California Adventure
Riley and the fam and the grandparents packed up the bags and headed west for a week of fun in and around Laguna Beach, California. We went for a bike ride in Ojai. Pretty views. Longest ride ever for Riley – nearly 15 rolling miles. This horse ranch had more peacocks than horses. We stopped [...]
Desert Marigold Auction, Raffle and Brunch
This morning was the auction, raffle and brunch at Riley’s school, Desert Marigold. Riley’s class project for the auction was toadstool chairs. With the help of donations from individuals, the school and a company that provided the felt, Amanda and I made them. Others at the school needle felted the ‘shroom dots, and the kids [...]
Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area
Wildflowers are beginning to spring up and we decided to head out to try and spot a few. We were a little early, but found this gem of a conservation area and had a great time regardless. Spur Cross Ranch has an interesting history (read about it here). It’s in an area called Cave Creek, [...]
Snowboarding and The Petrified Forest
The snow season has been slipping by, and mommy has been none to happy about that, so in between bouts of strep throat we headed northeast to check out Sunrise for a little snowboard action. Riley’s been skiing before, but never snowboarding. He loved it. By the end of the day he was riding the [...]
Dropping in @ Tempe skatepark
It’s all clicking on the skateboard for Riley now. Every lesson, every trip to the skate park he’s more confident than the last.
Camelback Hike
We finally made it to Camelback Mountain for a hike. But first we stopped by the Phoenix farmer’s market to grab some fresh produce. On to the hike! Check out a panorama of the valley from the mountain.
Barrett Jackson Stimulation Overload
Grandpa Phil scored us some tickets to the famous Barrett Jackson Auto Auction held in Scottsdale, AZ. I was thrilled, but in the end it was way, way too much for poor Riley. Too many people, too many sources of stimuli. It was overwhelming. It’s also huge. We wound up leaving after a few hours, [...]
Skateboarding is improving
Normally other than at his class Riley avoids skateboarding, preferring instead to scooter. Today at the skate park something finally clicked, and skateboarding went from arduous frustration to fun. Coincidentally, Riley’s current and former skateboard coaches were at the park today. Initially their presence seemed to intimidate Riley, and he refused his skateboard. By the [...]
First Kart Run at Papago
With the drive shaft repaired (metal pipe this time), we took the Kart to Papago Park to try it on a couple of hills there.