Checking In.....

 We had a busy weekend and that is our excuse this time around for being late.  We sort of had two separate weekends with the boys off having their fun and us ladies having our own good time.
Nana D and Mr. Walker rolled into town on Thursday so Mr. Walker could ride in his 2nd annual 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo Mountain Bike Race with my dad.  He had such a good time last year that he couldn't wait to come back for more!  Dad headed out at the crack of dawn Thursday morning so he could get a primo spot for our new RV.  The boys had a sweet set up this year with plenty of space in the courtyard.  Dad got the carpet set up, the solar panel set up, the satellite dish set up and they were ready for 4 days off the grid.  Oh yeah and then there was the bike race.

Everyone wised up a bit this year and decided to do 2 man teams instead of 6 man teams.  This way, no one got stuck riding a 2AM lap.  Dad and Mr. Walker both got good nights sleep and completed 3 laps each.  That wasn't a record by any means but everyone felt good (except dad who may have caught a cold from me.....)

Mr. Walker- getting ready to sign autographs

This is how most of the weekend was spent



Meanwhile, back in town, Nana spent her Friday relaxing while mom and I were at work and school. 2 guesses as to what she did.  Shopping!  In her defense though, she didn't buy herself anything but did find a sweater for mom.
On Saturday, the three of us headed down to the Gem and Mineral Show.  This is a huge deal here in Tucson and I think the biggest one in the world.  It last for 3 weeks and you can find all sorts of stuff. There are vendors and people from all over the world.  I gave Nana's shopping a run for it's money- I had my wallet and was ready to roll.  I bought a Trilobite fossil, 2 glow in the dark minerals and a slice of a geode.  It was a fabulous day!

That night, we met Ms. Audrey and Madeline for a Valentine's Dinner.  Mr. Mike ( Madeline's dad) was out at the 24 Hour race too and we women weren't going to be denied a nice evening.

On Sunday, we headed to my friend Max and Claire's house to work on our edible car for the Edible Car Contest for school on Monday.  We named it Candy Joe and it was made out of rice crispies and fudge strip cookies.  It even involved Mr. Souveignier using a drill on the rice crispy treats.  It ended up being a pretty good car- we finished in third by just a hair.  That was kind of disappointing but we all survived.

I almost forgot our super fun Valentine's Day party- the parents and a fun photo shoot for all of us crazy third graders.....

Family Reunions of Sorts

So here we are again- two weeks behind.  We have a good excuse (but when do we not).  Last weekend, mom had a continuing education conference up in Phoenix that she had to go to on Saturday.  That would have been bummer enough except she had to drive up and back on the same day.  After sitting on her butt all day.  And we were in the middle of three days of record rain fall.  She is a bit of a white knuckle driver on I-10 between Tucson and Phoenix anyway but add rain, fog and stupid people and it's a whole new level of fun.  Good thing the course was good- she learned all about our vestibular system and got to practice it on Monday.  She left dad and I to fend for ourselves with over 2 inches of rain and a leaky roof.   Mom and dad were relaxing, enjoying their Friday night beer, listening to the rain when they notice water seeping in on the floor.  Then they notice our new paint job with a nice big water bubble half way up the wall.  Dad got up on the roof during a break in the rain on Saturday and thinks he got it fixed.  We sure hope so because otherwise, mom is looking at having to give her bathroom remodel for a stupid roof leak.  We made it through Saturday and woke to a beautiful Sunday morning.  The rain cleared out and we running rivers and fog.  It made for a beautiful run......

The rest of Sunday was spent catching up on Saturday chores- grocery shopping, laundry, all that fun stuff.  In the afternoon, we headed to our friends Brian and Christina's for a Super Bowl party.  We had a good time but left at half time because we are weenies and had to get to bed.  It was probably for the best since everyone at the party was Seahawk fans.  Poor Seahawks.


So, we sent Ginger to boarding school for a month.  Mom didn't tell anyone because she was kind of embarrassed that we  couldn't get our dog under control but it was getting crazy and super stressful and not fun.  So off to board and train for Monkey back on January 3.  I missed her bunches while she was gone and she came home Thursday night.  This is me waiting for her to get here.  At first mom was not so sure that it was worth the money because she still seemed crazy but things are much better now.  Ginger is calmer, doesn't jump all over us, doesn't maul us while sitting on the couch, doesn't constantly jump on the counter and actually listens to correction.  She is still very much a crazy puppy but she is a controllable crazy puppy.  We can manage that.

