Not much excitement for us this last week. Mara has her final board exam today (Monday), so she's been hitting the books hard. Rohan was out of daycare one day since they thought he had pink eye. Turned out to not be, but we kept him out anyway since the Dr. thought he might have had a respiratory infection. He's doing fine now, and never showed a sign of being sick other than an occasional cough. He's a tough kid...:)
Rohan has been changing almost daily as of late. He now has the word Ball down pat, and jabbers ALL the time. He has been MUCH more social (more so) as of late as well. He even kisses and hugs friends that he was normally shy with. We also got him sleeping in his bed again. There was a while he would only sleep on the floor, which we caved on because it was easy, and who cares where he sleeps? He's done really good, but still gets up once a night, comes into our room, then we take him back and he goes back to sleep. Maybe he's having nightmares or something, but he always goes right back to sleep so it's not a huge inconvenience.
Our friends at AZR had taken a kids wall down to expand their yoga studio, and we got several of the hold from them to add to Rohan's little rock wall. We picked out alphabet letter for ROHAN, and also got an elephant hold, triceratops, saguaro, and bull skull. We took some time Saturday night to upgrade his wall which had some smaller holds (since we're cheap!) and he didn't like them as much. Rohan loved "helping" with the screwdriver and hammer. He seemed really excited to play around on it, and as soon as we were done he was up the wall in no time! The video shows how much he friggin' his new wall. He's already topping out, so we may need to get a bigger wall (we will take wall donations..:P).
Sunday we met up with Sasha at AZR where Rohan showed off his climbing skills by climbing 3-4 moves and trying to climb higher all the time. He's a stud! :) We hit up NYPD pizza so Sasha & Mara could carbo-load for their exam (since it's an 8hr mindf$#&).
All in all a pretty low key week/weekend. Mara is looking forward to having a life again since all she has done this summer is study! Rohan and I will be glad to have her back too...:)
Enjoy the pics & videos!
Building The Wall:
Rohan Helping Build The Wall:
Mara's Misspoken Innuendo:
Rohan's First Climb On His Upgraded Wall:
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Happy Father's Day!
Just a quick shout out to all the Dad (especially ours!). Hope you all had a great Father's Day! I ran into work for a couple hours then took Rohan to 2 splash pads to thoroughly wear him out! While I was at work I got a text from Mara saying Rohan had fallen into the fountain across from my work. Mara jumped in and got him and they both got soaked! Good thing it's a dry heat here. Rohan was fine, and was actually trying to get back into the water when Mara picked him up. So wish we had that on camera...:) We hit up a new Indian Restaurant (new to us anyway) called India Gate for an awesome buffet while Rohan slept off the morning's excitement. We then hit up the Tempe Town Lake splash pad for almost 2 hours. Rohan was a worn out boy by the end of the day!
An interesting story from last week that only Mara & Sasha could pull off. Mara stabbed herself with a knife while de-pitting an avocado. The wound wasn't too deep, and only about 1/4 inch wide. We had plans to go climb and do yoga with Sasha and Xiomy. When we got there, Sasha was all ready with her suture kit and needle driver (AKA needle nose pliers). Right in the lobby of AZR Sasha put in a stitch. Unfortunately it ripped through so she had to put one more. It was pretty fun to watch, and they had a crown of 5-6 people watching them intently...:) Ahh....the shenanigans of medical students...
Mara and Sasha also flew out to Philadelphia, PA for their Physical Examination. Essentially fake patients with issues you would see in the ER or with a family physician. The consensus was it was an absolute waste of time and $$, but it's just another hoop they had to jump through on their way to their doctorate. They did find some time after their exam to get authentic Philly Cheesesteaks from 2 renowned establishments; Geno's & Pat's. The overall winner was Geno's. They ran off some of that with a run through Fairmount Park as well as a jaunt up the steps from the Rocky movies (Philadelphia Museum of Art). Afterwards they capped off the LONG day with some pomegranate mojitos and some well deserved relaxation . Rohan and I hung back in the heat, and found a splashpad at DC Ranch to cool off in. Rohan played for almost and hour by himself (not counting me).
Mara is hitting the home stretch for exams, and takes her last one of the summer next week. Then rotations start again, kicking off with family practice and outpatient peds. This summer is already screaming past us, so hopefully we'll get a chance to beat the heat and camp in Payson or head back to the Kaibab Forest & Grand Canyon NP.
Hope everyone is having a great week and staying cool (AZ) and dry (IA, IL & WI)!
