This last week was fairly uneventful. Mara has started her "audition rotation" at Maricopa Hospital. Essentially, it's where she wants to do her residency, and this way they can see her in action and then they interview her in the end. She's been doing great, and has gotten a ton of excellent feedback. Last Tuesday, and Sunday she was on call overnight at the hospital. It was pretty slow on Tuesday, but she had 6 admits on Sunday, so it kept her busy until 2:30am. Rohan and I got to hang out and enjoy some father/son time...:)
Friday we met up with Sasha, Xiomy, Jeanette, and Marc for dinner/drinks at Daily Dose. Sasha had just returned from her rotations in OH & TX the last few months so we got to catch up with her. It will be good to have our climbing/yoga partner back!
Saturday we headed out to Cosmo Dog Park in Chandler because they have a lake for dogs to swim in. Turns out it was closed until Sept. 1st, but they dogs still go to run around and got soaked with a hose they had out. Afterwards we took Rohan to the Fountain Hills fountain which also has a wicked splash pad. I think I would have enjoyed it! There were tons of water features, and the temps were just about perfect (~95F). We also took some time to feed the ducks some of Rohan's crackers. Rohan got the hang of it pretty quickly, and really liked feeding them. Schroeder kept inching closer trying to inquire about the ducks, but they would scoot away every time he started getting close. Not sure if he'd like the water as much as Lucy did, but he does seem to get a little deeper every time we take him somewhere.
Saturday we also had a long run for our marathon training. We were scheduled to run 14mi, but ended up only getting ~12mi in before walking the last 2.5mi in. Once it cools down a bit more, it will be easier to do those longer runs...we hope...
Sunday Mara went into work around 6am so Rohan and I got to spend the whole day together. We ran into TGEN so I could add an enzyme to my DNA extractions and embed some tissue samples. He seemed pretty enthralled with the whole process. Afterwards we headed to Greg & Nico's where they gave me their old grill since they got the Cadillac of grills. It took a bit to disassemble the grill, but it fit in the RAV eventually. Rohan and I headed home and watched some football and baseball on top of playing around with the dogs. Rohan was wore out by 7:45 (usually goes to bed at 8:30 or 9), and I was recovering from some virus so I was down by 8:30. Rohan was up briefly at 10, but then slept through the night until 5:30. We both needed the rest!
Mara was off around Noon Monday, and we met for coffee before she headed home for a nap. Overall a good relaxing weekend!
The Fountain Hills fountain:
Rohan learning to catch (needs a lot of work...):
Rohan shows off his "Tired Dance":
Rohan finds the little things to entertain him:
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Recovery Week
After Tim & Allison's visit last weekend we've slowly been recovering. We either caught a virus from them, Rohan, or one of Mara's peds patients, but it took us down a notch. My liver also had to recover since I am not used to drinking Jack Daniels 4 days straight with no sleep and a crazy high activity level. But we'll do it again when they come back out! Most of this week was spent vegging and recovering. We skipped climbing & yoga as well as 2 runs, but we fit in a third and still got most of our 10 miler in later in the week.
Thursday we ran our 3mi recovery run, then Friday night we ran our 10mi long run. It was brutal, and slow, but it still felt good in the end. We did happen upon some more wildlife as well. We were running along the base of the McDowell Mountains when we heard a rustling in the brush between us and a gated community. Then we heard the antlers scraping the wall and trees, then the hooves, then the galloping. The, either small Elk, or large deer, ran along side us for a few feet before shooting ahead and across the road in front of us. It wasn't real well lit, but you could tell it was big, plus the hooves on the concrete sounded pretty heavy.. It definitely got our hearts pumping! Add that to the javelina, rattlesnake, kingsnake, coyotes, and countless bunnies, lizards, spiders and ants, its like we're running through a friggin' zoo!