The second exciting thing over the weekend- we got our new couch delivered!  It is so awesome and we love it!  Our new chair still has a few more weeks before it gets here but we have all spent time sprawled on the couch and it is great.  I have already deposited crumbs between the cushions.  We are still deciding what to do with our old couch but we live in a neighborhood where if we put it out on the curb with a "FREE" sign on it, it will be gone in 20 minutes.

Remember a few weeks ago when we said we went to the RV show but were "just looking".  Well.  You know my dad.  He wasn't loving our current RV.  Not a great layout, no swivel seats, poor gas mileage, loud like the airport shuttle when we drove it.  While at the RV show, he found his dream RV.  And then he spent the next two weeks salivating over it on-line.  And then he found the exact one for sale.  In Sacramento, as in California.  Can you say ROAD TRIP!  He flew up to Sacramento Thursday afternoon, spent the night there and was picked up by the RV people Friday morning.  They then drove to Boom City, Nevada to complete the paperwork.  Apparently, you avoid paying hefty sales tax in California and then again in Arizona when you do it this way.  So, with a huge winter storm chasing him down the two lane highways in backwoods  Nevada, he headed out about 3 PM Friday afternoon.  After a stop at Walmart to wait out the 60 mph winds, he was on his way again.  He spent the night in our new RV in a casino parking lot in Tonopah.  He finally rolled in about 3PM on Saturday, tired but super happy.  He spent the rest of the day and most of Sunday morning organizing and playing with all the new buttons and switches.  We all like it and it is a better lay out.....
Mom's only disappointment is that it's maiden voyage is to the 24 Hour mountain bike race next weekend.  A bunch of stinky, sweaty boys hanging out in our shiny new RV before she gets a chance too.

Have a wonderful weekend!

New Stuff!

Whew- this was a looooong week.  Everybody was tired but no one was especially cranky so that was a good thing.  We had a weekend of fun, new stuff to make for a boring week.

On Friday, we ventured out to the west side of town to try a new camp ground and it was gorgeous.  The camp ground is west of the Tucson Mountains and our camp site had gorgeous views of them AND it was a little cloudy so we were treated with an amazing sunset.    Mom and I took a little hike to  take in all the cool geography and cactus.  I was pretty confident that if I had my mountain bike, I could totally shred the trail we were hiking on.  It was pretty rough so mom wasn't quite as sure about my ability.  We didn't bring my bike so we'll never know who was right.....

The only draw back to weekend was how cold it got- all the way down to 38 degrees.  Good thing we have our winter parkas.  Oh.  And our heater.

This blurry picture below was taken by one of our neighbors.  They were a group of hard partying retirees- they even had a full on bar set up outside their RV with martinis ala Mad Men.  We climbed up on the roof of our RV to watch the sunset and they all got a kick out of it.  One of them ran over (maybe stumbled a little?) and wanted to take our picture.  They were super nice and super happy and their martini glasses were empty.  Maybe that had something to do with their merriment.

We headed home Saturday morning and mom decided it was time to pick some of our blood oranges. We planted this tree 10 bazillion years ago and this is the first year we actually got any oranges.  We got a lot of oranges- 10!  We picked two and they were very tasty.  It's always fun to eat stuff right from your own back yard.

After the excitement of the oranges, we headed out to buy some new furniture.  Our current sofa and recliner are looking pretty tired- a few chips, a few stains, a few fabric tears, some imbedded dog hair.  You know- 12 year old furniture.  We ended up buying this black leather couch (mom insisted on leather- something about kids, dogs, unholy messes, etc.) and a cool chair.  We don't have a picture of the chair because it is special order but take my word for it- it's a cool chair.

To round out our "new stuff" weekend, mom made some chocolate chip cookies from a new recipe.  It was made with a stout beer.  They taste pretty good ( beer-duh!) but are pretty crumbly so I don't think this will make it into our dessert rotation.

Hope everyone has a fun week full of new stuff!