Mara Getting Stitched At AZR:
Rohan Enjoying The Splashpad:
An interesting story from last week that only Mara & Sasha could pull off. Mara stabbed herself with a knife while de-pitting an avocado. The wound wasn't too deep, and only about 1/4 inch wide. We had plans to go climb and do yoga with Sasha and Xiomy. When we got there, Sasha was all ready with her suture kit and needle driver (AKA needle nose pliers). Right in the lobby of AZR Sasha put in a stitch. Unfortunately it ripped through so she had to put one more. It was pretty fun to watch, and they had a crown of 5-6 people watching them intently...:) Ahh....the shenanigans of medical students...
Mara and Sasha also flew out to Philadelphia, PA for their Physical Examination. Essentially fake patients with issues you would see in the ER or with a family physician. The consensus was it was an absolute waste of time and $$, but it's just another hoop they had to jump through on their way to their doctorate. They did find some time after their exam to get authentic Philly Cheesesteaks from 2 renowned establishments; Geno's & Pat's. The overall winner was Geno's. They ran off some of that with a run through Fairmount Park as well as a jaunt up the steps from the Rocky movies (Philadelphia Museum of Art). Afterwards they capped off the LONG day with some pomegranate mojitos and some well deserved relaxation . Rohan and I hung back in the heat, and found a splashpad at DC Ranch to cool off in. Rohan played for almost and hour by himself (not counting me).
Mara is hitting the home stretch for exams, and takes her last one of the summer next week. Then rotations start again, kicking off with family practice and outpatient peds. This summer is already screaming past us, so hopefully we'll get a chance to beat the heat and camp in Payson or head back to the Kaibab Forest & Grand Canyon NP.
Hope everyone is having a great week and staying cool (AZ) and dry (IA, IL & WI)!
Mara Getting Stitched At AZR:
Rohan Enjoying The Splashpad:
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Bubbles & Splash Pads
With the slightly less oppressive heat we've been outside a little more this last week/weekend. Friday we met Sasha & Xiomy at Ra for some awesome-as-always sushi, followed by a visit to the splash pad at Keirland Commons. Saturday I met up with John and we golfed the Legacy Golf Resort. It was my first time out (and it showed), but the weather was PERFECT with a little 5 min sprinkle to cool us off. Mara spent the day with Sasha, Xiomy, and Sasha's friend Caroline (in town for the weekend). They hit up Gordon Biersch to watch some World Cup soccer. They then hit another splash pad at Tempe Town Lake, which has always been closed when we went. Rohan had a blast in the water, and it's right in the flight path from Phoenix International Airport, so Rohan got to see planes all day too! Mara then got Rohan to take a short nap and she got some more studying done while he slept in the passenger seat.
After we both got done, Mara picked me up (Rohan was still sleeping!) and we headed to Heather & John's to cook out kabobs on the grill and watched Shutter Island afterwards. Quite a full day!
We capped off the weekend with a trip back to the Tempe Town Lake splash pad, followed by awesome fruit smoothies, and a nice relaxing evening. Rohan has also been LOVING the bubbles and will chase them as long as we can produce them. Linus & Schroeder have been getting into it as well. It's pretty funny to watch all of them attack the bubbles at once.
A really fun weekend for all of us since we were all feeling better after contracting Rohan's stomach bug. Heather, John, Some of their friends, Rohan, and I all got a taste of the virus. Mara was the only one to avoid getting sick (probably because she's too busy to be sick!).
Enjoy the pictures & videos!
One Of MANY Bubble Videos. You can see more at our YouTube channel:
Rohan Getting Swung Into The Water Spout:
More Water Spouts!:
Rohan Watching The Airplanes On Our Picnic:
After we both got done, Mara picked me up (Rohan was still sleeping!) and we headed to Heather & John's to cook out kabobs on the grill and watched Shutter Island afterwards. Quite a full day!
We capped off the weekend with a trip back to the Tempe Town Lake splash pad, followed by awesome fruit smoothies, and a nice relaxing evening. Rohan has also been LOVING the bubbles and will chase them as long as we can produce them. Linus & Schroeder have been getting into it as well. It's pretty funny to watch all of them attack the bubbles at once.
A really fun weekend for all of us since we were all feeling better after contracting Rohan's stomach bug. Heather, John, Some of their friends, Rohan, and I all got a taste of the virus. Mara was the only one to avoid getting sick (probably because she's too busy to be sick!).
Enjoy the pictures & videos!
