Sunday, March 31, 2013
Saturday, March 30, 2013
If not interested in reading our journal from our Spring Break trip you can skip down to the photos.....
If not interested in reading our journal from our Spring Break trip you can skip down to the photos.....
Arizona Spring Break Trip March 23 - March 30 2013
Friday March 22
After work we all hopped in the armada and drove to Milwaukee. We stayed at a Comfort Suites just a couple miles from the airport. I believe this is the first single room hotel we have ever stayed in with Greta. What a challenge. I basically shipped Matt, James, and Noelle off to go find some snacks while I tried to nurse Greta to sleep. Everyone came back a half hour later to find her still awake. Finally by 9pm lights were out and we all were drifting off to sleep. Or trying too.... Come to find out neither Matt nor I sleep very well. He finally got up at 1am and went to the neighboring gas station....he must have sensed I needed a snack....turkey sandwich at 2am never tasted so good...even while sitting on the bathroom counter making as little noise as possible. Good thing we aren't staying in any more single hotel rooms!!
Saturday March 23
We woke up at 4am to get moving....our flight was supposed to leave at 6:30....didn't happen. We finally took flight at 9:30am. Something about oil?? Maybe it was a good thing because Greta burned some energy running around our gate. We are now 30 min into our flight to Dallas and she is zonked in my arms. We missed our connecting flight in Dallas so we grabbed lunch at Chili's. We were on stand by for the next flights. We finally made the 3:30 flight. We were exhausted by the time we made it to grandma's. just enough energy to grab dinner out with grandma & grandpa and go to our condo to hit the sack. Our condo is in Tempe. It is 3 stories, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 car garage, pool table, community pool. It is really kept up nice. Grandma & grandpa even rented a high chair, stroller, pack n play and set them up for us. Our place is 25 minutes down the road from Grandma & grandpa....a quick drive on the interstate. Good thing for the "anchovy lane" as Noelle calls it. It is actually called the HOV lane...it is a carpool lane. She calls it that cuz it rhymes with anchovy. Tonight we ate at Red Robin on their outdoor patio.
Sunday March 24
Today was a chill day at Road Haven --grandma & grandpa's community. We started by attending their church service. Jim was the worship leader for the service and also sang in the choir. Jim always has a good message to deliver....plus a few jokes. Matt chose not to sing this year with his dad in front of the congregation. I think after the fact he wishes he would have sang....several people came up to him and said they missed not hearing his voice and guitar solo. After church we all went for a swim. The pool is heated to mid 80's so even I didn't get cold. Greta loves the water too. After lunch Greta went down for a nap and I went to my favorite store here....Fast and Easy. It is healthy food individually packaged for people who are on the run. I spent 2 hours there....$180 later I stocked up for the week. I wish this grocery chain was local....I'd never shop anywhere else. Once Greta woke up from her nap we headed back to our condo for a chill night /move night (the Bad News Bears).
Monday March 25
This morning dad and grandpa went golfing. The rest of us chilled at Road Haven (swimming, Bocce Ball, golf cart rides around the park and to the dog park). Once dad and Matt returned from golfing I did my first mid-day run in the Arizona sun. It felt awesome to sweat! Afterwards we headed back to our condo to chill. Tonight we tested out our condo pool....was it cold! We sat poolside for awhile and pointed out airplanes to Greta as they flew overhead. Our evening ended with homemade smoothies made with my Nutrabullet I got for my birthday while watching The Pawn Stars on TV. We also played some pool...dad and Noelle versus Jill-Jill and James. The game ended with Greta wanting to play too. Doesn't work to well with a 13 month old sitting on the top of the pool table.
Tuesday March 26
Today we went to The Arizona Science Museum. I feel in love with the biology section. My favorite exhibit demonstrated the different brain waves when relaxed versus very alert. Two people put these helmets on and sit on opposite ends of a table. The object is to get a little ball on the table to drift away from you by keeping super relaxed. Meanwhile you watch a screen to see your brain waves. What amazed me was Noelle's ability to think of nothing and have her brain waves simulate sleeping---yet she was still awake, sitting playing the game. We asked her...what do you think about?? She says it is easy.... I think about nothing. Now when Jill sat down to play....my brain waves looked like I was solving the most complex problem....Even when trying to think about "nothing".
