as with all good things...

...this vacation is coming to an end.  Tomorrow morning, we get up and head to the airport.  Tonight however, we are still on vacay.  Paul's birthday is tomorrow, so Riley made a chocolate cake and is working on Swiss butercream.   We're grilling burgers and hot dogs and having dinner outside, it's simply lovely out there.  

This fine morning, some of us went out and about.  Going to Target here is a trip across an expanse of desert-y nothing with tumbleweeds and cacti, strewn with rocks.   It's not beautiful but it is awesome.  We also went to a coffee shop, and to another place to get Paul a gift, and to Aldi.  

In and Out with Cam, Char, and Aaron...it's so nice to spend time with him!

With Miss Camille...twinning again...

Then back here and into our suits, we spent hours out there, in and out of the pool.  Char, Cam and I even went underwater several times, and had a few laughing fits.  

Now it's afternoon, and the pool is shaded over, and dinner is in the works.  It's our last evening here, and although I am sad to leave, I am always glad to be going home.  Except, the weather...snowing in NY.  Jon sent me this.

We did have donkeys out in the back last evening..

Camille and Pretzel....she's the sweetest pup.  They adopted her from a shelter when they lived in San Francisco, she was a sickly little dog named Brandy.  Now she's spoiled and she's so funny, I always say she needs a whistle and a striped shirt, or a badge, as she keeps an eye on the other two pups, keeps them in line.  

It's hard to say goodbye to the boys, and to the pups.  :)

Have a good day, and I'll be blogging again in a few days...

settling into the southwest...

 

The mall in Scottsdale...Miss Camille and Miss Charlotte Claire

These pizzas...homemade dough, baked on cast iron on a charcoal grill, then Aaron sizzled up the tops.

The mornings here are lovely.  Today it'll be sunny and 77, and the pool heater is on.  

Don't ever send Riley and I over to the store.  We were getting a loaf of nice bread for Camille to have her turkey sandwiches, when we walked by the cakes.  Those slices were half price, so we chose a red velvet and a carrot cake, not too bad to share between six people after dinner, right?  But then, oh dear, this cake had a price tag of $2, and then a 50% off sticker!  It actually rang up for one dollar, for a whole cake!  It was too funny when we came in from the store with it, but the big surprise was how good it really was after dinner...a marble cake with buttercream.

This fine morning, Paul went walking with Aaron and Lily, Banjo, and Pretzel, the pups.  I'm sitting here in a sunshine filled room, with my coffee.  I could get used to this weather...and having a pool right outside the door, ahhh.  At home, ours won't be used until at least the end of May.  :). Have a really nice day!

just chillin in the desert...

 because it's cold!  The day we got here, the sun was shining, and we got in the pool, but when we got out, brrr!  It was in the sixties, and low humidity.  Yesterday we got a little bit of sun in, but it got rainy.  So we went out and about a bit, got some chicken strips from Raising Canes.

It's nice to be here, nice to see Aaron and Riley, and the pups.  

As you know by now, Riley is an excellent cook.  He made us beef stroganoff, with blackened ribeye.  

Carbs?  What carbs?  It was soooo good.

The sunlight this fine morning...and that's Pretzel, she's the sweetest.

Banjo on the left, Lily and Pretzel on the other side...

That sky!

The Tesla...I love those Batmobile doors!

It was snowy and overcast when we left Syracuse, then we went up over the clouds, and I marveled that we can actually experience this.  I've flown so many times that it's almost meh.  But when you think about it, really WOW.  

Our trip out here was not uneventful, of course not!  We had a tight connection in JFK in New York City, so we paid extra and checked our bags so we didn't have to mess with carryons, and could just hurry off the plane.  We boarded on time, got all buckled in, then the pilot announced we were going to taxi over to the de-icing station, it would take about a half hour.  Yeah, it was snowing out.  

So.  On I talked to a flight attendent when we were in the air, she looked at my boarding pass, and was in communication with the other crew, and came back and said there were 54 people on the plane with tight connections, and don't worry, we would make it.  Well.  We were just touching down when the Phoenix flight started boarding.  We taxied for 15 minutes.  We were near the back of the plane (I realized I should have paid extra for better seats near the front instead of checking the bags!), and when we got off that plane...we boogied.  Char and Cam had no problem hurrying, Paul could have sprinted, but he held my hand and I hobbled quickly.  We scanned our boarding passes as the ladies there urged us to hurry down the hall, they were closing the doors...Char was last to scan, and her's wasn't scanning...the ladies told us to GO, I said, "I'm not leaving her!", then it scanned on the third or fourth try, and off we went...phew.  

It's really nice and sunny now, not so hot today, but getting gradually warmer.  We should have at least four hot days, then when we leave for home it will soar back into the nineties.  Oh well.  The sunshine is enough for me, it's so nice.  

The dogs at home are being taken care of, and seem to be happy, I'm thankful that Sam and Grace are such good sports to stay at our place and be good to them.  

I left some treats for the kids to make it fun for them.  (there are little wood birdhouses to paint, some paint, glittery stick on gems to decorate them, then playdough stuff, rice krispie treats, ect.)

My knees...they are not cooperating...the "good" knee is giving me a very hard time.  It simply doesn't want to straighten up sometimes when I stand up, and it hurts.  It's interesting, for sure.  

Ah well....I'll be enjoying my time here, and the sunshine, you all have a good day!