One Of MANY Bubble Videos. You can see more at our YouTube channel:
Rohan Getting Swung Into The Water Spout:
More Water Spouts!:
Rohan Watching The Airplanes On Our Picnic:
Monday, June 7, 2010
Readjusting To The Heat
Last weekend we were at 8000+' above sea level, with frost on our camp stove and hot water bottles in our sleeping bags. This last week we were at 100+°F almost everyday, and 110°F on Sat/Sun. Quite a big difference. It's REALLY easy to readjust to the those temps when your AC goes out! We didn't have AC Fri, Sat, or Sun and FINALLY our AC was fixed Monday morning. To beat those temps we made sure to do plenty of indoor activities.
Thursday was my birthday, and turns out it was also Sasha's cousin Xiomara's (z-o-mara) birthday (who just moved to PHX last week). I had an awesome birthday! Mara brought me Jimmy Johns and we had a nice picnic outside. We meet Sasha and Xiomara out at our favorite Indian restaurant, Delhi Palace, for some awesome food and also getting to meet Xiomara. We hit up MoJo for some frozen yogurt. Rohan was a hyper kid (a glimpse to the future I'm sure), climbing on everything, but he was well behaved for the most part. That kid loves his FroYo! Aside from the $600 brake repair on the RAV, it was a great birthday...:)
Friday we took it easy and relaxed a little with some friends. We met up with Sasha, Xio, Will, Emily, and Lindsey for the PHX First Friday art walk. It was really cool to see a "starving artist" section of town, especially since we normally wouldn't be wondering that section of town at night! We saw some cool (and some weird) art, but it was a lot of fun to get out. We headed to Rose & Crown afterwards for some refreshments. Rohan was being such a ham too. He kept calling Sasha's phone while he was playing with Mara's phone, and he also kept trying to wink, which he essentially just squints both eyes. It's pretty funny.
Saturday we met up with Sasha and Xiomara at AZR and Xiomara got her into to climbing. For being afraid of heights she did really good. She just kept climbing, and that's the best thing you can do! Afterwards we went back to our place for some Chicken Biryani and Fat Tire. Afterwards they hit up a concert and Mara and I took Rohan to a park to get some fresh (hot) air. We went to a couple places afterwards with AC or mister systems to stay cool.
Sunday we beat the heat of our non-AC apartment by heading over to Greg & Nico's. They just got back from an AMAZING trip to Europe and we got to sit and look through their photos. It looks like they had a BLAST. We had some great BBQ pork and sides (never a shortage of food!) and then hit the pool. Rohan is getting his sea legs and it walking in shallow water pretty good. He loves to throw stuff in the water, and hopefully he doesn't translate that over to throwing things in the toilet!
We have reevaluated our running schedule too. Since the heat is so friggin' oppressive, we've decided to cut back on our longer runs (no more 11 mile runs at 11pm!). Instead we are going to focus on shorter runs of 4-5 miles 3-4 times a week and work in some Yoga our friend Jeanette teaches at AZR (free for us). It will hopefully help supplement our longer runs and also give us a little break from hard core running until the heat cuts back a little or we get more accustomed to the heat. After that we are going to start training for the PF Chang's Marathon in January!
We are looking forward to a better night's sleep with our AC back!
Enjoy the pics from this last week/weekend!
Rohan Fighting Sleep At Wal-Mart:
Mara Snuck Up On Rohan Read To Himself:
Rohan Being A Goofball:
Thursday was my birthday, and turns out it was also Sasha's cousin Xiomara's (z-o-mara) birthday (who just moved to PHX last week). I had an awesome birthday! Mara brought me Jimmy Johns and we had a nice picnic outside. We meet Sasha and Xiomara out at our favorite Indian restaurant, Delhi Palace, for some awesome food and also getting to meet Xiomara. We hit up MoJo for some frozen yogurt. Rohan was a hyper kid (a glimpse to the future I'm sure), climbing on everything, but he was well behaved for the most part. That kid loves his FroYo! Aside from the $600 brake repair on the RAV, it was a great birthday...:)
Friday we took it easy and relaxed a little with some friends. We met up with Sasha, Xio, Will, Emily, and Lindsey for the PHX First Friday art walk. It was really cool to see a "starving artist" section of town, especially since we normally wouldn't be wondering that section of town at night! We saw some cool (and some weird) art, but it was a lot of fun to get out. We headed to Rose & Crown afterwards for some refreshments. Rohan was being such a ham too. He kept calling Sasha's phone while he was playing with Mara's phone, and he also kept trying to wink, which he essentially just squints both eyes. It's pretty funny.