Sent from my iPad
Arizona Spring Break Trip March 23 - March 30 2013
Friday March 22
After work we all hopped in the armada and drove to Milwaukee. We stayed at a Comfort Suites just a couple miles from the airport. I believe this is the first single room hotel we have ever stayed in with Greta. What a challenge. I basically shipped Matt, James, and Noelle off to go find some snacks while I tried to nurse Greta to sleep. Everyone came back a half hour later to find her still awake. Finally by 9pm lights were out and we all were drifting off to sleep. Or trying too.... Come to find out neither Matt nor I sleep very well. He finally got up at 1am and went to the neighboring gas station....he must have sensed I needed a snack....turkey sandwich at 2am never tasted so good...even while sitting on the bathroom counter making as little noise as possible. Good thing we aren't staying in any more single hotel rooms!!
Saturday March 23
We woke up at 4am to get moving....our flight was supposed to leave at 6:30....didn't happen. We finally took flight at 9:30am. Something about oil?? Maybe it was a good thing because Greta burned some energy running around our gate. We are now 30 min into our flight to Dallas and she is zonked in my arms. We missed our connecting flight in Dallas so we grabbed lunch at Chili's. We were on stand by for the next flights. We finally made the 3:30 flight. We were exhausted by the time we made it to grandma's. just enough energy to grab dinner out with grandma & grandpa and go to our condo to hit the sack. Our condo is in Tempe. It is 3 stories, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2 car garage, pool table, community pool. It is really kept up nice. Grandma & grandpa even rented a high chair, stroller, pack n play and set them up for us. Our place is 25 minutes down the road from Grandma & grandpa....a quick drive on the interstate. Good thing for the "anchovy lane" as Noelle calls it. It is actually called the HOV lane...it is a carpool lane. She calls it that cuz it rhymes with anchovy. Tonight we ate at Red Robin on their outdoor patio.
Sunday March 24
Today was a chill day at Road Haven --grandma & grandpa's community. We started by attending their church service. Jim was the worship leader for the service and also sang in the choir. Jim always has a good message to deliver....plus a few jokes. Matt chose not to sing this year with his dad in front of the congregation. I think after the fact he wishes he would have sang....several people came up to him and said they missed not hearing his voice and guitar solo. After church we all went for a swim. The pool is heated to mid 80's so even I didn't get cold. Greta loves the water too. After lunch Greta went down for a nap and I went to my favorite store here....Fast and Easy. It is healthy food individually packaged for people who are on the run. I spent 2 hours there....$180 later I stocked up for the week. I wish this grocery chain was local....I'd never shop anywhere else. Once Greta woke up from her nap we headed back to our condo for a chill night /move night (the Bad News Bears).
Monday March 25
This morning dad and grandpa went golfing. The rest of us chilled at Road Haven (swimming, Bocce Ball, golf cart rides around the park and to the dog park). Once dad and Matt returned from golfing I did my first mid-day run in the Arizona sun. It felt awesome to sweat! Afterwards we headed back to our condo to chill. Tonight we tested out our condo pool....was it cold! We sat poolside for awhile and pointed out airplanes to Greta as they flew overhead. Our evening ended with homemade smoothies made with my Nutrabullet I got for my birthday while watching The Pawn Stars on TV. We also played some pool...dad and Noelle versus Jill-Jill and James. The game ended with Greta wanting to play too. Doesn't work to well with a 13 month old sitting on the top of the pool table.
Tuesday March 26
Today we went to The Arizona Science Museum. I feel in love with the biology section. My favorite exhibit demonstrated the different brain waves when relaxed versus very alert. Two people put these helmets on and sit on opposite ends of a table. The object is to get a little ball on the table to drift away from you by keeping super relaxed. Meanwhile you watch a screen to see your brain waves. What amazed me was Noelle's ability to think of nothing and have her brain waves simulate sleeping---yet she was still awake, sitting playing the game. We asked her...what do you think about?? She says it is easy.... I think about nothing. Now when Jill sat down to play....my brain waves looked like I was solving the most complex problem....Even when trying to think about "nothing".
Sent from my iPad
Tuesday March 26 continued...
I found the exhibit about addiction very interesting as well. It showed the science behind how addictions like cocaine, gambling, ice cream, even running can really damper ones ability to do normal day to day things, to be motivated, or to be creative. I love learning about the molecular level to that kind of stuff. Greta's favorite exhibit was the toddler heart model was was about to crawl around in. It was a little maze of the different chambers of the heart. James blew everyone away demonstrating how his bicycling power pushed a soccer ball to the top of a cylinder. All the little kids watching nearby were impressed. Noelle was a champ at the stretch contest. She could reach way past her toes...further than average girls in her age group. Another favorite exhibit amongst all of us was the weather simulator. We all stood on the platform while watching a video about different extremes in weather. The fun part was the floor that shook during the earthquake, the water and winds that blew during the hurricane. We also took in an I-Max movie while there....."To the Arctic"....about global warming and polar bears. It was really a cute movie. Believe it or not Greta slept during the whole thing!
