Sedona

Updates from lovely Lancaster are on their way.  Here is day 2 of our October trip to Sedona-Grand Canyon-Las Vegas.  I posted day 1 way back on November 4. -- Patrick

Driving north from Phoenix, you literally drive around a bend and suddenly the rocks are red and the formations are huge.  This was one of the first we saw, Bell Rock.  See the bell shape?

Lizard Head.  Can you make out the lizard's head?

We did a jeep tour of Sedona -- a great way to see the sights.  Wizard (yes, Wizard) was our driver.  He's actually as tall as me, but looks may be deceiving in this picture because he's standing MUCH closer to the camera.  

The rocks seem to glow red at sunset.

Sunset in Sedona.

Now there's something we never see back east -- the Milky Way.

Breakfast at our B&B the next morning.

A mountain pass, on our way out of Sedona.

Sunrise in Sedona.

Up next...the Grand Canyon!

The Road to Sedona

This the first of four posts with pictures of our recent vacation to Sedona/Grand Canyon/Las Vegas.  The following were taken on the way to Sedona from Phoenix.

Montezuma's Castle

Detail of the Castle

I was fascinated by the trees in the Southwest.  Lynn got this picture on her iPhone.

This is the picture I was taking above.  A juniper. 

Montezuma's Well, a natural spring in the middle of the desert.

Resting at the well.

Stay tuned for the red rocks of Sedona!

Ocean City 2010

Finally!  After this post and a promise of a video/picture/collage of our vacation....IT'S DONE!  My fabulous husband did a fabulous job capturing our fabulous vacation.  Enjoy!

Vacation best and worst

While I'm waiting for Patrick to finish another awesome video/picture thing capturing the highlights of our recent vacation in Ocean City, MD (one of the reasons I didn't post for a week...), I'll give lists of our best and worst moments of vacation...in no particular order...

Best...
1.  Adeline was brave enough to WANT to go on the kiddy roller coaster and ferris wheel!!!  For my scared-of-her-shadow baby girl, this was HUGE!  She laughed the whole time.  It was awesome.  When she got off the ferris wheel...."Mommy, it tickled my belly!"
2.  Adeline's excitement about riding the bus to the boardwalk.
3.  Flying a kite on the beach.
4.  Ice cream....often....frequently with large spoonfuls of vanilla with rainbow sprinkles.
5.  Camille chasing the seagulls while saying "Quack!"  (which is, of course, what all birds say).
6.  Reading TWO entire books....reviews coming.
7.  Doing a 1000 piece round puzzle with Patrick.
8.  Adeline with her chin propped on her elbow on top of my dad's head while watching a ventriloquist on the boardwalk.
9.  Having grandma and paw paw with us for two days....which also includes help with the girls and the AWESOME dinner my mom made for us.
10.  The playground areas on the beach by the boardwalk.
11.  Adeline getting brave enough to splash at the edge in the ocean.
12.  The AMAZING sunset we watched.
13.  Standing on the beach watching "Earl" which really turned into a windy day that produced some super cool waves.
14.  Making memories.


Worst...
1.  Adeline throwing up (which she's never done before in her 3 1/2 years)....luckily it was the morning of the hurricane, and we planned to stay in all day anyway.  It didn't seem to phase her.  She took a 2 1/2 hour nap that day (which NEVER happens anymore), but then she felt fine.  The next day, she was back to herself and eating regular food.
2.  The girls screaming for 45 min after hauling all we could carry the first time we took them to the beach until we finally threw in the towel and made it a pool day.
3.  The Salada's getting sick and not being able to join us.
4.  The smoke detectors in our condo that WOULD NOT STOP GOING OFF at 10:30 pm.  The girls were sleeping, and Patrick and I were reading on the balcony.  It was amazing, but the girls slept through the whole thing, and it was LOUD!  Patrick ran to the store so we could change the batteries in all FIVE of the alarms.
5.  The smoke detectors going off AGAIN at 7:30 am.  This time we disconnected them all.

