Remembering My Birthday Weekend 2018

On May 25, 2018 me and Chris went to Grimaldi's for dinner for my free birthday pizza! Grimaldi's is one of our favorites! We took this magical selfie in which Chris looks super thrilled to be hanging out with me- LOL

Chris had just got a new phone with a fancy portrait mode on it so we had fun practicing with it:

After dinner we went home to pick up the VR and our dogs, and went over to my brother Joe's house with to play Beat Saber. Joe loved this game! We had so much fun playing. While we played, our dogs hung out. Jack had a great time with Chanel, but Chloe doesn't much care for his high energy, so she'll only hang out with him when he's being calm.

On May 26, 2018 we went to Scottsdale Fashion Square. We visited my friend Nicole's boutique, and I picked up an adorable little blue and white striped tank top.

On May 27, 2018 it was Bradley's birthday party! Swimming! VR! Neighborhood bike rides! Sparklers! Lemon cake! It was so fun!

We packed up the doggies and the VR to take to Matthew and Dustin's house.

We talked mom into trying VR, but she had to stop because it was hurting her legs from flexing so hard. She was doing so much work to keep from falling down. Matthew tried it and was a beast playing Space Pirates. Dustin was good at Beat Saber. We got Michelle to try some VR too, but only with lots of support.

Me and Ella had to get together for selfies together on Chris's phone for portrait mode.

Bradley wants to have his own YouTube channel, so Joe made him a YouTube birthday cake.

Me and Chris got Bradley a bike for his birthday- and we brought our bikes too. We went in the front yard to light sparklers, and we took a bike ride around the neighborhood. 

On May 28, 2018, we drove to Prescott. We went to Lynx Lake and kayaked. It was gorgeous!

Chris got a room at the Hassayampa Inn, which was awesome! It's this 1927 landmark, and it's beautiful! It has the original elevator, but we didn't ride in it because it's staff operated, and we didn't want to bother anyone for a ride. We found out it was haaaaaunteddd!  We looked it up, and it supposedly, a bride and her groom checked into the hotel in 1927, and the groom went out to buy cigarettes and never came back. The poor bride waited and waited, but when he never returned, she took her own life. Poor girl!

May 29, 2018- My BIRTHDAY! Chris took me to breakfast at Lone Spur Café. We hit up some of the cute shops around the square. 

I take a selfie of myself every year so I can make a flip book of me aging when I'm old and gray. Haha.

Later in the afternoon, we headed back to the valley and met the family at La Piñata for dinner. It was a wonderful time.

Remembering Overland Expo 2018

On May 19, 2018, we headed to Flagstaff with Joey and the kids for Overland Expo! We all took our doggies with us. We started our day with breakfast at the Toasted Owl, which was fun, and yummy.

The expo was PACKED! So many vendors, and so many people. So many dogs too! Chloe is a little shy, but Chanel was really loving all the attention she was getting. 

We got loads of sweet freebies- stickers, patches, hats, etc. We brought lunch with us to help save some money, so we went to the truck for a bit for sandwiches and snacks.

The kids were in heaven because they got to ride with Joe in a Land Rover and in a ginormous Jeep. Chris and I skipped that part to try and get some more vendor booths in. The later the day got, the higher the temperature, so our dogs got tuckered out! We had to start carrying Chloe and Jack around, but Chanel was a trooper! Ella, Bradley and I sought some shade under the big gazebo and let the dogs cool off for a bit and relax for a bit. Joey and Chris went to the Goal Zero booth and bought portable personal fans that we could all take turns using. That was a life saver! 

At the end of the show is the best part. The vendors hand out free beer and call it happy hour. We went to the Nissan booth and Mother Road Brewery Kolsch. Especially after being so warm for so long, that was delicious! The kiddos got juice and soda, and we were all happy campers!

I got a wicked sunburn and my skin was on fire, so we drove up the road to the Home Depot in Flagstaff and bought an aloe plant. I just kept breaking pieces off and rubbing it into the skin on my face and chest all the way home, and luckily that did the trick. I still peeled a little bit, but not nearly as bad as it would have been!

Remembering Canyon Lake- May 2018

On May 6, 2018, we drove to Canyon Lake near the Apache Trail and Tortilla Flat. It was an extremely busy lake! But it was really neat. It's just tucked away in the mountains. The road to it is skinny and winding- and the bridges are only one lane!

We wanted to kayak, but the only parking we could get was way far, so it was going to be too difficult to carry our kayaks for such a long distance. We decided to keep driving. We drove through the Superstition Mountains and took in the cool scenery. Neither of us had visited this area before.

We headed to Tortilla Flat. This place is teensy. There's a campground, a country store, a saloon/restaurant and a mercantile. Tortilla Flat was an old stagecoach stop in the early 1900s.

We stopped in the country store and I tried prickly pear gelato. It was nice and creamy! We browsed the little mercantile, which is essentially a gift shop.

We headed back to the lake, and quite a few people had cleared out by that time so we got to go and enjoy it. We had an awesome time kayaking! There was this narrow bit of the lake that we paddled through. There were some kids there cliff jumping. I was so nervous for them, but it seemed like they were having a good time.

