Reflecting on 2012 on New Year's Day...

   
     Well, I may be a day late (and a dollar short), but this ol' blog helps me reflect on the days, weeks, months, and now even years gone by.  Although I haven't been as disciplined about capturing everything I would like, I do love all the connections I have made, pictures I would not have otherwise taken, and memories captured here.  I am definitely going to keep at it!!

     2012 was a good year and a pretty busy year.  Here are some highlights:

     We went on a family trip to the Scottsdale and Sedona, Arizona areas which I blogged about here.  We love Arizona and had a great time!!

     There were, of course, several things that came up with regard to my mom and caring for her.  One of the more alarming days was when I picked her up for a doctor's appointment and found what she had done to her hair.  I am sure my blood pressure was through the roof that day.  Then, there was the call I received when she fell and was taken to the hospital while I was up north with my family.  That was scary and has a sense of deja vu to it.  I think a lot of us remember this past summer as being especially HOT HOT HOT!!  We got a surprise call that the power was out at my mom's senior apartment complex, so Grandma came over for a sleepover with us and we helped her "keep cool".  We were also very happy to celebrate her one year anniversary of living at her senior living apartment.  There were times we were not sure it would work.

     I was proud and lucky enough to travel to Orlando, FL to see Megan perform with the high school marching band at the Magic Kingdom at Disney World.  It was a fun getaway and a once in a lifetime trip for Megan.  Megan also survived her freshman year of high school and hasn't looked back.  She also took driver's ed and is driving with a permit.  She was very busy with soccer, marching band and her heavy class load.
     Jacob and Kristin turned 12 in June and had a small celebration with some friends.  They survived their first year of middle school, played soccer, volleyball, and football, and kept good grades during an extra busy fall.
     We did not get to our place up north as much as we would have liked.  However, we did have a great time when we did as shown here and here.
     The highlight of our summer was traveling to the East Coast for a family visit.  The weather was noticeably cooler and more bearable and we all had a great time!!
     All of the kids and the parents were exceptionally busy during September and October.  The past four months have gone by super fast.  You can always check out what Megan was up to.  Megan remains a very responsibly student.  She loves anything to do with One Direction (obsessed) or music and her friends from school.  Jacob kept busy, too and enjoyed his first year of middle school football.  He has developed quite a sense of humor and I am enjoying watching him become a young man who is also smart, polite and sensitive.  Kristin is always happiest hanging out with friends, but kept super busy with soccer and volleyball this past fall.  She is kind hearted, diplomatic, and has become quite creative with her arts and crafts this past year.  We laugh together a lot!
     Once November hit, things really went by fast preparing for the holidays, going to concerts, a visit from my mother-in-law, and some post season football games.  It's all been quite a ride and we look forward to a clean slate in 2013 and making the most of all the new year has to offer!!!

     Looking forward to following you on your journey, too!!

 

 

Winter Getaway - The End!

Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium    
     The Thursday before we left, my husband took the kids to the Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium in Litchfield Park, Arizona.  Me, I opted for a pool day since the temps at the end of the week were 78-80 degrees -- nobody minded and everyone was happy.  I even ended up meeting a girl from Michigan who happened to sit by me at the pool.  We chatted the day away and it made the time pass even faster.
     As for the kids and my husband, they had a great time at the Zoo.  Apparently, it was a very "hands on" place as you can see below.  Feeding birds and giraffes, petting stingrays and starfish -- they had a great time and stayed there all day. 
     I had a perfect day by the pool and towards the end of the day I received a text that the birds had "pooped" on my husbands head when they went back to feed them for a second time!  The kids thought it was the most hilarious thing ever and are still talking about it.
     I am glad they took a lot of pictures -- so I felt like I was there, too.  I do wish I would have seen the giraffes -- I think they are so pretty!!!
     If anyone is still reading, thanks for bearing with me while I finish my little bloggy scrapbook of our vacation. I know, four days of vacation pictures -- what could be worse, right!?  If it wasn't for this blog, I am not sure I would take the pictures and it probably would take forever for me to download them so I am grateful to have the memories!!

