Random Arizona Pics

At the Frog and Firkin....again!

 Here are some random pics from our AZ trip.

Marty as mannequin

Bookstore fun - which is the mannequin

Tried to get this for the dorm room

Marty's burger - what the heck was he thinking

Outside of Drew's dorm on move in day

We called this the Missy and Shelly saguaro

Hamming it up - tried to hug a cactus

Desert Museum

Yesterday we went to the Desert Museum about 25 minutes from U of A.  It is a really nicely done museum but most of it is outside and it was HOT!  And it really was not even a hot day.  The plants were amazing and the ecology of the desert is so interesting.

The best part of the day was when Grace found a wild rattle snake under a sign for a kestrel exhibit.  We were about 1 foot away from it.  At first we were not sure it was real because the rattles were red, white and blue.  We told a docent about it and he called in a snake 911 on his radio.

A snake expert came out right away and grabbed him while telling us about his.

He was a repeat wild snake to the area.  His rattles were painted red and blue by the museum when he was previously caught.  They also put a microchip in them when they catch them.  They were going to take him to their laboratory and check him out and then release him back into the wild.

After we finished at the museum, we went to the University and saw Amanda's dorm room.  There are three girls in the room and way to much stuff!  Lots of knick knacks, clothes, food, shoes, chairs... 

After the dorm tour we went to get some cards, sat down at the Frog and Firken and played Kings in the Corner and waited for Kayla, Jordan, the Courtney's and the boys for dinner.

Unfortunately in the middle of the game, we had a monsoon downpour and we were sitting outside!  We quick had to put the cards away - wait 10 minutes and then it stopped.

We had a really nice dinner visiting with everyone.  Drew had gone to a required class in the morning, got all his books and took a nap!  The kids all look saucer eyed and overwhelmed.  Each time the boys said they needed something I told them to go get it instead of myself or Luke's mom going to get it.  Our jobs are done!  My job now is to only manage the BIG issues!  And I like that!

Drop Off

Desk area

Drop off day was INCREDIBLY smooth and easy!

We shopped at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond, picked up our pre-ordered linens and headed to lunch for giant burgers.  Then we went to the dorm about an hour and half early and asked if we could just move in the....yep!  Off we went.

With the help of 3 students everything was loaded into bins and wheeled into the room.  Drew's room mate, Luke, was right behind us and he came in a few minutes later.

All of us and his folks unloaded everything, set them up and were done within an hour!  We hung out a few minutes, took some pics and then headed out to leave them to figure out how to be freshman.

It was short lived because they (Drew, Amanda and Luke) showed up 40 minutes later while we were having our celebratory beer at Frog and Firkin (a pub)!

Their dorm door

Luke and his normal happy self

Roomies

Leaving for School

Left yesterday to take Drew to college!  It was a smooth but long trip - had a couple delays.

We got here, rented a brand new 2015 Tahoe and went and pick up Amanda from campus.  We quickly met her room mates and went to eat some Mexican food.  Amanda filled us in on the rushing scoop - she has 6 houses to visit today.

Then we headed to my girlfriend's house who lives in Vail, AZ.  It took about 30 minutes to drive there and we got there at 10 pm and were settled by 11 pm.  Her house is beautiful and so AZ like:

And of course I have fallen in love with her dog Scooter.

Stay tuned for more details...move in is this afternoon.

Boxer Boy

Murray got a hair cut yesterday and whenever that happens, we are offended that his "junk" is hanging out.  So I decided to cover him up with a pair of Marty's boxer shorts.

It led to lots of giggles.  But he was not amused.  The best angle for viewing was from the back -- it was hysterical!

Family Pic

A quick pic before Mari and Kyle headed to the game.  William is 5 months and 1 week old.  Not sitting up yet but he has two teeth!

Will Day!

"Don't mess with me!  I am with my Uncle Jim!"

We got to watch Will all day today while Mari and Kyle went to the 49er/Broncos game.  You would have thought we had all won the lottery - we were so EXCITED!

And it was better than we even imagined.  He was a complete angel all day.  He just smiled, played and chatted the whole day.