Saturday we met up with Sasha and Xiomara at AZR and Xiomara got her into to climbing. For being afraid of heights she did really good. She just kept climbing, and that's the best thing you can do! Afterwards we went back to our place for some Chicken Biryani and Fat Tire. Afterwards they hit up a concert and Mara and I took Rohan to a park to get some fresh (hot) air. We went to a couple places afterwards with AC or mister systems to stay cool.
Sunday we beat the heat of our non-AC apartment by heading over to Greg & Nico's. They just got back from an AMAZING trip to Europe and we got to sit and look through their photos. It looks like they had a BLAST. We had some great BBQ pork and sides (never a shortage of food!) and then hit the pool. Rohan is getting his sea legs and it walking in shallow water pretty good. He loves to throw stuff in the water, and hopefully he doesn't translate that over to throwing things in the toilet!
We have reevaluated our running schedule too. Since the heat is so friggin' oppressive, we've decided to cut back on our longer runs (no more 11 mile runs at 11pm!). Instead we are going to focus on shorter runs of 4-5 miles 3-4 times a week and work in some Yoga our friend Jeanette teaches at AZR (free for us). It will hopefully help supplement our longer runs and also give us a little break from hard core running until the heat cuts back a little or we get more accustomed to the heat. After that we are going to start training for the PF Chang's Marathon in January!
We are looking forward to a better night's sleep with our AC back!
Enjoy the pics from this last week/weekend!
Rohan Fighting Sleep At Wal-Mart:
Mara Snuck Up On Rohan Read To Himself:
Rohan Being A Goofball:
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Happy Birthday Dad!
Rohan wanted to say: Happy Birthday DAD!
Unfortunately he has a very limited vocabulary so Dad! will have to do:)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
National Lampoon Southwestern Vacation
This last weekend we set out to utilize a rare 5 days of vacation and explore a couple of national treasures just a few hours from Scottsdale. Since it was also going to be a vacation from Rohan as well we had tons of M&D time with him last week, making forts, going to the pool, and going on walks. Thursday we dropped Rohan off at Heather & John's for the week/weekend. Little did we know that Rohan was going to be a poo factory all weekend, and even showed off the fabled "Poop Fountain" while at their business (I should let Heather explain that one...). We felt really bad that he wasn't feeling well all weekend. Hopefully the next time he'll be more like his own self.
Friday morning, at just after 4am, we set out for Zion National Park in Utah. We've heard about it from our friend Steph and seen her pictures, so we had to check it out.
Since Memorial Day weekend campsites are insane and packed, we opted for dispersal camping and camped out in the woods of Dixie National Forest, about 30min North of Zion NP. The views on the way up were worth the 7hr drive. It goes by fast when you are just in awe of everything around you. We hit up Zion and walked the dogs on the dog-friendly Pa'rus Trail. We found some water in the the Virgin River and Schroeder had a blast. We headed back to the campsite and relaxed with some grilled cheese, s'mores, and a little wine. Since we were camping at 8000 feet, it was a little chilly in the morning, right around freezing. We quickly warmed up with some Alterra Coffee and oatmeal...:)
The dog trail gave a great view from the valley, but we wanted the view from the top. Since dogs aren't allowed on the other trails we dropped them off at the Doggy Dude Ranch in Rockville just outside the park on Saturday. From the sounds of it they wore themselves out. We hit up the Angels Landing Trail which doesn't go to the top of the canyon like Observation Point, but it had the added element of danger. There are parts of the trail that are VERY treacherous and they even installed chains along the last 1/2 mile of the trail due to the shear 800 foot drop off. The site was a little crowded due to the busy weekend and the draw of the trail, but it was a spectacular climb and the view was hard to beat.
Sunday we packed up early AM and escaped Utah, heading back to AZ. We set up camp in the Kaibab National Forest, which Grand Canyon National Park is located in. The forest was so dense, aside from areas of wildfire. It was a nice change from the deserts of AZ. There were even still areas of snow! It has been a while since I was at the Grand Canyon. Dad, Dale, and I went on a rafting trip in 1994 (I think) for a week. One of the best trips of my life. I even saw the airport and staging area for Hatch River Expeditions. An awesome guide company if you are ever interested. I hope to get back there someday.
We hit up the North Rim viewing areas, and the picture and panoramas we have don't even begin to touch on the beauty of this giant hole in the ground. We could see more than 100 miles, and the air was so clear you could see detail out that far! It was amazing.
