'm a bad retainer of info, but maybe you can read the placque if you click on the photo....

Look at that sky!

We haven't eaten here, but I liked the cow...

We did have breakfast here one day before the skate park. Good pancakes!

The three amigos...

skatepark....duh

Met some friends up there one day...conected through, you guessed it, Facebook :-)

Playing with my new camera on the way home....you can see the train passing the other way here.

Night time on the highway. There was an awesome lightning storm, but I couldn't capture any on 'film'.

I took a ton of these pics. I think they're the coolest. Light and movement......

underwater

Not a great shot, but we were chillin in the pool, playing with my new camera, and a Bald Eagle flew right over us, chasing after another bird! we watched as it chased for awhile, then it actually circled back and was able to click a couple shots. Then we lst it as it flew up, up, and up. Very cool!

I got a new camera a couple months ago(probably mentioned that already). Well it's waterproof, and I'm still having a hard time believing it! This was awhile ago, playing in the pool. I'm tryin to get caught up on the bloggin afte slackng for awhile, so the post might be on the random side.... The camera even has a few macro settings!

Underwater portrait setting...

That was kinda cool. In the water, looking out :-)

more Road Trip

Facebook has been taking up all my computer time, so it's taken me a really long time to post these pics of our June road trip back to Chicago/Evanston. We left AZ June 5(I think) and got home around the 27th. We had a crazy busy time and lots of fun visiting with friends and family. First pic I took of our trip. We are on Interstate 40, heading towards New Mexico. I thought the clouds looked cool.

We had no DVD player, and one PSP, so, we found other activities to pass time in the car. I think this was the only time Max got the Sharpies out.

First rest stop just into NM. Saw some really cool belt buckles, but did not buy one. i will now be on a mission for sandcast belt buckles....

Between the camera, Louetta(our GPS), and The band game, I'm thinking of an animal/celebrity, we did pretty well in the car. We spent a total of seven whole days in the car-three on the way there, and four home.

This was probably in Oklahoma....The Western Hemisphere's Largest Cross. We didn't stop.

St Louis Arch. We didn't stop there either. We were on a mission....

We made it! I completely lost the previous two days of driving when we got onto the 294. Not a bad drive at all, and only about three and half tanks of gas!

First things first, to the skate park with some friends. The boys spent a ton of time hangin with their old homies. Lots of fun was had by all.

I spent a lot of time meeting with long time friends, usually over some food of some sort :-) Our places to eat list was pretty long. Marcia and Danny at soem bar in Glenviw. I met them out there with a few other peeps that were having a party planning meeting. Fun night!

Bob and Eileen.

Marcia and Jean.

My niece Carly, graduated from eight grade while we were there. Look out ETHS....

My dad turned 85 on June 1st, so we had a family night to Ravinia. We rode in a private bus, owned by a friend of my sister, Meg's. It was a fun night and Ramsey Lewis was fab!

Our spread on the Ravinia lawn.

We sang Happy Birthday, and ate cupcakes and smiley face cookies!

Sister Cathy, and Danelle

Sister Meg and moi.

I was so comfy laying on the lawn under some blankets.

Next was the Wells St. Art Festival. Meg and Cathy helped me set up Saturday morning, which was rainy and chilly. I forgot to bring my signage, so i woke Eric up to pick some photos off the computer, had him email them to Kinko's, where my mom picked them up a few hours later. thanks everyone!!!

The Sunday morning ride to the show. It was a beautiful day!

My long time friend Katy, helped me at the show on Sunday. Back in the day, she would do shows with me, so we had a blast!!! THANKS woman XOXOX

My dear friends, and former next door neighbors came to see me at the show. I so miss having them next door, and keep mentioning that the house next door here is on the market.....

In addition to the Ravinia night, we had a Birthday lunch for Dad, with about 30 of his friends.

Doug and cousin Pauly. Doug thought it would be fun to eat his steak with his hands.

More visiting with friends. Karen, Marcia, and I sat at Portillo's for about three hours.

Marcia is a photographer, and had to have a shot of the greeter at Portillo's. Nice shot!

Gelato in the park with Heidi and Tracy. Kids too :-)

David Taylor and I tried to get a little Lincolnwood reunion together, but the weather did not cooperate, so it was the two of us :-) We headed over to the Mark II, where we saw Angie and Marty(in the backgroud).

It was a really fun trip, and Facebook hooked me up with a bunch of people I had not seen in a very long time. Sorry I did not have pics of everyone!!