Saturday (our 5 year anniversary, as well as both our parents') we took advantage of the cooler weather (from a storm Friday night) and took the dogs to the dog park. By the time we got there the sun had begun to UV irradiate everything, making it pretty muggy and uncomfortable. We lasted about 45 min before heading out. We took Rohan to the DC Ranch splashpad to cool off though, and that felt awesome. It was good to cool him down and wear him out at the same time, although he only got an hour long nap in before heading to Heather & John's for a pool volleyball party. We had 3 teams of 5, and they were all pretty closely matched so it was a lot of fun. We crashed hard Sat. night after almost 6 hours of pool, sun, & volleyball time. As always, the Schmit's hospitality was awesome! The sunset when we left was really intense, lighting up the thunderhead clouds on the other side of the mountain.
Sunday was pretty laid back in the morning. We played with Rohan and then hit up a Diamondbacks game at 1:00. We only stayed through the 7th inning since it was one of the most boring games we've been to (and we've been to a lot!). It was a classic pitchers duel, with the DBacks losing 0-1. We did see some awesome defense, but the lack of crown enthusiasm made it boring. They said 30,000 people were there, but it seriously seemed like a high school girls tennis match. We got out and bummed around Scottsdale a little that afternoon, then relaxed until the evening. We met our friend, Jeanette, out in Fountain Hills at a little creamery called La Scala. They have a meeting there every full moon and just chat. It's very casual, the food is awesome, and Rohan loved the fountain that Fountain Hills is famous for (sprays 560 ft in the air!). On our way over we had to stop twice to get pictures of another gorgeous sunset, with crepuscular rays that were stretching across the whole sky and even giving a glow to the full moon! Rohan was sleeping when we got there, but he woke up and MAN was he hungry! We think he's going through another growth spurt because he ate tons of veggie pizza at the Schmit's plus a whole waffle, tons of fruit, and 5 or 6 agar berries. He was charming everyone and doing yoga poses and flashing some smiles. We'll definitely be going back. The owners of La Scala were the ones who put on the gathering, and they could not have been nicer!!! Seriously reminded me of Grandma's house. "Are you hungry?" "No." "Have a seat. Here's waffles, fruit, sides, wine..." etc...etc...
Rohan has been talking A LOT more, using his phone toy and chatting at his books. We can't wait until he starts talking more. He's got More (Mah) & Please (Pa), Car (Ca) & Truck (Ck). Hard to distinguish car & truck sometimes, but he gets super excited every time. On our way to the DBacks game Mara had him on her back and all the sudden he just started squealing and hitting her shoulders. Turns out a bus was stopping at the bus stop right next to us and he thought it was the coolest thing EVER! The bus was more exciting than the game...:)
Most of our videos are of Rohan entertaining us, but we also have lots pics of him on top of that. None from Heather & John's, but we'll add them when we steal them from her blog...:) Enjoy!
Fun With Bubbles!:
Dad Teaching Rohan His Animal Sounds:
Rohan Reads "The Pokey Puppy" To Mom:
Rohan Has A Funny Conversation With Himself On The Phone:
Thursday we ran our 3mi recovery run, then Friday night we ran our 10mi long run. It was brutal, and slow, but it still felt good in the end. We did happen upon some more wildlife as well. We were running along the base of the McDowell Mountains when we heard a rustling in the brush between us and a gated community. Then we heard the antlers scraping the wall and trees, then the hooves, then the galloping. The, either small Elk, or large deer, ran along side us for a few feet before shooting ahead and across the road in front of us. It wasn't real well lit, but you could tell it was big, plus the hooves on the concrete sounded pretty heavy.. It definitely got our hearts pumping! Add that to the javelina, rattlesnake, kingsnake, coyotes, and countless bunnies, lizards, spiders and ants, its like we're running through a friggin' zoo!
Saturday (our 5 year anniversary, as well as both our parents') we took advantage of the cooler weather (from a storm Friday night) and took the dogs to the dog park. By the time we got there the sun had begun to UV irradiate everything, making it pretty muggy and uncomfortable. We lasted about 45 min before heading out. We took Rohan to the DC Ranch splashpad to cool off though, and that felt awesome. It was good to cool him down and wear him out at the same time, although he only got an hour long nap in before heading to Heather & John's for a pool volleyball party. We had 3 teams of 5, and they were all pretty closely matched so it was a lot of fun. We crashed hard Sat. night after almost 6 hours of pool, sun, & volleyball time. As always, the Schmit's hospitality was awesome! The sunset when we left was really intense, lighting up the thunderhead clouds on the other side of the mountain.
Sunday was pretty laid back in the morning. We played with Rohan and then hit up a Diamondbacks game at 1:00. We only stayed through the 7th inning since it was one of the most boring games we've been to (and we've been to a lot!). It was a classic pitchers duel, with the DBacks losing 0-1. We did see some awesome defense, but the lack of crown enthusiasm made it boring. They said 30,000 people were there, but it seriously seemed like a high school girls tennis match. We got out and bummed around Scottsdale a little that afternoon, then relaxed until the evening. We met our friend, Jeanette, out in Fountain Hills at a little creamery called La Scala. They have a meeting there every full moon and just chat. It's very casual, the food is awesome, and Rohan loved the fountain that Fountain Hills is famous for (sprays 560 ft in the air!). On our way over we had to stop twice to get pictures of another gorgeous sunset, with crepuscular rays that were stretching across the whole sky and even giving a glow to the full moon! Rohan was sleeping when we got there, but he woke up and MAN was he hungry! We think he's going through another growth spurt because he ate tons of veggie pizza at the Schmit's plus a whole waffle, tons of fruit, and 5 or 6 agar berries. He was charming everyone and doing yoga poses and flashing some smiles. We'll definitely be going back. The owners of La Scala were the ones who put on the gathering, and they could not have been nicer!!! Seriously reminded me of Grandma's house. "Are you hungry?" "No." "Have a seat. Here's waffles, fruit, sides, wine..." etc...etc...
Rohan has been talking A LOT more, using his phone toy and chatting at his books. We can't wait until he starts talking more. He's got More (Mah) & Please (Pa), Car (Ca) & Truck (Ck). Hard to distinguish car & truck sometimes, but he gets super excited every time. On our way to the DBacks game Mara had him on her back and all the sudden he just started squealing and hitting her shoulders. Turns out a bus was stopping at the bus stop right next to us and he thought it was the coolest thing EVER! The bus was more exciting than the game...:)
Most of our videos are of Rohan entertaining us, but we also have lots pics of him on top of that. None from Heather & John's, but we'll add them when we steal them from her blog...:) Enjoy!
Fun With Bubbles!:
Dad Teaching Rohan His Animal Sounds:
Rohan Reads "The Pokey Puppy" To Mom:
Rohan Has A Funny Conversation With Himself On The Phone:
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Happy Birthday Jennifer!
Happy birthday Jennifer!!! Hope you are feeling better, and get well soon!!!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Happy Anniversaries!!!
A Happy 5th Anniversary to my lovely wife Mara!
A Happy 40th to my parents, Larry & Deb (Love this picture!):
A Happy 34th to Mara's parents, Dan & Holly:
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| From All Pics |
A Happy 40th to my parents, Larry & Deb (Love this picture!):
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| From 08.21.2010 - Anniversaries & birthdays |
A Happy 34th to Mara's parents, Dan & Holly:
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| From 04.05.2010 |
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Adult Weekend!
This last week/weekend Tim & Allison came to visit the Syring household. Allison has an (almost) 2yr old and was in need of a much deserved break. Her parents were able to watch them and on Friday the 13th they flew into the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport. It was pretty great from the beginning because the Mesa airport is so small and under construction, they only have one terminal and the baggage claim is outside! It's like we were back in Kirksville! [shudder] One bonus is that this airport has somewhat cheaper flights than Sky Harbor, so check it out if you want to come visit us!
From the second they set foot on AZ soil, it was just like old times. We had blast catching up on the ride back to Phoenix. I gave them a tour of TGEN, followed by Starbucks (of course) and relaxing at the grotto at the AZ Center. We headed and picked up Rohan at daycare and went out to our favorite Sushi restaurant, RA. We ate enough sushi to feed a village, then headed to S. Phoenix to drop Rohan off at Heather & John's. They were awesome to take Rohan for the next couple days, so we could all enjoy a little adult getaway/stay-cation. We took full advantage of our time away from the kiddos. We capped Friday off with some Two Buck Chuck wine for Mara & Allison, and Beer & Jack Daniels for Tim and I. We hit the pool for almost an hour before watching several episodes of Three Sheets & Archer, and calling it a night around 1 a.m. (3 a.m. T&A's time!).
We were up surprisingly early on Saturday morning...:) We bummed around in the morning, then hit up AZR to climb. It had been since college that Tim or Allison had climbed, so it was fun to relive those days, and also realize why they hadn't climbed since...:) They both did awesome for not climbing in almost 10 years (both made it up routes), and like all fresh climbers, their forearms were aching by the end of the first hour. After climbing we headed over to Greg & Nico's to cool off in their salt water pool. It was 110°F in Phoenix this last weekend, but without the humidity, T&A thought it felt awesome. They prepared for the worst, and it was not near the blast furnace they were expecting. Allison did mention it was really hot a couple of times though... The pool got a great workout with 5 grown adults acting like they were 13 again. Greg probably has to add 4,000 gallons of water back into his pool after we splashed so much out of it! Good times though...and the pics will show that. We also were able to see Nico's parents and celebrate their anniversary with tons of meat on the grill and copious amounts of adult beverages.
Sunday was very much subdued. Wait...no it wasn't. We were REALLY honored by having our climbing, massage, and yoga instructor friend, Jeanette, teach us a private yoga class! We all felt like crap going in after a long Saturday night, but afterwards we were all feeling great and ready for our next adventure...hiking Devil's Bridge in Sedona. With Me, Mara, Tim, Allison, & Jeanette the drive up and back was a riot, and the car was never quite the whole trip. The hike was awesome as usual. Mara and I had only done it once last year, so it was great to get back to the area (Sedona is gorgeous!). The hike was well worth the drive, and we had some fun on the bridge too. We all hiked up food and had an awesome picnic, with a view that's hard to beat! Jeanette hiked up watermelon and the rest of us brought supplies for ham and swiss sourdough sandwiches, along with several types of hummus and pretzels. After the hike we took a bit and walked through Tlaquepaque, an art colony in downtown Sedona. Perfect cap to a great hike.
When we got back to Phoenix, we had a late grilling session (supper around 9:30 p.m.) and Rohan rejoined the fracas. He obviously had a blast at Heather & John's, and after saying "Hi" to everyone, crashed hard for the rest of the night. We stayed up until around Midnight, chatting and drinking. Jeanette worked on Allison's tight muscle, and in turn, Mara worked on Jeanette's back. Tim & I brought nothing to the table, so we just B.S.'d and drank.
Monday Tim and I got up early and hit up the TPC Scottsdale for some world class golf. It's the same place the Phoenix Open is held (which I worked this last February), and has some famous holes and history. When I made the reservation a month ago, I was concerned what the weather in Phoenix would be in Mid-August. It turned out to be one of the nicer days of T&A's visit. Mostly cloudy, a slight breeze, and awesome course conditions! Tim and I got paired with a Canadian and New York pair that were visiting AZ. They were great to play a round of golf with. Tim played with his old clubs he gave Mara a while back, and ended up losing to me by one stroke...something I will never let him live down. I had several pars and even a birdie on the course, so I was really happy with that; especially since I haven only played one other time since last October. After a couple beers in the clubhouse and soaking it all in, we went to Ketzal for some great Mexican food and salsa. After lunch we hit up MoJo before picking up Rohan and kabob supplies. Greg & Nico came over and we hung out for the rest of the night.
4:45 a.m came early Tuesday morning and I took T&A back to the tiny airport. We had an absolute blast with them, and can't wait to see the whole Peet family next time! We all needed the break from everything, and I think we succeeded in completely wearing everyone out to the point of total exhaustion, which will take a couple of days to recover from, if not longer for any vital organs that were affected (i.e. the liver)...:)
There are tons of pictures (but not a lot of video for lots of reasons). Enjoy!
The most greatest achievement in auto engineering...the perfectly sync'd blinker:
From the second they set foot on AZ soil, it was just like old times. We had blast catching up on the ride back to Phoenix. I gave them a tour of TGEN, followed by Starbucks (of course) and relaxing at the grotto at the AZ Center. We headed and picked up Rohan at daycare and went out to our favorite Sushi restaurant, RA. We ate enough sushi to feed a village, then headed to S. Phoenix to drop Rohan off at Heather & John's. They were awesome to take Rohan for the next couple days, so we could all enjoy a little adult getaway/stay-cation. We took full advantage of our time away from the kiddos. We capped Friday off with some Two Buck Chuck wine for Mara & Allison, and Beer & Jack Daniels for Tim and I. We hit the pool for almost an hour before watching several episodes of Three Sheets & Archer, and calling it a night around 1 a.m. (3 a.m. T&A's time!).
We were up surprisingly early on Saturday morning...:) We bummed around in the morning, then hit up AZR to climb. It had been since college that Tim or Allison had climbed, so it was fun to relive those days, and also realize why they hadn't climbed since...:) They both did awesome for not climbing in almost 10 years (both made it up routes), and like all fresh climbers, their forearms were aching by the end of the first hour. After climbing we headed over to Greg & Nico's to cool off in their salt water pool. It was 110°F in Phoenix this last weekend, but without the humidity, T&A thought it felt awesome. They prepared for the worst, and it was not near the blast furnace they were expecting. Allison did mention it was really hot a couple of times though... The pool got a great workout with 5 grown adults acting like they were 13 again. Greg probably has to add 4,000 gallons of water back into his pool after we splashed so much out of it! Good times though...and the pics will show that. We also were able to see Nico's parents and celebrate their anniversary with tons of meat on the grill and copious amounts of adult beverages.
Sunday was very much subdued. Wait...no it wasn't. We were REALLY honored by having our climbing, massage, and yoga instructor friend, Jeanette, teach us a private yoga class! We all felt like crap going in after a long Saturday night, but afterwards we were all feeling great and ready for our next adventure...hiking Devil's Bridge in Sedona. With Me, Mara, Tim, Allison, & Jeanette the drive up and back was a riot, and the car was never quite the whole trip. The hike was awesome as usual. Mara and I had only done it once last year, so it was great to get back to the area (Sedona is gorgeous!). The hike was well worth the drive, and we had some fun on the bridge too. We all hiked up food and had an awesome picnic, with a view that's hard to beat! Jeanette hiked up watermelon and the rest of us brought supplies for ham and swiss sourdough sandwiches, along with several types of hummus and pretzels. After the hike we took a bit and walked through Tlaquepaque, an art colony in downtown Sedona. Perfect cap to a great hike.
When we got back to Phoenix, we had a late grilling session (supper around 9:30 p.m.) and Rohan rejoined the fracas. He obviously had a blast at Heather & John's, and after saying "Hi" to everyone, crashed hard for the rest of the night. We stayed up until around Midnight, chatting and drinking. Jeanette worked on Allison's tight muscle, and in turn, Mara worked on Jeanette's back. Tim & I brought nothing to the table, so we just B.S.'d and drank.
Monday Tim and I got up early and hit up the TPC Scottsdale for some world class golf. It's the same place the Phoenix Open is held (which I worked this last February), and has some famous holes and history. When I made the reservation a month ago, I was concerned what the weather in Phoenix would be in Mid-August. It turned out to be one of the nicer days of T&A's visit. Mostly cloudy, a slight breeze, and awesome course conditions! Tim and I got paired with a Canadian and New York pair that were visiting AZ. They were great to play a round of golf with. Tim played with his old clubs he gave Mara a while back, and ended up losing to me by one stroke...something I will never let him live down. I had several pars and even a birdie on the course, so I was really happy with that; especially since I haven only played one other time since last October. After a couple beers in the clubhouse and soaking it all in, we went to Ketzal for some great Mexican food and salsa. After lunch we hit up MoJo before picking up Rohan and kabob supplies. Greg & Nico came over and we hung out for the rest of the night.