Sunday night we explored our camping area a little more and found some awesome cliffs and future camping spots. Mara also created an amazing desert snack...The Super Crack S'more. Bread, peanut butter, graham cracker, marshmallow, chocolate, graham cracker, peanut butter, and bread. Wow. We had it down to a science. 1 minute on each side for 4 minutes. This snack may be the next camping addiction.
We realized we had hit 2 steps of the Grand Staircase, so next time we'll have to hit up Bryce Canyon to complete the tour.
We headed back early and rescued John & Heather from Rohan. He had flashes of his old self, but overall just looked like he was uncomfortable. Hopefully he'll recover and get back to his old self soon. We really wanted to thank Heather & John for watching him. It was a great vacation and we have the pictures to prove it. We took over 500 pictures in 4 days. Most were due to panoramas. I uploaded the 30 panoramas we have to Picasa (full resolution). If you want to download the full resolution just download it from Picasa HERE. Some are very wide angle and don't show up well in the slideshow. I chose ~150 pictures to share in the slide show. Most are scenery, but I suggest coming out here to see the site for yourself. We'll be more than happy to tour it with you! :)
Panoramas:
Schroeder Has Some Lucy In Him:
Friday morning, at just after 4am, we set out for Zion National Park in Utah. We've heard about it from our friend Steph and seen her pictures, so we had to check it out.
Since Memorial Day weekend campsites are insane and packed, we opted for dispersal camping and camped out in the woods of Dixie National Forest, about 30min North of Zion NP. The views on the way up were worth the 7hr drive. It goes by fast when you are just in awe of everything around you. We hit up Zion and walked the dogs on the dog-friendly Pa'rus Trail. We found some water in the the Virgin River and Schroeder had a blast. We headed back to the campsite and relaxed with some grilled cheese, s'mores, and a little wine. Since we were camping at 8000 feet, it was a little chilly in the morning, right around freezing. We quickly warmed up with some Alterra Coffee and oatmeal...:)
The dog trail gave a great view from the valley, but we wanted the view from the top. Since dogs aren't allowed on the other trails we dropped them off at the Doggy Dude Ranch in Rockville just outside the park on Saturday. From the sounds of it they wore themselves out. We hit up the Angels Landing Trail which doesn't go to the top of the canyon like Observation Point, but it had the added element of danger. There are parts of the trail that are VERY treacherous and they even installed chains along the last 1/2 mile of the trail due to the shear 800 foot drop off. The site was a little crowded due to the busy weekend and the draw of the trail, but it was a spectacular climb and the view was hard to beat.
Sunday we packed up early AM and escaped Utah, heading back to AZ. We set up camp in the Kaibab National Forest, which Grand Canyon National Park is located in. The forest was so dense, aside from areas of wildfire. It was a nice change from the deserts of AZ. There were even still areas of snow! It has been a while since I was at the Grand Canyon. Dad, Dale, and I went on a rafting trip in 1994 (I think) for a week. One of the best trips of my life. I even saw the airport and staging area for Hatch River Expeditions. An awesome guide company if you are ever interested. I hope to get back there someday.
We hit up the North Rim viewing areas, and the picture and panoramas we have don't even begin to touch on the beauty of this giant hole in the ground. We could see more than 100 miles, and the air was so clear you could see detail out that far! It was amazing.
Sunday night we explored our camping area a little more and found some awesome cliffs and future camping spots. Mara also created an amazing desert snack...The Super Crack S'more. Bread, peanut butter, graham cracker, marshmallow, chocolate, graham cracker, peanut butter, and bread. Wow. We had it down to a science. 1 minute on each side for 4 minutes. This snack may be the next camping addiction.
We realized we had hit 2 steps of the Grand Staircase, so next time we'll have to hit up Bryce Canyon to complete the tour.
We headed back early and rescued John & Heather from Rohan. He had flashes of his old self, but overall just looked like he was uncomfortable. Hopefully he'll recover and get back to his old self soon. We really wanted to thank Heather & John for watching him. It was a great vacation and we have the pictures to prove it. We took over 500 pictures in 4 days. Most were due to panoramas. I uploaded the 30 panoramas we have to Picasa (full resolution). If you want to download the full resolution just download it from Picasa HERE. Some are very wide angle and don't show up well in the slideshow. I chose ~150 pictures to share in the slide show. Most are scenery, but I suggest coming out here to see the site for yourself. We'll be more than happy to tour it with you! :)
Panoramas:
Schroeder Has Some Lucy In Him:
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