We took him to G's soccer game and he loved being outside.  Then we got home and he watched the game with Drew.  At one point he was laying on a blanket, rolled over and went to sleep.  Such a sweet boy!

The only issue is the wrestling match that occurs when he is eating...he never sits still!  Crazy kid!

Selfie!

Mid play session and then it was time for a nap!

Ready for the soccer game

Buddies

So happy!

Soccer Game

Grace had a soccer tourney this weekend and we took all three of the dogs with us and spent all day hanging out at the park.  But before the hanging out part we went for an hour long walk along the shoreline.

By the end of the day, the dogs were sleeping on benches.

Pacifica/Half Moon Bay Boondoggle

Last weekend Grace and I spent the day on a boondoggle and met up with Tina, Marty, Dale, Melanie, Lilly, Jim and Big Dan along the way.

First we went to Pacifica so G could surf a little.  It was a cold windy day which is typical for Pacifica.

Then Tina brought us lunch from a famous BBQ place - I had portebello mushroom sandwich with BBQ sauce that was yummy.  G split a brisket and chicken sandwich with Tina.

After a walk on the beach where G and I chased Murray with seaweed, we made a stop at Starbucks and Payless Shoe Store (Marty got his shoes all wet and needed to buy some flip flops).  Then we headed to Half Moon Bay to meet up with Jim and Dan.  We took a nice long walk and then had dinner at the brewery.

We finished the day with a good hardy drive thru carwash.

As G said - "that was the best day ever!"

1st day - Freshman

This is was very quick pic that I snapped as G was walking out the door for her first day of her Freshman year in high school!  It has been a long, joyful, fulfilling journey to get her to this point in her life.  She has no idea how she has made me a better person for having had the pleasure of mothering and guiding her thus far.

I love you Squirrel!

A day at work

Grace came to work with me on Monday so I had a carpool partner....and so she could rub elbows with the cool people at work!  We hung out all day in this conference room.  She watched tv while I worked and my coworkers cycled in and out to visit!

I had to tell her that free snacks and lunch and laying on couches watching tv all day is NOT a normal work environment! 

Salmon

Yum!  Dinner for the next few months!  Jim got this from Captain Dan.

VIP Training Camp

The boys went to 49er VIP Training camp on Monday and enjoyed the event.  What is not to enjoy - there was free beer, football and cheerleaders!

4 way selfie

The vegan dog stand is way off in the corner!

Weekend with Bean and Richard

We had a great time with Bean and Richard this weekend. 
We played tons of games:

• Liar's dice
• Nibs
• Farkle - they introduced us to stealing

And we hung out on the boat and went for a nice long walk at Big Creek.  

Diamonds are Bean's Best Friend

We met Bean and Richard at the cabin this weekend.  When they showed up they started telling us a story about how Richard had found a diamond looking stone in a parking lot.

Bean pulled it out and showed it to us.  We all thought it was a real diamond and went to the internet to look up how to test to see if a diamond is real.  We proceeded to do our very scientific tests including breathing on it, scratching glass with it and trying to read a newspaper while looking thru it.

These pics of what happened when Jim tried scratching the window with it and proceeded to drop it and lose it.  After a lot of frantic searching he found it under a lip in the window frame and had to take apart the window to find it.  It was especially frantic because the diamond had just passed the second test - it scratched the window!

We really think it is a diamond and can't wait for Bean to take it to a jeweler to confirm it!

"Lake" Don Pedro

These are pics from the Don Pedro boat ramp.  We were there a month ago for the last weekend that the ramp was open.

We have never seen it like this.

They have another ramp set up using a dirt road but it is very shallow and only has 20 more feet and then they will have to shut it down too.

Royisms

We spent a lot of time this weekend with Roy and it dawned on me that I need to start capturing all his "Royisms".  We laugh all the time about the funny things he says and I don't want to forget them.  So here are a couple from the weekend while playing liars dice with the kids, Jim, Anna, and Bean and Richard.

"Come running and bring your lunch pail" – said while playing liars dice and pulling his cup.

"Just look at his face, he’s sick -  he don’t know whether to go to the bathroom or go blind."  (Not sure what this means!)