After our museum adventure we found a cute restaurant called The Rose and Crown to eat at. We were all entertained by Greta trying a lemon. She really wanted to try it yet gave us this awful face each time she got a taste of it. But yet she would try it again!! Another unbelievable thing happened. Now that James has an I-phone he has been doing a lot of texting with his mom back home in Stoughton. When our waiter came with our drinks she placed a Guinness in front of Matt and said this is from Kelly. Isn't that crazy? James happened to mention in his text where he was eating lunch....Kelly did a google search and called our restaurant to order him a beer! It didn't stop there....next came a brownie with 3 scoops of ice cream from Kelly.
After lunch we headed to grandma and grandpa's for some swimming. Greta experience her first dunking and loved it. Jill on the other hand freaked out each time Matt went under with her....must be a mother's instinct to worry. After dinner we headed back to our condo and barely made it to our beds before crashing.
Wednesday March 27
Dad and Jill decided to go on a little escape adventure this morning....minus James and Noelle. We took Greta with us as we hiked several miles up at Lost Dutchman state park. She did awesome in the backpack carrier that Heather and Dave McCarthy loaned us. She fell asleep during the second half. I took advantage of the this time with just Matt and we did some future planning...image that....Jill wanting to plan!! :).
This afternoon we left Greta with grandma and took James and Noelle to K1 Indoor Go-Cart racing in Pheonix. The go-carts go up to 45 mph. I saw a new side of Matt...the adventurous trill seeking Matt. He was bummed he didn't get first place (he got 4th). He was also bummed he spun out once. Jill on the other hand got last place (11th) and didn't have the pedal to the metal like Matt did the whole 10 minutes. Noelle choose to watch....in hindsight probably a better choice...a little scary.
After getting our edrenaline up it was time to keep it going....what better than ice cream! We found a cold stone in Tempe. A little trivia....the first cold stone was in Tempe!
We met grandpa, grandma, and Greta at our condo and palyed some Old Maid while Jill cooked up some salmon. Matt, James, and Grandpa went to the Bass Pro shop down the road while Noelle taught grandma how to play Candy Crush on her I-pad.
Thursday March 28
We woke up early this morning to do "Out of Africa" in Camp Verde, AZ....a wildlife park a couple hours north of Pheonix. Greta stayed with grandma and grandpa. We started with the safari tour on bus. The highlights were seeing a 6 day old zebra and feeding the giraffes carrots. The red hat ladies who were on our tour bus were the brave ones holding the carrots on their mouths to get big kisses from the giraffe. While there we watched a show called Tiger Splash. A few brave workers played with the tiger with inflatable toys. Fortunately there weren't any close calls....just several big pounces that had our hearts pounding.
After our outing we headed back to grandma end grandpa's to hang for awhile....swimming, running, haircuts, stroller rides around the park, and not to forget the multiple golf-cart rides to the dog park. After dinner we headed back to the condo for nutria bullet smoothies and The Pawn Stars.
Friday March 29
This mornings run was a must have butter run. Our pound of butter we bought just 4 days earlier....gone. The gas station clerk looked me a little funny when buying a dozen power bars for our upcoming plane ride and a pound of butter. Once back we did some preliminary packing. Next we met grandma at the Superstition Swap meet...a flea market. What an event! You can find lots of neat trinkets there. James found himself a back scratcher. I loved the inexpensive produce! We then went to grandma & grandpa's for our last lounging day in AZ. The Easter Bunny had left a treasure hunt for the kiddos. We did some swimming and RV lot browsing. For dinner we went to the Cheesecake Factory. Afterwards we went to a Good Friday church service at Red Mountain Community Church in Mesa. We said our goodbyes to grandma and grandpa and headed back to the condo to finish up our packing. James and Noelle convinced dad for one more ice cream treat to end our vacation---McDonalds drive through :) after packing we hit the sack early...our flight was scheduled to leave at 5am the next morning!
Our trip was fun....loved the sun, family time, opportunity to hang with grandma and grandpa. I'm not sure what next year will bring???
I found the exhibit about addiction very interesting as well. It showed the science behind how addictions like cocaine, gambling, ice cream, even running can really damper ones ability to do normal day to day things, to be motivated, or to be creative. I love learning about the molecular level to that kind of stuff. Greta's favorite exhibit was the toddler heart model was was about to crawl around in. It was a little maze of the different chambers of the heart. James blew everyone away demonstrating how his bicycling power pushed a soccer ball to the top of a cylinder. All the little kids watching nearby were impressed. Noelle was a champ at the stretch contest. She could reach way past her toes...further than average girls in her age group. Another favorite exhibit amongst all of us was the weather simulator. We all stood on the platform while watching a video about different extremes in weather. The fun part was the floor that shook during the earthquake, the water and winds that blew during the hurricane. We also took in an I-Max movie while there....."To the Arctic"....about global warming and polar bears. It was really a cute movie. Believe it or not Greta slept during the whole thing!
