First Road Trip of 2014 [Jerome, Arizona]

I know I wrote a similar post back in the day -  maybe for 2009? Either way, I am very excited to announce that yesterday... we got away!

We decided to head 2.5 hours NW to Jerome, Arizona and from there up north a little more to Flagstaff. This time around, Alex wasn't able to join us; he had to work. Bummer. But let me tell you, Isabel and Nico were on their very best behavior (thank you Mr. Steve Jobs) and we had a blast.

Personally, Jerome was a little more artsy-fartsy than I normally like... I was really missing the history of the place. I wanted more ghosts, less sculptures. But, it is a beautiful town with great crumbling buildings.

After Jerome, we headed out to dinner in Flagstaff. And on the outskirts, we found leftover snow. It's been years since we took the kids to play during the winter. Shame on us. I think we've decided to head up there just as soon as they get another snowfall. Nico was so hoping to build a snowman, but the snow was pretty hard and icy. They were able to make a few snowballs and throw them at each other.

We had dinner at one of our favorite places, albeit new to Flagstaff, Someburros (Mexican food - quick and delish!). We stayed there for well over an hour, just relaxing and eating all the free chips we could handle. After that, we may our way back down to the valley. And after a quick pitstop at Culvers for some frozen custard, we were back home in just over 3 hours.

I will say, for once I wasn't the one asking for all of the bathrooom breaks. Nico had us stop TWICE. I think he drank too much lemonade. :)

While we missed the heck out of Alex, we had a great time. We plan on doing a whole bunch more intra-state road trips this year!! Cheap & fun entertainment! 1 tank of gas and a dinner for 4... not bad! :)

The Finale

Aren't you glad we only traveled from NC to AZ... and not around the world?
I could have gone on forever and ever and ever.

But, to be honest... All good things must come to an end.

Here are a few snapshots from the lovely state of Arizona.

Below is Abby's picture - her first in Arizona in 13 years.
Pardon the back-seat bed head. The trip was long.
We all were tired.

These pics are of the town of Globe and Miami (they are pretty close together, most people call it Globe-Miami).

What is with Arizona?! Always putting words or letters on foothills and mountains?!?!

This is the Queen Creek tunnel. About an hour and a half away from the town of Queen Creek (where we reside just outside of)... Isn't it neat?! The date is hard to see, but it's 1952 (hey - that's the year my dad was born!!).

We were less than 2 hours away from home in the above shot - but boy were we ready!!
We've been home a week now. We are settling in.
The honeymoon is over - and I for real have 4 kids in the house.
But, to be honest... I wouldn't have it any other way.
We love having Abby with us.
Good luck, Jess, trying to get her back!! =)

Same Diff

Last Wednesday (of last week, hence last and not this past) - before Isabel was out for summer, Marcos took Alex and Nic out to the mountains for a hike.

I was excited for them; male bonding time! Marcos took the day off of work specifically for this hike.

They had a great time.

Nic was so excited about going on his first real hike.

I think they did a nice job of posing for the husband's camera phone.

The pictures came out quite alright.

My main squeeze sent these to me as he was taking them, so while I was at home working, it felt like I was experiencing the hike with them. Minus the heat, of course! =)

Nic couldn't wait to tell me all about it! 

He went on and on about the cactus, and the snakes (they didn't see any) and about how much he LOVED Funny Mountain. 

From the pictures, I couldn't quite place where they were. But for sure, I'd never heard of Funny Mountain.

Ohhhhhh!!!



He meant Silly Mountain.

Same diff.

What I don't ♥ about Arizona

Seriously?! This is not how I wanted to start off my Monday morning.
And the fact that I spent a few extra minutes making the picture look "pretty" disgusts me even more.

Scorpions ARE NOT welcome here. Go away. Shoo.

How I see it

I was in bed sick today. I spent all day watching movies and blowing my nose. Since I am sure you don't want to read about the latter, I will chat about a movie I watched.

Have you ever seen the movie Waiting to Exhale? Of course you have.
It's not my all-time favorite movie, but I do love it just the same.

When I think of Arizona, I picture twinkle lights, palm trees, and silhouettes of red rock buttes against an orange and pink fiery sky. I hear that deep voice - a radio deejay - introducing one jazz song after another.

Arizona is romantic. The cinematographers of Ms. Houston's movie certainly got it right.

There are days I wish we lived out east - the grass is always greener, right?
But then there are days that I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world.
Today was one of those days.

Tortilla Flat

At the very beginning of Spring Break - on a day momma didn't feel so hot, papa took Isa, Alex and Alex's friend Cesar to a little place called Tortilla Flat. In addition to this tiny not-even-a-speck-on-the-map locale, they also visited Canyon Lake and tried their hand at fishing. Here are some pics from their trip:

isa took this next of the bird [?] - she is so proud of it, she wants me to get it printed and hung in her room!

this picture below reminds me of an old western

I am bummed I didn't get to go along, but Nic and I stayed home and hung out like homies.
[okay, I slept on the couch and he played Toy Story 3 on the Wii]
[for who knows how long]