Adventures in the Great SW -- Day 2

South Rim of the Grand Canyon

The canyon almost looks like a fake backdrop.


The bold squirrel that joined our family photo. Can you tell it's the most dangerous animal in the park? (Most injuries are bites from cute, seemingly friendly squirrels.)


A cute beggar


On our hike in the canyon


Our oldest little monkey using his pinoculars (as Grampy kept calling them).


The whole crew


The kids seemed chivalrous enough giving up their seats on the park shuttle bus a number of times. It was a facade. They really just looked forward to a full bus so they could stand, sway, and bounce around. Unrestrained. Free Willy!

We WERE at a park, so they made their own amusement.

And one bus driver, in particular, gave them a very good ride!


A Hitchcock moment

I hadn't realized how very large ravens are. Two feet tall, four+ foot wing span...and their walk is akin to the proverbial pregnancy waddle.

Jimmer says their color is purplish, bluish, black. Right on!

A couple of them liked our camping neighbor's potato salad and mozzarella cheese.

National parks --

-- world's largest jungle gyms!

Adventures in the Great Southwest -- Day 1

The kids were blissfully unaware of the magnitude of preparations it took to finally make it on the plane, but -- on nine, nine, oh nine -- off we went with full gear for our camping rig. Eight people -- 31 foot RV.

Just right!

We met up with Grammy & Grampy for our 2nd annual RV tour.

First stop:

Well, a store.

Filled up four grocery carts!

First REAL stop:


Hoover Dam


Here's Mary Kate smack dab in the middle of the dam. We walked through this tunnel and felt it shaking. Ummmm...don't know if it's supposed to be doing that unless there's an earthquake. Not much you can do when you're in the middle of a dam that big!

(The tour guide said he didn't feel it. I almost lost my balance...as did a few others.)


As a bonus, we got to see the progression of the new Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge being built. The middle concrete arch piece was just set in place joining the two sides.


This bridge family thought it was a dandy spectacle!

A full Day 1.

Adventure gear

Sandals scrubbed and drying in the sun


Monkeypacks all in a row


A few things for the hands, mind, and mouth


Sun hats clean and good to go


Lights, cords...action!


An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered.
- G.K. Chesterton

A purposeful adventure is extraordinary!

Gotta love adventures of ALL kinds!

Praying Mantis

I hope I wasn't interrupting his (her?) prayers.

I just can't help it when I see a one.


I just have to watch its head turn and then turn the other way, and back again...


Following me as I shift from side to side, back and forth...at least a good 73 times...tapping on the wall to get its attention.

I also enjoy watching different animals (birds, dogs, cats, horses, etc.) eat their food. Always have.

In my simple life, I'm so easily amused.
Too bad the kids were sleeping.
They would have had fun...and worn its little head out.

What's a simple amusement for you?

Now, excuse me while I go wash my windows.

For Grampy

a retired mechanical engineer who'll probably be the only one to appreciate this post...


Although we've been functioning at a pell-mell pace lately, these recent posts have been very representative of our ordinary, simple lives (and our kids love to go back through this blog and remember these happenings).


DISCLAIMER:
I apologize for the very graphic nature of this post. In it you'll see the very insides of one of our vehicles. Just a warning in case you're one of those with a delicate constitution.



I just transferred some photos from Joe's Blackberry. No wonder I don't do this very often. Here's the excitement.


FYI--It's a rear differential.
Diagnosis: missing bolt heads (very bad)

We just had it replaced on Joe's Jeep last week.


And it's still doing this...leaky, leaky.
That just won't do.

Ugh! Just when we were happy to finally get this fixed and have it all taken care of...


Next photo:
Yet another example of what I find in his BlackBerry pix.


A modified Jeep Wrangler...that used to be two Jeeps and now, with the new 'way' back row, can actually belt in a family of 6! A fine Roche Coach, wouldn't you say?

I'm thinking the photo was a little off center because Joe was probably distracted by his drooling.

Neat as it may be, the occupational therapist in me says, "Look at the serious whiplash/spinal cord injury potential in the 'way' back seats without head rests."

BTW--Please don't remove the head rests in your vehicles.

I'm not thinking we'll cut our vehicle in half and add on another for an extra row of seats. But, I guess there's just a certain satisfaction for Joe in knowing it CAN be done!

Earlier this year, Mike asked for my camera and came back with these photos he was very excited about.

So, is it:
Like father, like son?

or

Like son, like father?

or probably

Like father, like son, like grandson?

See you soon, Grampy!!

(Need) To Build a Better Trapeze

'Tis a lazy summer day.

Yep. Still summer here!

(Well, that is, after the kids had already finished all their school work and ran outside to play.)


The kids sought shelter from the sun in this lovely live oak tree.

I actually thought Jimmer may fall asleep like this.


How kids can sustain this squatting position I'll never know.

Mikey was busy setting up for his twin sister.


Kathleen was a happy camper with her new trapeze...


until...


...she dropped to the ground.

No net.


Unharmed.

Hmmm...need to fix that glitch.
Ah notha little experiment for them to work out.

As usual, Mary Kate hunted down a neighborhood pet (a cat this time) and was playing with it while our treetotalers were galavanting.

More summer fun...

When the Friday night lights turn back on at the stadiums around these parts, we don't rush into our storage bins to air out our winter sweaters.

Nooooooope....not for a few more months anyway.

Ugh!

You don't have to remind us in these parts that it's still officially summer.

We try to make the most of it and continue with our summer fun...


Our lake-jumpin' monkeys plus one.



Ridin' their rock 'n' roll water taco...into the night.


So, what else do we do around here when we're two days away from reaching the all-time hottest summer record? (We're currently at 67 days of 100+ temps this year; record is 69.)

Go spelunking, or course!


Construction crews found this cave system when they were building I-35. After they drilled down to a sufficient depth, they poured concrete for bridge supports. They kept pouring and pouring...and pouring--then got suspicious.


They found a pretty neat cave, no?

Have you ever been in complete darkness?