TBall & Bridges

This last couple weeks have been mostly filled with Mara working in the PICU, and on her short time away we've been climbing a bit, and going on some long bike rides.
The last weekend Mara had off we took advantage and headed North to camp (while the temps are still above freezing at night).  We just camped the one night since Rohan had TBall and a friends birthday party on Saturday morning, but afterwards we met up with Angelika and headed North.  We had plans to visit the Tonto Natural Bridge so we decided to find a forest road to camp on nearby.  We ended up about 6.5mi into the forest in an AWESOME clearing beneath some massive pines.  It was also maiden voyage for our new tent.  The fire was an excellent way to chill out and stay warm while the temps dipped down to low-40s.  We made some hot coco and relaxed well into the night.
Sunday morning we got up and warmed up with some oatmeal and cheesy eggs before heading to the bridge.  I was always unimpressed when they talked about the "Natural Bridge".  I've seen arches in Arches National Park, so how different could a bridge be?

Rohan was an absolute trooper, hiking almost 2 miles on his own through rough trail and over boulders that were at least his height, and sometimes much higher.  We visited the waterfall trail first, which had a really cool suspension trail, before heading down the canyon trail to the "bridge".  We stopped at a really fun cave we explored extensively before spying the bridge just around the corner.  How different are arches & bridges?  For one thing the arches are probably 20-30ft wide..the bridge was 400+ft long, and absolutely stunning.  The pictures don't quite do it justice.

Enjoy the pictures!

BUSY MONTH!!!

Wow, sorry about the absence!  We have been CRAZY busy, and just a teensy bit lazy about the blog.  I’ll play catch-up now.

Mid-September our friends Wyatt & Jovanna came to visit from Chicago.  It was AWESOME seeing them, especially since we hadn't seen them since their wedding (3yrs ago)!  As always with our friends, it doesn't matter how long it’s been, we can just jump right back in.  Wyatt & Jovanna did some much needed relaxing and I took them rock climbing in Superior as well.  Couldn't have been a better day for it!  It was a great visit, and we hope to see them soon!

Rohan has started T-Ball now, and I had the great idea that I should coach…:)  The parents are all pretty good, so it wasn't the nightmare I thought it could be.  Most of the kids are pretty athletic and have some skill in some way, so it’s been fun.  Some are even making progress after 2 practices!  Rohan, of course, is probably the fastest one, and hits just as well as his buddy on the team (Jack).  Jack has a much better arm though, but Rohan is catching up in that area.  It’s fun to watch them wield a metal bat and hit a regulation size ball (with a soft shell & core).

I also had some tickets for the last series of Diamondback games.  The seats were given to us by a very generous person ($120 apiece!).  They were ~12 rows behind the Rockies’ dugout and just off home plate.  Awesome seats!  Tons of foul balls around us, and a pretty good game with 5 HRs and a DBack comeback, but lost in extra innings.  We left in the 11^th, and they didn't finish until after we were already at home and in bed (13 innings!).

The last Friday of September we met up with H&J and hit up the PHX Science Museum (also with free tickets through work!).  They had a Lego exhibit (which Rohan was all about), some educational booths with heart beats transmogrified into drum beats (pretty cool), and a giant sneezing nose.  Rohan’s favorite was the giant stomach complete with farting noises, burps, gurgles, and a colon slide…yup…a colon slide.  Heather even took a spin down it…:)Heather also beat John in a head-to-head wheelchair race…good times…:)

We had more visitors from WI, this time work friends of Michelle’s that were in AZ for a conference.  I agreed to take them on a hike so I picked a night hike at Shaw Butte, just outside their hotel.  The scenery was awesome, and the sunset was gorgeous.  They bought us dinner afterwards, and we had great time!  If they come back, we’ll gladly take them out again!

We celebrated Oktoberfest with some German & Austrian friends in downtown PHX.  It was the second year we have been, and it’s fun every time!  Mara competed in a stein-holding contest and came in 3^rd to a 70yr old beast of a woman.  Rohan was cheering her on loudly as well…:)  Lots of pretzels, boots of beer, and bratwursts & wienerschnitzel.

We had a housewarming party for a friend, that eventually escalated to a full out Nerf war.  Rohan was running around aiming a fully automatic gun that was taller than he is.  Comedy.  Rohan was a madman as well…running to and from rooms, targeting people, and yelling “Military”…it was awesome…:) 

Mara is doing great with the twins, she is at almost 14 weeks.  We had several ultrasounds and some very cool 3D pics.  Crazy to see them in 3D this early!  They were not cooperating, so we couldn't get a sex determination yet.  Rohan is flip flopping between all possible combinations so I think he’ll be happy with whoever will be his siblings…:) 

Well…that wraps up the last several weeks!  Here are some pics & vids of what we've been up to…

Roh-zilla:

The giant stomach...:


Rohan's War:


Rohan Laying Suppression Fire...Then Attacks:


Taking Fire...1st Person Angle:


Irena's Dart Stash:


Rohan working on some new moves...:)