Playing Catchup (again)

Well the last week plus has flown by so fast! Since Mara has been done with her exams we've been all over the place exploring Phoenix a little more before she has orientation next week and then starts her clinical rotations the week after.

Rohan has been LOVING the extra time with Mara. She's taken to opportunity to expand his palette a little as well. He's been getting exposed to tomatoes, yogurt, ice cream, fruits/veggies, refried beans, hummus, bread & butter pickles, and today he had palak paneer! He's done great with all the new & ethnic foods we've given him. As soon as he gets his teeth he can start eating right from our plates! :)

We have been taking the little guy in the pool to cool him down (pretty much every night). He seems to love the water. We've dunked him under a couple of times. Usually he ends up smiling, but not always.

I had a great Father's Day weekend. Saturday we hiked Pinnacle Peak, hit Greg & Nico's pool, then the driving range, and finally back to the pool. Pinnacle Peak was an easy hike, but we wanted to try out the backpack from Cari & Rob. Rohan seemed to like it enough to give his sleeping seal of approval. The view wasn't bad either! Rohan really was enthralled with all the motion and action at the driving range. He jumped a couple of times when the driver came out, but never cried or anything. Sunday I went golfing with Mara's Uncle John, Jordan and his soon to be brother in Law Aric at the San Marcos Resort. It was a lot of fun, and I didn't have to buy a beer all day...:) I also did something I've never done before. I drove a 312 yard par 4 green! By far the longest (straight) drive I've ever had. We had a lot of fun that day, and I can't wait to cold with The Schmits again for Jordan & Kailea's wedding in July.

Tuesday morning the family headed up to Cottonwood, AZ to Dead Horse Ranch State Park. It was great to get out of the city and enjoy absolute solitude. Amazing this place was only 2 hours away! We had an awesome campsite view of the mountains, great sunsets & sunrises, and even treated to an almost complete rainbow (and it's reflection rainbow). I've never seen this bright of a rainbow. It was so bright you could even see ALL of R.O.Y. G. B.I.V. During the day we headed into Sedona to check out the red rocks. What a sight! At night we just stared up at the sky in awe. The Milky Way was pretty clearly defined, and we saw probably 20 shooting stars. I don't think I've seen that many in 10 years combined. We headed out on a hike really early on Wednesday morning (~5:30) so we could beat the heat. The hike was about 8 miles worth , and going through and over several valleys, so we got a good workout!

Now to Linus. Poor Linus. We said when we came out here one of them would find a cactus. It was Linus. He jumped off the trail and landed square onto a Prickly Pear cactus. He only let out one yip, but there were so many more to come. He had about 20 of the main, long needles in his legs and underbelly. One must have hit a vein because when I pulled it out it spurted blood onto the sand. Upon further inspection he had hundreds of little, secondary spines in his pads, legs, chest, and face. Those took a while to get out, but the main ones (on his feet) were the most important so we didn't have to carry our prickly dog back to camp (about 3.5 miles away!) He seems to have pulled through, but maybe a little wiser(a big maybe). Schroeder came up to Mara at camp and had a spine in his nostril! He didn't even flinch when she pulled it out. Completely different dogs.

Hope you enjoy the photos & videos!

Rohan Plays Airplane:


Rohan Cools Off In Sedona:


Amazing Double Rainbow: