Arizona Trip

So in early August I drove down by myself to Arizona to visit my brother and his wife (one of my best friends in high school). It's a long drive, so I manage it with audio books.  This year I listened to the Number One Ladies Detective Agency.  Last summer it was Odd Thomas.  I have learned though that you need to plan ahead when checking out audio books from the library--a lot of the titles  recommended to me were checked out.

Most of what we did during the trip was stay up and talk late at night.  If felt like high school all over again. :)  On Friday we went to a Mexican restaurant, and I tried to snap some pics, but being a child photographer is rather difficult.  The boys apparently like to stick out their tongues at the camera.  At any rate, this one turned out. 

On Friday we went to the park to see Derek finish a race (though we missed the finish).  We hung out with the kids for a bit, then Mary and I went for a run on some trails near their new house.  I was huffing and puffing.  Being pregnant and out of shape didn't combine very well with the high altitude.  Furthermore I neglected to remember that high altitude means you sunburn really quickly.  Oops.  So we went home, and I had a nap.  Later that evening some of Mary's friends from her PT program came over and we had a little BBQ after which Derek, Mary, and I stayed up too late chatting again.

On Sunday I sent to church and met a nice guy that Derek works with.  Then afterwards the family and I went to the little duck pond.  Here is a duck....I can't remember if the family name for him is crazy hat or silly hat.

I tried really hard to get some successful family photos in...at least in this one everyone is facing forward.

After the duck pond Derek and I took the boys for a trike ride while Mary made some delicious homemade pizza for dinner.  After dinner I played with the kids on the back patio and I tried to get the boys to trace chalk letters with moderate success. Here is a picture of some nice flowers from their yard--I am very jealous that they bought a house with an amazing garden of perennials that they didn't have to plant.

Another fun thing about their yard is their humming bird feeders.  They have more hummingbirds than I've ever seen in my life all at once.  It's like insects buzzing around a porch light at night.  Cool, but almost gross because there are so many of them and they aren't afraid of you.

Anyway, my visit to Arizona was short and sweet but lots of fun!  It looks like I will be driving down again for Thanksgiving this year.