After our museum adventure we found a cute restaurant called The Rose and Crown to eat at. We were all entertained by Greta trying a lemon. She really wanted to try it yet gave us this awful face each time she got a taste of it. But yet she would try it again!! Another unbelievable thing happened. Now that James has an I-phone he has been doing a lot of texting with his mom back home in Stoughton. When our waiter came with our drinks she placed a Guinness in front of Matt and said this is from Kelly. Isn't that crazy? James happened to mention in his text where he was eating lunch....Kelly did a google search and called our restaurant to order him a beer! It didn't stop there....next came a brownie with 3 scoops of ice cream from Kelly.
After lunch we headed to grandma and grandpa's for some swimming. Greta experience her first dunking and loved it. Jill on the other hand freaked out each time Matt went under with her....must be a mother's instinct to worry. After dinner we headed back to our condo and barely made it to our beds before crashing.
Wednesday March 27
Dad and Jill decided to go on a little escape adventure this morning....minus James and Noelle. We took Greta with us as we hiked several miles up at Lost Dutchman state park. She did awesome in the backpack carrier that Heather and Dave McCarthy loaned us. She fell asleep during the second half. I took advantage of the this time with just Matt and we did some future planning...image that....Jill wanting to plan!! :).
This afternoon we left Greta with grandma and took James and Noelle to K1 Indoor Go-Cart racing in Pheonix. The go-carts go up to 45 mph. I saw a new side of Matt...the adventurous trill seeking Matt. He was bummed he didn't get first place (he got 4th). He was also bummed he spun out once. Jill on the other hand got last place (11th) and didn't have the pedal to the metal like Matt did the whole 10 minutes. Noelle choose to watch....in hindsight probably a better choice...a little scary.
After getting our edrenaline up it was time to keep it going....what better than ice cream! We found a cold stone in Tempe. A little trivia....the first cold stone was in Tempe!
We met grandpa, grandma, and Greta at our condo and palyed some Old Maid while Jill cooked up some salmon. Matt, James, and Grandpa went to the Bass Pro shop down the road while Noelle taught grandma how to play Candy Crush on her I-pad.
Thursday March 28
We woke up early this morning to do "Out of Africa" in Camp Verde, AZ....a wildlife park a couple hours north of Pheonix. Greta stayed with grandma and grandpa. We started with the safari tour on bus. The highlights were seeing a 6 day old zebra and feeding the giraffes carrots. The red hat ladies who were on our tour bus were the brave ones holding the carrots on their mouths to get big kisses from the giraffe. While there we watched a show called Tiger Splash. A few brave workers played with the tiger with inflatable toys. Fortunately there weren't any close calls....just several big pounces that had our hearts pounding.
After our outing we headed back to grandma end grandpa's to hang for awhile....swimming, running, haircuts, stroller rides around the park, and not to forget the multiple golf-cart rides to the dog park. After dinner we headed back to the condo for nutria bullet smoothies and The Pawn Stars.
Friday March 29
This mornings run was a must have butter run. Our pound of butter we bought just 4 days earlier....gone. The gas station clerk looked me a little funny when buying a dozen power bars for our upcoming plane ride and a pound of butter. Once back we did some preliminary packing. Next we met grandma at the Superstition Swap meet...a flea market. What an event! You can find lots of neat trinkets there. James found himself a back scratcher. I loved the inexpensive produce! We then went to grandma & grandpa's for our last lounging day in AZ. The Easter Bunny had left a treasure hunt for the kiddos. We did some swimming and RV lot browsing. For dinner we went to the Cheesecake Factory. Afterwards we went to a Good Friday church service at Red Mountain Community Church in Mesa. We said our goodbyes to grandma and grandpa and headed back to the condo to finish up our packing. James and Noelle convinced dad for one more ice cream treat to end our vacation---McDonalds drive through :) after packing we hit the sack early...our flight was scheduled to leave at 5am the next morning!
Our trip was fun....loved the sun, family time, opportunity to hang with grandma and grandpa. I'm not sure what next year will bring???
Friday, March 29, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
We watched this show called Tiger Splash
About to aboard the shuttle at Out of Africa
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
We went indoor go-carting
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
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