When we got to the end of the lake, we got out of the kayaks to explore a bit. That area seemed like a really cool place to camp! It'd be so fun to camp somewhere only accessible by small boat.

We paddled over to edge of the no wake zone, so we could go under the bridge, and check out some nifty caverns.

After we were done in the water, we headed back to Tortilla Flat for dinner at the saloon. My mom had recommended that we go. She told me that she spent a lot of time there back in the day.

We'd love to go back and drive more of the Apache Trail, and experience the lake when it's a little less crowded.

Remembering April 21, 2018

On the 21st we went to the Scottsdale Off-Road Expo at West World. We saw a lot of neat vehicles, and got a lot of swag.

We ate a lot of delicious event food. Haha! Nachos, ice cream, hot dogs- yum!

It was nice to get out of the house and hang out. We were scoping out sweet bronze rims for Chris's 4Runner, and ideal ditch lights for both of our trucks. We tried to win some Rigid lights at the vendor booth, but all we ended up with was a keychain, a bottle opener, and a high five. Haha!

After the expo, we met our friends Mike and Edie at Scottsdale Links Resort right nearby. They took us and one other couple to the AZ Rattlers game. We had never been to an arena game before. It was really entertaining. 

We headed back to the resort afterward and played games and ate Barro's pizza. Such a fun day!

Remembering April 7, 2018

My brother reached out me and Chris. He wanted to do something fun with my Bradley while Levi and Ella were at birthday parties. He asked me and Chris if we wanted to join, and if we had any ideas of what to do. After some thought, Chris came up with three choices which Joe in turn presented to Bradley.
1. Federal Pizza, and then Churn for ice cream.
2. Go to off-roading at Lake Pleasant and then do some kayaking
3. Go for a drive to Crown King for burgers at the saloon, and then pie from Rock Springs Cafe

Bradley chose option 3. Joe and Bradley had never been to Crown King before. We headed down the I17, and the closer we got to our destination the cooler it got outside.

We stopped at a lookout along the way where the boys climbed up rocks.

We walked down a narrow trail and found a memorial for someone. Bradley was so sweet, and wanted to take a moment to observe and pay his respect.

When we got to the saloon, Bradley was amazed at all the dollar bills posted on the walls. We had to decorate a dollar bill for ourselves to post.

We headed toward Rock Springs Café for dessert. Chris and I had to try strawberry lemonade cheesecake, and it was AMAZING. 

We dropped the boys off and headed to our neighbor's house for their daughter's birthday party. They had a fun photo booth with funny props, so we had fun participating!

Remembering Easter Weekend 2018

On March 30th I was off for Good Friday! I dropped Chris off at work, ran some errands, and did some shopping.

Me and the doggies picked Chris up from work and headed back up to Payson.

When got back to the house, we colored Easter eggs. We got a kit with emoji faces. Our eggs were hilarious looking. Susie made an amazing rock star egg, Chris made funny, fancy egg, and I made an unimpressed egg.  

On the 31st, we took Susie, Veronica and Chanel on a trail ride with Offroad Passport. Before we got far, we had to stop back at the house and caught Chloe enjoying Easter candy. She tried to act innocent, but there was just something about her that made her look guilty.

So trail was so fun! We stopped for lunch at Ash Creek- Chris made us his famous peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and Susie brought graham cracker and cream cheese for dessert. I had never tried that before, but it's so yummy!

There were other doggies there- one was a golden lab, and it was her birthday! She was just turning 1. She was a spunky little lady who LOVED the water. There was a ginormous pit pull there named Gibson. He had to stay in the truck because he didn't like other dogs, but he loved people! I got to pet him, which was lovely.

We met a couple, Jason and Nikki from Gilbert who were driving a sandy colored XJ, but told us that they had just bought a 4Runner like ours, but an SR5 Premium. They said they bought it from a PGA golfer. We got a kick out of them telling us that the prior owner hadn't paid his registration in years. It turns out that they were about to hit the road with their two German Shepherds and a teardrop trailer for a whole year. How amazing to just leave home and your job and travel for a full year!

Chris introduced me to a couple Sarah and Chris. Chris met them on a different Offroad Passport trip. They also have two dogs. We enjoyed the name similarities- Sarah Beth/Beth and Chris/Chris.

When we got to the river crossing, we were shocked to see how low the water was. Chanel and I walked across the river, and I didn't even get my rolled up jeans wet.

When we got back to the house we ordered a FEAST from Native New Yorker. Veronica went and picked up Nana, and we all ate together. Pizza, tons of wings, and salad. After dinner, we played Yahtzee. Wonderful day!

On April 1st, we headed back down to Phoenix. We had Easter at my brother Matthew's house. There were so many of us, and all of us brought food- so it was basically just FEASTer. Matthew and Dustin hid Easter eggs for the kids in the front yard, and eggs in the back yard for the adults. We ended up leaving with like, a mountain of tiny alcohol bottles, beer bottle openers, and lottery tickets.

Gotta love weekends with all of your favorite people!