Girl's Beach Trip...

I'm on vacation right now with some of my best girlfriends.

We are kidless except for Camille. We stay up late, shop without an agenda or time restraints, talk...LOTS of talking, watch movies, eat...LOTS of eating, read, and relax. Yesterday, we went for a stroll on the beach.

...and there was an air show.

We saw some cute kids playing on the beach and missed our own...

I love vacation...

Our Beach Vacation

I know, I know, I've been back from vacation for a few days and it is time to get this posted!  We had a blast!  Adeline loved the water and the sand and the toys and....all things beach!  She chased a seagull, but the dear thing decided not to be caught.  Val's boys were so sweet.  Here's a picture of all the kids...the twins, Matthew and Anthony (almost 4), Isaiah (22 mo), and Adeline (17 mo)

                                   
            
                                                                                        
                              

Anthony relaxing with Grandma.

                                        
                                                                            
                                        

Adeline with her Grandma

   
                                                                          
              
                                    

The first evening there, Val and I took the twins to the boardwalk while our moms put the little ones to bed.

They were each allowed to pick one ride.

The second day, our moms really surprised us with a treat.  They asked if Val and I wanted to go to the outlets while they stayed with the kids....hmmm....let us think for a minute...YES!!!  We had so much fun talking, laughing, and catching up.  We even went out to dinner and closed down the stores.  Thanks ladies, it was a lot of fun!

Other Favorite Parts of our Vacation

At Khatatoni, our resort in Phuket, this elephant was waiting on our bed.  So cute!  It is made from rolled up towels and washcloths with pieces of an orchid for the face and toenails.

Okay, this HAD to be one of our favorite parts....massages by the pool, in the grass, on the beach, etc. for 300 baht...um, that's about $10....yeah, we each had a few of these.  There was a breeze and you could hear the waves crashing on the shore.  It was amazing!  The first day, I was talked into the foot scrub and then after my massage they asked me if I wanted a pedicure.

me: How much is that?

them:  150 baht (about $4)

me:  um, yeah, let's go ahead and do that too...

My splurge spa day cost about $23 in the end...nice...

Disclaimer....I would have totally posted a picture of me too to be fair, but my sweet hubby couldn't find the camera on the day I got my massage on the lawn outside our room.

The Night Market

I wanted to go to the night market in Bangkok.  Ya know, clothes, jewelry, trinkets, etc....lot's of bargaining...my scene.  Of course, this is WAY past Adeline's bedtime, and Patrick wasn't too keen on me finding my own way....at night...in the middle of Bangkok (I know, he can be such a wet blanket sometimes...LOL).  So, being me, I decided to go to the hotel lobby that day and see if I could meet anyone who might be interested in accompanying me on this adventure.  I had just about lost hope.  Everyone in the lobby looked to be either male, Thai, Indian (lots of Indians vacation here), or a combination of the above.  I spent quite some time talking to one of the owners in a jewelry shop who spoke very good English.  I think she said she had been to the US 7 times.  Anywho...just as I was getting ready to head back to the room, I met two graduate students...and adventurous ones at that!  They had to attend a dinner but said if I was willing to go late, they were hoping to be back by 9:30.  Woo hoo!!!  One of them wasn't feeling great after dinner, but Ann and I had a blast!  We didn't depart until after 10 pm...um how old am I?!?  We navigated the subway (okay, Ann did most of that), shopped, saw some of the "night life" and "ladies of the night" of Thailand, and bargained for the tuk-tuk above to take us home.  This was a fun ride, but definitely not something to do with a baby girl.  We were back by close to midnight....(of course, a few minutes before I got home, Patrick looked at the watch that we hadn't reset and for a short time thought it was 2 am and was planning how he was going to get to the US embassy and alert the police).  Thanks, Ann, this was SO fun!!!