4:45 a.m came early Tuesday morning and I took T&A back to the tiny airport. We had an absolute blast with them, and can't wait to see the whole Peet family next time! We all needed the break from everything, and I think we succeeded in completely wearing everyone out to the point of total exhaustion, which will take a couple of days to recover from, if not longer for any vital organs that were affected (i.e. the liver)...:)
There are tons of pictures (but not a lot of video for lots of reasons). Enjoy!
The most greatest achievement in auto engineering...the perfectly sync'd blinker:
Sunday, August 8, 2010
More Good Weather, More Baseball, & More Snakes!
The weather has broke a little bit here in PHX. The temps have been in the low to mid 100's, but the humidity has bottomed out quite a bit. We went from 60% to 20%, and that made a HUGE difference. We took advantage of better weather and hit up First Friday with Xiomy, but first we made a stop at the Children's Museum, which is free on First Friday. Needless to say, it was packed! Rohan was all over the place (which is the point). He was touching everything, climbing on everything, and wearing himself down. His favorite installation was the Noodle Forest. It was thousands of swim noodles suspended from the ceiling. He warmed up to it after a few minutes, and then couldn't get enough. After everything he crashed hard. We met up with Xiomy and walked around a tweeker art fest with loud bands right next to the sidewalk and tons of bumps and curbs. He never even flinched. Can't wait until next month to do it again!
Saturday we started picking up and getting things somewhat ready for Tim & Allison's visit. Tim can be very diva~ish so we have to make sure our place is spotless...:P Rohan has been watching videos and such on our iPods, but now he's taken to playing the games. One in particular, Glass Tower 2, involve breaking blocks and the sounds get him all geeked up. We were able to break him away in order to go see a Diamondbacks game. We had won free tickets through our climbing gym, AZR. We didn't know it was the night Luis Gonzalez's #20 was being retired. He had their World Series winning hit in 2001, and has been a God here in AZ ever since. He's a great ballplayer and a great guy. It was the first number this young franchise has retired, so the people came out in droves. All in all, 48,946 fans showed up. It was fun to see that many people there, since they usually had about 20,000 fans show up. The shear number of fans kept Rohan's interest, and he was dancing and clapping the whole night. He even had a 4 year old girlfriend to entertain him too. The night was capped of with a blown save, followed by a walk-off home run, so it was a really exciting game. Afterwards we watched a storm from the roof of the parking garage, and Rohan saw a ton of planes and Police cars. He slept good again that night...:)
Sunday we spent most of the day giving the dogs a haircut. It was slightly breezy and warm. Sweat & fine dog hair don't mix well... We had to take a couple of breaks to cool off in the pool and all in all it took almost 5 hours to cut them! Saved us over $100, so it was worth the effort! The dogs are going to love the shorter hair!
We capped the weekend off, and started the week with, a nice long 12mi run. The temp was a nice 90F, with a very light breeze. We again came across a snake, this time no rattle, no venom. It was a baby Kingsnake, about a foot long, and as wide a a pencil. Somehow we attract snakes...or maybe it's because we are running through the desert...:)
It was a good weekend, and Rohan had some great all out play days that wore him out into taking good naps (except Sunday, which was a bit of a chore). We are really looking forward to Tim & Allison coming out and have some good plans to hike, climb, and a personal yoga session by our friend Jeanette. Should be a great time! Heather is going to watch Rohan Sat & Sun so we can enjoy their visit a little more without being tied to a sleep schedule or drinking age...:)
Hope everyone had a great week too!