A Busy Two Weeks

We have had a busy two weeks here in the Old Pueblo.  No post last week because my lazy assistant was too tired after painting all weekend.  We spent last Saturday and Sunday painting the front and back rooms of the house.  It was an absolutely beautiful weekend as I sarcastically pointed out- "This sure is a great way to spend a nice Saturday afternoon..."  I got to help paint the trim down by the floor because I think mom and dad feel to old and stiff to bend down that far.  I got a little enthusiastic and started painting into a corner that wasn't supposed to be painted.  Nobody panicked and we are able to hide it with the enormous dog kennel so all is almost right with the world.  We say almost right because nobody loves the colors we picked.  Mom and dad went with "Brisk Olive" and "Smoke Infusion", a bluish gray.  Both are very pretty colors but dad hates the Smoke and mom doesn't love the green but no one is willing to repaint.  Although.  Come to think of it, Nana is coming to visit in a few weeks.........Mom has noticed a lot of blue and green combos while she is out and about so maybe we're a little hip for once in our lives.

I'm still doing intramurals but we've started with basketball now.  Mom and dad were pretty sure I would hate it and want to quit but it turns out I love it!  I'm totally getting into the blocking, stealing, running up and down the court.  It's still a little hard because I'm the only girl most of the time and boys are still stupid ball hogs but I'm figuring it out.

On to this weekend- it was fun, busy and star-filled (sort of, for mom).  We really didn't have much to choose from as far as pictures go but we included some to keep our readers interested.

On Saturday, mom and I headed out to the Scrum, Rattle and Roll Wheelchair Rugby Tournament.  Mom's co-worker is married to a Team USA/paralympic wheelchair rugby player and his Tucson team was hosting the tournament.  It was the first time we had ever seen anything like this and it was really interesting and a little scary.  These guys play rough!

This is the only picture of me from the past two weeks and we aren't even sure when it was taken.....

Saturday evening, mom had a Girl's Night out with some friends.  They went to a really yummy restaurant (decorated in olive green and grayish blue!) and this is where mom saw Bill Walton, the retired professional basketball player.  Mom saw this freakishly tall guy hobbling around the restaurant and thought he looked familiar.  Yes, mom knew who he was.  He looked like his knees had played one too many games.
While mom was out with her friends, dad and I headed to the movies and then we met our friends, Mr. Mike, Madeline, Mr. Scott, Riley and Shelby for a fun daddy/daughter night at the bar.  Good times for all!
On Sunday, dad headed out for a mountain bike ride and then we headed down to the RV show with some friends.  Just looking.......
Grandpa Vern and Grandma Sue came over for an early dinner and now we are all heading for an early bed time.
Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2015!  Hope everyone had a great start to their year.  We did not have such a great start but we are subscribing to the "bad start, good ending" theory here.  I started the week off with getting sick- I woke up Monday with a fever, runny nose, head ache and spent the day on the couch.  I was extra sad though because I was supposed to spend the night with my best friend Claire.  We worked for weeks on getting the date down because Claire didn't want her brother Max around so Max had to spend the night some place else and get coordinated with that family.  We finally got it all figured out and I was sooooo excited.  And then I got sick.  Waaaaaaaa!  Fortunately, I was all better by Tuesday and I was supposed to have a sleep over with my friend Madeline but mom said no because she thought I needed one more night of good sleep.  Waaaaaaaa!

So, fine.  We then were supposed to go to Madeline's house for New Year's Eve.  Except.  Then mom got sick.  And so we stayed home.  It was yet another stellar Goedel New Years.  Actually, it wasn't awful- dad and I headed out to get something for dinner and some yummy snacks (donuts and popcorn) and a new Scooby Doo movie.  It turned out to be good night to be at home anyway since was freezing cold and rainy.  The best part of the New Year was waking up to SNOW!!  Mom dragged her hacking, sick self into my room at 6:30AM and told me to look out the window.  I thought we were in Denver!  So fun!  We didn't have a white Christmas but did get a white New Year.  That's almost as good....

The other most awesome thing about New Year's day was I got to have my sleep over with Claire.  Woot-woot!  After mom spent the day on the couch, she rallied enough in the afternoon that she and dad were able to go out for a low keyed date night.  Got to take advantage of the free evening no matter crappy we feel.
Dad picked me up on Friday morning and we headed up to Dave and Busters (round 2) with my friend Madeline and her dad.  We scored some more big stuffies and then headed home.  I got to have my sleep over with Madeline on Friday night so mom and dad had another free night.  They really need to practice this more because they did not know what to do with them selves.  After much head scratching and shoulder shrugging, they decided on a movie and it was all good.

I finally got home on Saturday.  I love my friends, but two nights away is too much for me and I was super happy to be home.  Mom was super happy to see me since she hadn't seen me since Thursday afternoon.  We had a low keyed Saturday, taking down the Christmas decorations and getting the house back in order.  We all hit the hay early- I was exhausted from my sleep-overs and mom and dad were exhausted from trying to figure out to spend all their free time.

Sunday was a gorgeous day so mom and I decided to head out to our favorite spot by Sabino Creek.  It is along the 7 Falls trail and every time we go, we always talk about how we should hike all the way to 7 Falls.  It's only about 3 miles and not a hard hike but we just never get around to it.  Well, today, we just started walking and before we knew it, we were with 20 minutes of the end.  How could we turn away at that point?  Mom told me I would love and it would be totally worth it and she was right.  There really are 7 waterfalls, starting from way up high and with all the snow the mountain has had, there was tons of water.  We could have stayed there a lot longer but unfortunately, we had to head back.  It was 6 miles round trip and I didn't complain at all (probably because mom bribed me with donuts if I didn't).  We were tired and hungry when we got back but very proud of ourselves!

Hope everyone has a wonderful 2015!

Holiday Merriment!

It has been a fun filled couple of weeks!  My last day of school was December 19 (Woot woot!) and it has been non stop since then.  We kicked off the holiday merriment with a Christmas party at Tanque Verde Ranch.  Mom, dad and I had such a great time when stayed there a few weeks ago, we thought it would be a great place for all of our friends.  It was a perfect night- chilly enough to break out the winter gear and feel a little bit Christmassy but not so cold that we could enjoy ourselves.  There was all kinds of stuff to do (including line dancing lessons) and Madeline and I are old enough now that we just took care of ourselves most of the night.  The parents were able to relax and enjoy themselves.  Win-wine!  Perfect!

On Sunday, dad and I built our annual gingerbread house.  We are getting better and better every year building it.  Ginger tried to help this year but it didn't go well.......

Dad's birthday was Monday the 22nd and to celebrate, he took me up to Dave and Busters in Phoenix.  We won all kinds of tickets and prizes- it was a successful day.  When we got home, Nana D and Mr. Walker were waiting to greet us!  Yeah!  Grandpa Vern and Grandma Sue came over and we had a delicious birthday dinner of meatloaf, brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.  Hopefully, it was a good day for Foo-Foo.

Tuesday, mom had to work while the rest of us enjoyed a beautiful day.  Dad and Mr. Walker went mountain biking while Nana and I headed to the zoo.  Did I mentioned mom was working- she had almost as good a time as we did.....

Wednesday was Christmas Eve and the ladies spent the day in the kitchen cooking and baking up a storm.  We aren't sure what the boys were doing, but I'm sure it was productive.  Oh wait, Mr. Walker was so bored that he did some yard work for us.  Things look definitely cleaner out there now!

 We headed to church Wednesday evening and came home to have dinner and drinks with our old neighbors who were in town.  (As we are writing this blog, we have come to realization that we need to be taking more pictures- we have none!  Boooooo!)
I finally got to bed about 10 and not a moment to soon- Santa was coming for peet's sake!  I had the cookies and milk ready and a special treat for the reindeer.
Christmas day was spectacular (but again, no pictures.  Booooo!)  I got some cool stuff- Dino-opoly, hair chalk, mine craft books.  My favorite however is my iPod touch.  I now have the ability to text!  So far, I have mom, dad, Nana, Mr. Walker, Uncle Adam and Aunt Erin on speed text and have been a non-stop texting machine ever since.  Everyone is really enjoying it!

Everyone left on Friday morning and then it got cold!  We woke up to this on Saturday morning.....

We practically couldn't leave the house all day because it was too danged cold.  Mom did manage to get in a run- with two pairs of socks, two sets of running tights, two shirts and a jacket.  It was a little too close to Denver temperatures to make her happy but she soldiered on.

On Sunday, it was still cold and it was dad's turn to brave the cold for the sake of exercise.  Mom and I headed out around 10 and met some friends at Sabino Canyon and enjoyed a wonderful day of sunshine and learning how to skip rocks.

We hope everyone has a wonderful, safe New Year's!