TGIF!

Winter Getaway, Part Three

Sedona, AZ - The Jeep Tour
     One thing that is very popular in Sedona are the jeep tours.  On this trip we finally had the time to take a tour so once we got into the town of Sedona we booked a tour with A Day in the West.  We booked our tour for around 3:30 pm in hopes of catching part of the sunset while on the tour.  There are different types of tours with different lengths of time and they each focus on different things.  I believe we took the Pioneer Trail tour which was 1.5 hours in length (the shortest tour). 
     Our driver was Rusty and he was a real live cowboy and very entertaining.  He was also one of the more experienced and knowledgeable drivers (thankfully).  I pretty much laughed through the whole tour and the girls were laughing at me, too.  Jacob and my husband were more engaged in the history and conversation that was going on with Rusty, our driver.  I was holding on for dear life as there was even more bouncing around than I thought.  It has been awhile since this girl has done some serious "four wheelin'", but my dad owned several Jeeps when I was a kid and used to take me and my brother on some fun rides back in the day!! 
     Rusty had a good sense of humor -- every time we would cross paths with another jeep tour he would slow down and ask the driver "when did you get out of jail, brother"?  The passengers in the other jeep would momentarily look stunned!!  Other times he would also ask them if they got their airbag fixed yet.  We found it pretty hilarious the way he would pose those questions and then he would just drive off...
     I was using Megan's camera and all she kept saying was "my camera!" because every time I would try to take a picture we would go flying out of our seats (even though we were buckled).  Luckily the wrist strap on the camera kept it with me.  The tour was really fun and Rusty swerved all over the road skillfully avoiding the biggest boulders and rocks in the road.  He seemed to know exactly what he was doing even though I swear we came a little too close to the "edge" of the rocky "road" a few times!!  I couldn't even get a good picture of the bumpiest parts of the road as keeping the camera steady was impossible.
     Rusty also told us his granddaughter was in Hollywood as a contestant on American Idol, Melissa (Missy) Ruhle.  She has since been eliminated, but he was very proud -- even though he doesn't have a TV (what!?). 

     We all had a great time -- one last post on our vacation tomorrow!!

  

 Cowboy Rusty in the driver's seat and Jacob along for the ride

 Do you see the Eagle's head in the center of the rock formation?

 Prickly Pear Cactus

 The Rocky Road (which was rockier than this)

 Rusty and my girls

There's an old Indian cave down that slope

Winter Getaway, Part Two

Sedona, AZ
     One of my favorite parts of Arizona is Sedona (red rock country)!  Even though I am a white sand and palm tree kind of girl, I continue to be in awe of these beautiful rock formations and the history of their formation, etc...  Pretty amazing since I don't like history either.  Sedona must be a photographers dream as everywhere you look is like a postcard waiting to happen.  Speaking of photographers -- I am not one and unfortunately most of my pictures were overexposed from the bright sun!  Also, there was a lot of sunglass or squinting which doesn't make for the greatest pics...  (But there are worse things than too much sun, right?)
     Sedona is about a 1.5 or 2 hour drive north of Scottsdale, where we were staying.  This was my fourth time to Sedona and the kids second.  This time we finally made it to the Chapel of the Holy Cross which is where many people have told us of the excellent views of the rocks.  Since Sedona is north of Scottsdale, it was about 10 degrees cooler with temperatures in the 60s.
     The Chapel of the Holy Cross did not disappoint and has beautiful views and the chapel itself was a very spiritual place.  My favorite picture is the fourth one down taken from inside the chapel where you can see the contrast of the true red rock color through the tinted windows of the chapel and how different it looks through the entrance where the bright sun makes it difficult to see the true color.  I even bought a cross for my "wall of crosses" that I am starting.  (Although I would not consider myself deeply religious, I do think I'm a spiritual person.)
     Later, we had lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant called Oaxaca which has a patio with nice views and, of course, good chips 'n salsa! 
     Then we checked out some of the many shops and made plans for our jeep tour into the mountains of the red rock -- stay tuned for that tomorrow!!

 

 

Me and the kids -- why the Angry Birds sweatshirt!? (oh well)

Love this picture!

 I bought a cross like this...thought it looked Arizona-ish

(it's made of stone)

 People were laughing at us when they struck this pose!

 My "winter home" (wouldn't that be nice!?)

Winter Getaway 2012

The Airport - Lazy Pool Days - Dining Out    
     We were lucky enough to be able to plan a winter getaway this past week.  My kids were on "winter break" from school and we had 5 free vouchers from Delta so we decided to head back to sunny Arizona!!  The weather did not disappoint and we had a great and relaxing time!
     We arrived at DTW last Sunday morning a bit behind schedule.  If I can, I like to be sitting at or near the gate maybe a half hour before boarding.  When my husband calculated our departure time from the house, I don't think he was allowing for 5 people traveling instead of just himself.  Boarding was well underway when we arrived, but we made it nonetheless.
     Our beloved Goldendoodle, Lucky, had again been boarded at Canine College the day before.  Once my husband got there, he was told another virus was going through the kennel and so we hoped and prayed he would not end up sick like he did last year.  I consulted with our veterinarian for peace of mind.
     We had an uneventful direct flight into Phoenix.  Once we arrived, Jacob and I ran ahead to pick out our rental car (a black Nissan Pathfinder) while the others waited for our luggage.  I have a theory that virtually everyone from our flight heads directly to the rental car lot, and so by going ahead I ensure we get an SUV or crossover big enough for our family of 5 and luggage.  I think I was right, as 3 different people in the rental lot could not see me and Jake inside our tinted windows and tried to pick the same car we did.  Our next two choices were a Ford Flex (sorry, me no likey) or a white Jeep Cherokee that I loved, but was too small inside.  In other words, everyone goes for the bigger vehicles.  We almost had a guy loading his stuff in the trunk even after we started the car to scare people away.  Shortly after that, George and the girls caught up with us and the luggage.  I know, I'm crazy!!
     After stopping at Sweet Tomatoes for lunch (great soup and salad bar among other things), we headed to the Scottsdale Links Resort (check out the link for much better pictures than I took).  We again had a 2 bedroom condo with a pullout couch in the living room, kitchen, dining room, 2 baths, 2 flat screen tvs, laundry, and a balcony.  We love being able to have breakfast in the condo in the mornings, make and bring some lunch by the pool in the afternoons, and go out to dinner.  That's pretty much what we did most days.
     After checking into our room and getting settled in, we went to the grocery store to stock up our kitchen with breakfast and lunch foods for the week.  We also picked up some deli items for a lite dinner since we were not that hungry from our Sweet Tomatoes lunch.
     As we were in Arizona less than a year ago, this trip was designed to be much less "touristy" and much more "relaxing" (because I said so!).  This post focuses on a glimpse of the condo, the pool, and how we spent most days.  The temps were about 78-80 degrees which is about 8 degrees warmer than the "normal" temps at this time of year. 
     I am convinced the majority of people poolside at our resort were from Michigan.  Lots of Detroit Tiger shirts and hats and two ladies I chatted with separtely were both from Michigan.
     We ate dinners at the Yard House (great appetizers which we shared for dinner at happy hour prices, tons of beers on tap), Gordon Biersch (garlic fries), dessert from The Cheesecake Factory (my kids are obsessed), NYPD (New York Pizza Dept.) (awesome Soho Pizza Salad), Charleston's, and Pita Jungle.
     On the trip home we had to make a connection in MSP.  This time we allowed enough extra time to make our flight and my husband even got me bumped up to first class on the last leg home -- which is always a good thing!
     We arrived home about 1:30 am on Sunday safe and sound...to a snowy landscape and driveway.
     My next couple of posts will focus on the little day trips we did take in Arizona, but these lazy days in the sun were probably my favorite!!!