One Of MANY Trips Through The Noodle Forest:
Rohan Playing Games On The iPod (And Trying To Buy Stuff!):
Rohan Is Doing Great At Putting His Puzzles Together:
Saturday we started picking up and getting things somewhat ready for Tim & Allison's visit. Tim can be very diva~ish so we have to make sure our place is spotless...:P Rohan has been watching videos and such on our iPods, but now he's taken to playing the games. One in particular, Glass Tower 2, involve breaking blocks and the sounds get him all geeked up. We were able to break him away in order to go see a Diamondbacks game. We had won free tickets through our climbing gym, AZR. We didn't know it was the night Luis Gonzalez's #20 was being retired. He had their World Series winning hit in 2001, and has been a God here in AZ ever since. He's a great ballplayer and a great guy. It was the first number this young franchise has retired, so the people came out in droves. All in all, 48,946 fans showed up. It was fun to see that many people there, since they usually had about 20,000 fans show up. The shear number of fans kept Rohan's interest, and he was dancing and clapping the whole night. He even had a 4 year old girlfriend to entertain him too. The night was capped of with a blown save, followed by a walk-off home run, so it was a really exciting game. Afterwards we watched a storm from the roof of the parking garage, and Rohan saw a ton of planes and Police cars. He slept good again that night...:)
Sunday we spent most of the day giving the dogs a haircut. It was slightly breezy and warm. Sweat & fine dog hair don't mix well... We had to take a couple of breaks to cool off in the pool and all in all it took almost 5 hours to cut them! Saved us over $100, so it was worth the effort! The dogs are going to love the shorter hair!
We capped the weekend off, and started the week with, a nice long 12mi run. The temp was a nice 90F, with a very light breeze. We again came across a snake, this time no rattle, no venom. It was a baby Kingsnake, about a foot long, and as wide a a pencil. Somehow we attract snakes...or maybe it's because we are running through the desert...:)
It was a good weekend, and Rohan had some great all out play days that wore him out into taking good naps (except Sunday, which was a bit of a chore). We are really looking forward to Tim & Allison coming out and have some good plans to hike, climb, and a personal yoga session by our friend Jeanette. Should be a great time! Heather is going to watch Rohan Sat & Sun so we can enjoy their visit a little more without being tied to a sleep schedule or drinking age...:)
Hope everyone had a great week too!
One Of MANY Trips Through The Noodle Forest:
Rohan Playing Games On The iPod (And Trying To Buy Stuff!):
Rohan Is Doing Great At Putting His Puzzles Together:
Monday, August 2, 2010
Camping In Cloud City (Not The Only Star Wars Reference In This Post!)
A few weeks back we realized with Mara studying for exams and getting application stuff ready, we really hadn't taken advantage of the cooler mountains to escape the heat of the desert. About the time we thought of heading up to Payson the temps in the valley started dropping (below 100°F today!). Then we checked the weather and it was forecast for rain pretty much all over AZ. We decided we might as well go for one night. At worst we spend it in the tent and Mara could regale us with stories about her patients. I took off from work after lunch and we picked up Rohan and the dogs and headed North. Since most of the time the weather in AZ is fairly predictable (Phoenix especially), we were glad to see lots of cool cloud formations and even a little rain on the way up.
We navigated our Rav4 through some pretty sketchy areas in terms of washouts and wet sand, but we only almost got stuck once, and got to see some of Coconino Forest's back country areas. When we finally found a spot to camp it was amazing! The clouds were about 200 feet below us, and we could see probably close to 50 miles, back towards Phoenix. The view from our site was amazing, and if there wasn't the rain, someone probably would have snagged it before us. We had lots of cool storm clouds in the distance and fast moving low clouds scrambling up the mountain all around us. We got some cool videos of the clouds attacking. One storm cloud in particular looked a lot like a Star Destroyer Battleship from Star Wars (See the pics for a comparison).
The forest was pretty damp, so firewood was scarce, but we were able to make a small one. We found a nice area to cook our supper at, with views of the valley and sunset. It couldn't have been much better (well...minus the rain). We got rained out right around Rohan's bedtime, so that worked out pretty good. He was so exhaisted that he didn't mind us chatting, or the dogs snoring or barking at forest noises. We had a couple of June bugs attack our lantern light, but they eventually left us alone.
