2009 Summer Spectacular - Part 5: Holbrook

The rest of our time in my hometown of Holbrook, Arizona:
Climbing the old mulberry tree
Dinner with Great-Grandpa
Quality time with Grandma
Playing at the park
Sliding down the twisty slide
Ooops! Should have made sure Grandma got off first.
Examining the local fauna I'll leave critiques of the dinosaur physiology as an exercise for the reader.

2009 Summer Spectacular - Part 4: Petrified

On our first full day in my hometown of Holbrook, we took the boys to the Petrified Forest. At our first stop, the visitors center, we struck reptile gold: a collared lizard! On that trail behind the visitors center we saw several lizards and the boys were immediately entranced. Forget the huge petrified logs... Forget the dinosaur fossils... A lizard just ran under that bush! The agate bridge? Not impressive after lizards. At least they enjoyed throwing rocks off cliffs. Besides, a lizard could be hiding under one of those rocks.

2009 Summer Spectacular - Part 3: Homestead

A few more vignettes from our time at our beloved Homestead:

Swinging with Grandpa
Playing in the sandbox with cousins Speaking of cousins, here's all of them:
Bathing in the sink
Eating s'mores
Climbing the circular stairs
Trying out new hairstyles
Helping Grandpa make a new driveway
Making friends with reptiles
And, of course, the family photo

Summer Trip Summary

2837 total miles (according to Google maps)
5 states Most expensive gas: $4.51 in Blanding, UT
Least expensive gas: $4.03 in Chinle, AZ
We saw all of Ma and Pop's parents, siblings and their children except one nephew (on a mission) and Pop's sister's family (whom we saw a couple of weeks ago). The boys traveled exceptionally well, considering the amount of time they were strapped into their seats. We watched the beginning of Cars at least five times, because the boys mostly just like the actual race scenes.

Summer Trip Episode 7

Time: 4 July 2008, 8:48 PM
Location: 34°11'19"N 109°34'0"W Whiting Homestead, AZ
Event: Laser Pointer Art

Instead of fireworks, we did laser pointer art in the basement. All you need is a laser pointer, a wall, a camera that has long exposure times and the dark.

Here's a self portrait.
My nephew tried his hand at an abstract.
Then he turned to internet expressions of mirth.
My mom, the artist, tried a still life.
We ended the night by photographing a ghost.

Summer Trip Episode 6

Time: 1-5 July 2008
Location: 34°11'19"N 109°34'0"W Whiting Homestead, AZ
Event: Homestead Activities

Should you ever find yourself at the Homestead, here are a few things you can do to pass the time.

Eating
Playing with cousins
Finding cool (organic) "rocks"
Playing in the mud
Finding critters (a crawdad in this case)
The ladybug pole on top of Trigo (8614 feet)
Carrying logs
Bathing with a friend (to conserve water)
Family photos
Cousin photos
Four generation photos

Summer Trip Episode 5

Time: 1 July 2008, 5:24PM
Location: 34°11'22.4"N 109°33'56.5"W Whiting Homestead, AZ
Event: Brown Water Rafting

Finally, we are at The Homestead and the first thing to do is find some dirt, preferably with a little water mixed in. Lovely.
If the pond is full and you have a boat, take it for a spin.
Mom is a pretty good paddler. Maybe that's not such a good thing.
Naturally, if you can find two boats, invite some cousins to join you.
Bask in the joy of the beautiful mountain air at 8000 feet. Don't forget to look for snakes and crawdads...

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

The boys were really excited to ride on Great-Grandpa Simper's horse, Doc. Here's Cole meeting him. Grant got to ride first with help from Grandpa Simper. Cole got on next. Then they looked down and realized that they were sitting on a large, hairy animal high up off the ground... and it wasn't daddy. Ma got on to help the boys see that there wasn't anything to be afraid of. It didn't help much. Later we all met back at the barn for a group picture, just like real cowboys.