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! :)

#AyalaAdventures | Part 2

If you missed our beach post, you can check it out here.

We really tried to pack as much into our 5 day trip as we could... and one of the places on our must-do list was the San Diego Zoo. I took several dozen photos - too many to share here. The last time we went to the Zoo, we only had one kid and I don't think we made it around the place. This time, 15 years later, we decided to take the bus tour. Well worth it. We got to see just about everything... and any exhibit/animal we wanted to see up close, we just made our way over there by foot.

I think our most favorite were the Pandas...(he looks just like our new pup, Oso!) and the Polar Bears.

The weather was perfect and we ended up spending nearly 5 hours wandering and meandering. Nic loved seeing all of the animals and different birds and trees. I loved that he ran around so much, he fell asleep the moment we got back to the hotel for the evening! :) Score!

#AyalaAdventures | Part 1

Yes... I gave us a hashtag for our recent San Diego vacation. Lame, huh? :D I know I posted pics and updates on Facebook and Intagram along the way, but I wanted to be sure I also document our trip here on the good ol' blog. I will break it up - I am too tired to sit here and edit a gazillion pictures. 

The first day in San Diego, we went straight for Coronado Island... and the beach.

Someone before us was kind enough to give us some opening remarks material. Thank you kind, sirs.

The weather was unseasonably warm... near 90 degrees; we loved it. We didn't actually plan to enjoy the golden sand (no, seriously, we think there was GOLD in the sand!) and cool water, so we weren't prepared. That didn't stop Nico though. Nope, not one bit. We scavenged for sea creatures, shells and seaweed. And we found them all.

I think we spent nearly two hours just allowing Nic to run up and down the beach, in and out of the water. He hadn't been to the beach in nearly 4 years and his reaction this time around was much different. He LOVED it. 

This last picture here pretty much sums up Nic on this trip... (and in life in general, now that I am thinking about it). 

The birds will never be the same on Coronado Island. But... who cares? My guy had a BLAST.

A Baby Shower

I was so honored to be able to host a baby shower for my cousin (by marriage), Katie. She is a delightful friend and neighbor; I lucked out with her. Katie is due with her first baby in early December and I am tinkled pink that it's a girl! Here are a few shots from the shower.

The shower was so much fun. We had a few games, but I think the hoola-hoop contest was the winner hands down. We had a lot of sweets and wonderful gifts. It was such a pleasure to spend some quality hours with family and friends.  Even though throwing a party is exhausting, I am trying to wrack up as many points as I can; I can't wait to get my hands on that baby.  :D

Leftovers

It's family tradition to get together on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to enjoy leftovers. But, really, they aren't leftovers. We just call it that, because we serve food that could be considered leftovers from Thanksgiving. It's another reason to get together with the whole family.

Of course, I had to take along my new camera to see what I could capture in the way of beautiful people. In the shots below, you will see cousins, second cousins, third cousins... and aunts and uncles, who are grandmas and grandpas.

You get the idea.

First up, my two nephews (okay, really second cousins), Ben and Austin. Heart breakers.

My cousin Chell with our other cousin's baby, Rose Grace (aka Gracie)

Chell's husband, Darryl.

Proof that they weren't actually leftovers. A new turkey!

My Uncle Mark with his grand-daughter Gracie.

My third cousin, Ryah

And her big sister, Selah

My Aunt Anita and my niece (okay, second cousin, but her grand-daughter) Charlotte.

My nephew (er, second cousin) Evan

My cousin Chell and our second cousin Laurel

Third cousin Ryan and his grandma, our Aunt Barb

My Cousin Jonny's step-daughter, Lily (she's the big sister to Gracie)

And last, but never least, my daddy...

Isabel and Nic were with me, but tired of the darn camera in their face. They ducked. Often.

The weather was beautiful, the spirits were bright - we couldn't have asked for a better day to spend with our family.

Okay, now I am officially done with Thanksgiving. On to Christmas, people!

Oh so thankful!

I am down right exhausted. I can't be the only one, though. Today was a beautiful day full of trials and triumphs. This was our first Thanksgiving without my grandpa. It was hard. But we know he was with us in spirit.

Marcos, the kids and I spent several days getting the house in order and finishing up the million or so projects we started over the past several weeks. Some reveal pictures of the guest bath and formal coming up tomorrow or Saturday. When I've actually recovered from today! ;)

We had a fantastic meal. The food was wunderbar. I spent some time in the details to make sure our guests felt the impact right when they walked in the door. I love setting the table for the holidays. This year, I went with silver, gold and white as our color scheme.

I purchased most of my decor at Target and the Dollar Store; very affordable. Here are a few more shots:

I used regular mixed nuts from the produce department to add some natural elements to the table. The table cloth is cream with gold glitter thread embedded in, the table clothes are gray and yellow/orange.

Here are some of the people I was lucky enough to spend the day with:

I think I can speak for all of us when I say we felt so thankful and so blessed. We said "Grace" and mentioned everyone we could think of, praying that they were feeling thankful and loved, too.