Saturday morning we checked the forecast and decided to bail instead of sitting in a tent with a 19mo old all day, and two wet dogs. Instead of heading straight home we took a slightly longer route home through Winslow and Flagstaff. On the way we swung by a climbing area called Jack's Canyon we had heard some friends talk about. It turned out to be a gorgeous day (at least while we were in the canyon), and we were suprised how great the clmibing was. We didn't have gear with us, but as soon as we get some rope, we are going to head back there and do some serious all-weekend climbing. As we hiked out of the canyon we came across a HUGE snake. Mara had seen it, but I almost stepped on it. Not sure what kind it was, but it was about 3 1/2 to 4 feet long. Maybe Chris, or one of our other nature nerd friends, can identify it in our pictures.
We got home Saturday afternoon (after hitting REI to browse). The night was pretty low key, and Sunday was a lot of the same. With Tim & Allison coming in 2 weeks, and Tim and I playing the TPC, I need to get working on my golf game a little so Tim doesn't make too much fun of me! We capped Sunday off with a nice cool run, and some pool/hot tub time.
Hope everyone had a great weekend too!!!
Cloud City Campsite:
The clouds attack our campsite:
Rohan Laughing At Pine Trees:
Rohan Bouldering:
Rohan & Mara Do Some Yoga Before Getting Back In The Car (Sorry For The Wind Noise!:
One Last Run Before Heading Home! (Sorry, More Wind!):
We navigated our Rav4 through some pretty sketchy areas in terms of washouts and wet sand, but we only almost got stuck once, and got to see some of Coconino Forest's back country areas. When we finally found a spot to camp it was amazing! The clouds were about 200 feet below us, and we could see probably close to 50 miles, back towards Phoenix. The view from our site was amazing, and if there wasn't the rain, someone probably would have snagged it before us. We had lots of cool storm clouds in the distance and fast moving low clouds scrambling up the mountain all around us. We got some cool videos of the clouds attacking. One storm cloud in particular looked a lot like a Star Destroyer Battleship from Star Wars (See the pics for a comparison).
The forest was pretty damp, so firewood was scarce, but we were able to make a small one. We found a nice area to cook our supper at, with views of the valley and sunset. It couldn't have been much better (well...minus the rain). We got rained out right around Rohan's bedtime, so that worked out pretty good. He was so exhaisted that he didn't mind us chatting, or the dogs snoring or barking at forest noises. We had a couple of June bugs attack our lantern light, but they eventually left us alone.
Saturday morning we checked the forecast and decided to bail instead of sitting in a tent with a 19mo old all day, and two wet dogs. Instead of heading straight home we took a slightly longer route home through Winslow and Flagstaff. On the way we swung by a climbing area called Jack's Canyon we had heard some friends talk about. It turned out to be a gorgeous day (at least while we were in the canyon), and we were suprised how great the clmibing was. We didn't have gear with us, but as soon as we get some rope, we are going to head back there and do some serious all-weekend climbing. As we hiked out of the canyon we came across a HUGE snake. Mara had seen it, but I almost stepped on it. Not sure what kind it was, but it was about 3 1/2 to 4 feet long. Maybe Chris, or one of our other nature nerd friends, can identify it in our pictures.
We got home Saturday afternoon (after hitting REI to browse). The night was pretty low key, and Sunday was a lot of the same. With Tim & Allison coming in 2 weeks, and Tim and I playing the TPC, I need to get working on my golf game a little so Tim doesn't make too much fun of me! We capped Sunday off with a nice cool run, and some pool/hot tub time.
Hope everyone had a great weekend too!!!
Cloud City Campsite:
The clouds attack our campsite:
Rohan Laughing At Pine Trees:
Rohan Bouldering:
Rohan & Mara Do Some Yoga Before Getting Back In The Car (Sorry For The Wind Noise!:
One Last Run Before Heading Home! (Sorry, More Wind!):
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