Go Fly a Kite (Sunday, November 25th, 2018)

It's our final day with the kids, so after a fun morning of shopping, we decided to go to the park for a little kite flying. 

Steve has a large stunt kite that is a lot of fun for the guys to fly.  It is a bit of a handful for us girls, but we took it to the park to see what kind of damage we could do.  Our youngest daughter is a little afraid of this kite because it pulls so hard, so she was hoping we could do enough damage that we would have to throw it away at the end of the day. 😏

I tried my hand at it, but after being pulled half way across the park, I crashed and burned.

With a little team work, our daughter was able to get the hang of it, and eventually even flew it on here own.

When we finished our kite flying, it was time to head home so the kids could pack up.  

While the kids were here, our daughter's boyfriend had talked about these crazy creatures that live in the desert.  They look a lot like big horns, but their horns grow back, instead of curling around to the front.  He shot one several years ago in west Texas.   As we left town,  he looked out the window on our daughter's side of the car, and said "There's an aoudad".  We turned the car around and went back to see it.  Even with help, we had a hard time finding it, but sure enough, there stood a single aoudad on the side of the hill.  How in the world did he see this?



As we drove through the desert on our way to Las Vegas, we were treated to the best sunset of the entire weekend.

After all of the busy days, the silly games, and lots of laughs, the most important thing we gained from this precious time with our daughter and her boyfriend is a renewed sense that our daughter is doing great!   She is the happy, confident, and tackling life, and has a great person by her side to do it all with.  

As hard as it is to say goodbye, our hearts were happy as they walked away.  We will cherish these memories until we get to see them again...soon....Christmas is coming!

Races with the Kids (Saturday, November 24th, 2018)

The Blue Water Casino is holding circle track boat races this weekend, so we decided to take advantage of another gorgeous day!  They had about 50 different classes of boats racing today.

When we left the boat races, we met our friends Alan and Linda at Fox's Floating Dock Bar for some lunch, but the wait for food was too long, so we just enjoyed a quick drink with them and then continued on to catch our next races of the day.

We have never see Fox's this crowded before!

Our final stop of the day was the circle track car races at Sara Park.

We had planned on going out to dinner after all of the day's races, but when all was said and done, we were all too tired, so we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner at home before calling it a day. 

We feel like we have done so much since the kids arrived three days ago, but the time is flying by much too quickly!  

Boating with the Kids (Friday, November 23rd, 2018)

We woke to perfect weather today, so the kids chose a day of boating.  It started off a little cool in the morning, but with no wind, we knew that it would turn into a perfect day.  We started our lake tour by going through the channel and under the London Bridge.




Wow!  She's looking a little puffy!

We enjoyed our lunch on the lake before heading back north.

After a leisurely shower and a little chill time at home, we enjoyed a nice relaxing dinner at Angelina's before falling asleep to "Life Below Zero" literally.

Feeling So Thankful! (Thursday, November 22nd, 2018)

Our son (in-law) is away from us this Thanksgiving, serving our country to ensure our freedom and safety.  No words can describe how thankful we are for him and all of his fellow soldiers that can't be with their families this holiday season!  

Our oldest daughter is with her husbands family welcoming his sister's new baby and celebrating all the blessings that this year has provided.  We are thankful for her safe arrival and the time she will spend with her second family!

Steve and I were blessed with a visit from our youngest daughter and her boy friend here in Havasu, so we had to take advantage of every moment we had!

We picked them up at the airport late last night and made our way back to Havasu with the obligatory stop at In-N-Out Burger to quench their cravings.  Once we arrived in Havasu we all sat around outside and talked into the wee hours of the morning.  

After a good nights sleep, and a request for a non-traditional Thanksgiving, we got up this morning and headed out on our tour of the town in the RZR.  

As we drove through downtown, we spotted the Good Year blimp flying over the lake.  We have seen a lot of really cool things flying over the lake, but this was a first.  What a fun sight!

We made our way to the island for a walk along the channel and a picture by the London Bridge.

Then out to Site Six for a walk (and handstand) on the dock.

I think this guy lives here, waiting for hand-outs from the fishermen.  

After our tour of town, we headed back to the house to start some cooking and have some fun.  

Our daughter's boyfriend  managed to stack three golf balls before they all came tumbling down.

As our Thanksgiving day came to an end, we jumped back in the RZR and headed up to the desert for our sun downer.    Appetizers on the front hood of the RZR.  Like I said...non-traditional Thanksgiving all the way!

After a perfect sunset we went back to the house to take the non-traditional ribs off the smoker.

We are feeling so thankful for the company of two great kids, a fun time exploring town, the perfect sun downer and a wonderful meal to finish our day.  Life is so, so good!

Golfing Huukan (Sunday, November 18th, 2018)

Today was our first day back golfing since getting home from all of our travels.  Starting over at golf is always a humbling experience, at least when you are us!

We drove to Fort Mohave with Sam and Sharyn to play at Huukan.  We've never played here before, so we're super excited!  We always love playing a new course.

Huukan is a pretty typical community golf course.  As usual we has a great time playing with Sam and Sharyn even though our Steve and my games had some rocky parts!

We had such a good time today.  It was great to be back on the golf course.  It wasn't as humbling as we expected, so that was a great feeling!  The weather was great, and we were spending time with good friends.  What could be better?  

We'll definitely have to keep this course in mind.  Only about 45 minutes away, $18 a round including a golf cart with gps,  and lots of fun!

A Morning Hike and Sinagua Ruins, Sedona, AZ (Sunday, November 11th, 2018)

Another beautiful day in Sedona, what can I say?  

Today will filled with some easy rides, some hard rides, many more beautiful views and some Indian Ruins.

Our first stop was a little trail that leads to an arch (If you can find it).  John and Sheila stayed back because their son was asleep in the RZR.  The rest of us headed out on a morning hike.  As we started out, the sun had not yet risen in the canyon, so it was chilly.

We never did find the arch, but as we headed back out of the canyon, the sun rose to warm our noses.  Some mistletoe in the early light of morning.

When we finished our hike, we met back up with John and Sheila and headed to our next destination.

This is what we saw as we made our way back out.  Sedona is very crowded with locals and tourists alike, on every trail and every path.  We have really enjoyed visiting, but I don't think I could ever live here.  There is one highway through town, and it is a constant traffic jam.

Now off to the Honanki Sinagua Ruins...

Honanki Heritage Site is in the Coconino National Forest, so as we approached the ranger we pulled out our wallets to pay our fees, then the ranger reminded us that Monday is Veterans Day, so the ruins are free today.  Wow, that was a nice surprise!

Dogs aren't allowed in the ruins, but the ranger said that if we carried them the whole time they could come in, so Steve and Keith were the official carriers.

These ruins are from 1050 - 1350 AD, and housed about 800 people.

The Discovery Trail to the ruins.

Then back to Sedona through Red Rocks Park to make our way back home.

Wow!  That's all I can say about Sedona.  What a beautiful place!  I can certainly see why it is so crowded!  Thanks so much to Keith and Anita for letting us tag along, and to John and Sheila for thinking of us.  What an incredible weekend adventure!