Monsoon Madness

Here's a couple of videos from Saturday....

Just 24 hours later...

Turns out this storm was the single biggest monsoon storm in terms of rainfall since 1995! We needed the water, but some places got flooded like Tempe, which logged over 3" in one hour!

Why, Why, Why...

... is coming home from a trip so hard? We came home from Grand Canyon 10 days ago and I still feel behind. I'm behind on Laundry... I'm behind on Dishes... I'm behind on Decluttering... I just can't seem to get it together!

I was going to post a picture of my messy kitchen, but two dire consequences could result... my local friends might call CPS (kidding...) but more likely, my husband would have to crawl in a hole and die from shame. He hates a messy kitchen, but sadly, it's messy more than it's clean. I've gotten to the breaking point today because yesterday I had the itch to make homemade bread... I think the rain had something to do with it. But, I didn't make bread because my kitchen was so messy I would have to clean for an hour, just to make room to make bread. How pathetic is that? Plus, I'm really craving some self satisfaction in a job well done. I LOVE how I feel when my kitchen is clean and even more when I can keep it clean for a couple days in a row!

So, now I'm going to plug in my ipod, start a new audio book (Deception Point by Dan Brown) and get to work in the kitchen. I'm committed to keep cleaning until it's 100% done.

We only have 14 days until school starts and I'm getting excited. It's been so nice to not have any commitments or a crazy schedule. It's been wonderful to stay in our pj's late and still be able to make pancakes at 9:00 a.m. We've even done some really fun local activities that my kids beg to do and we never seem to have time for. But, with only 14 more days until I can have my "life" back, it's definately something to look forward to!

When my "chores" are done, I'll post some video I took yesterday of the rain. It was a welcome treat! It looks like we could get more tonight... Bring it ON!

In the Dog House

Not Eric... but Moreno, our 9 year old lab mutt. While Eric is out of town, I will let him roam free downstairs during the night. It makes me feel safer knowing that he can growl at someone at the front door if we have a potential intruder. The older he gets, the more "bladder control" issues he has. The main reason we got rid of the carpet in our living/dining room is because he had a "bad night" and pooped and peed all over it in several places all in one night. Getting out the stains was impossible and the smell never really left either. But, even with the carpet gone, that room is his favorite place to relieve himself in the middle of the night. Two nights ago, such an accident occured. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and dutifully cleaned it all up. (It was gross!) Then last night, SAME thing! I wanted to shoot him this morning when I discovered what he'd done! He was in the "dog house" all day and I was planning on having him sleep OUTSIDE tonight, just to teach him a lesson, but there's rain and lightning out there and I feel bad leaving him out in it. So, I gated him into the laundry room and he better not have another accident or I might lose it!

When his doggy "life" is over, and I'm telling you that I want another dog, please stop me and talk some sense into me! I'm really tired of cleaning up poop and pee, moping up gallons of dog hair (shedding) and finding dog sitters when we want to leave town. The following picture was taken about a year ago... I can't believe how much he has aged in the last year!

Motivation

I love to exercise, but I'm having serious motivation issues lately. While the kids are home, I am totally content to stay and home and hang out with them, not get my backside to the gym. So, I heard that in November there are a couple triathlons in the area and I've decided I'm going to do one! I did a sprint "tri" 4 years ago with my good friend, Maureen, and LOVED it! We signed up for it because we knew if we paid good money to be in a race, we'd get our backsides out to train. And we did... but mostly we trained so we didn't embarrass ourselves in a public place where people are generally considered athletes! :) (For my Bay Area friends, it was the "Tri for Fun" series in Pleasanton at Shadowcliffs. I highly recommend it!) So, I've decided I need motivation like that again! This triathlon is in the "sprint" category also and it's totally doable for me by November. The swim is 1/4 mile (it will be 8 laps in a 50 meter pool - sweeeeet, no swimming with the nasty fish this time!), a 12 mile bike ride and a 2 mile run. Easy, right?

This week I bought a yoga DVD and got out my old Pilates DVD that I love. My goal is to do 20 minutes of yoga every morning and 20-30 minutes of pilates every evening to help get me limber and toned. That's always one of my biggest failings in exercise... now, I just need to get back to the gym and get going on the treadmill! And now that I've told all my cyber friends my plan, I will have to follow through, right?!?

Highlights

Today has been very eventful and it's only lunch time....

This morning I had to drag myself out of bed at 4:20 to drive Taylor less than a mile to our bishop's house so they could go to the temple and do baptisms for the dead at 5:00 a.m. I had a hard time getting back to sleep after that....

At 7:30 I had to drag myself out of bed (again) so I could be ready for some ladies to come over at 8:00 and do water aerobics in my pool. I had just put my suit on with a pair of running shorts over it, when I heard a thunk at my front door (it's now 7:40 a.m.)...

I go to the door to investigate the noise and find Taylor laying face down on the ground on the porch... is this some kind of trick? Then in the blurred moments that followed, I'm opening the door just at Bishop is running to the front porch. Taylor had passed out again and hit the front door on his way down this time. He has a small bump on his head to prove it, but no concussion. Turns out the bishop and boys in his car were sharing stories about greusome car crashes and the last one (the bishop told this one himself) did Taylor in. He got out of the car and made it to the front door before collapsing.... what am I going to do with this guy? Med school will NEVER be in his future! Don't worry, grandma, he's fine. I've been quizzing him with odd facts all day, checking his eyes for dialation and he hasn't taken a nap, even though he got up at 4:00 a.m.

Brayden's new "game" is role playing. The four kids are often the Ninja Turtles. Brayden is Leo, Ian is Raph, Taylor is Mikey and Megan is Donatello. Or, they are power rangers and everyone is assigned (by B) a color suit to wear. He is always blue. Now, they are Scooby Doo characters. Brayden is Scooby and he says that Ian is Shaggy, Taylor is Fred, Megan is Dapne and I get to be Velma. Lucky me! The thing is that he gets very mad if we don't play along... and Taylor NEVER wants to play along.

And the latest and greatest news... Brayden has an unpopped popcorn kernal in his ear canal. It's not stuck, but every time I try to fish it out with a rounded tip bobby pin, he jerks his head and foils the attempt. I really don't want to fork over half my "health fund" taking him to the doctor today so they can just tell me to hold him still while they pop it out. Taylor had a great idea we are going to try... make sure it's loose and then dunk him in the pool. Maybe the water will flush it right out of his ear! If that doesn't work, I'll throw him in the car and go for a ride until he falls asleep and then I can "work" without him jerking around... of course that might cost me a pretty penny in gas.

UPDATE: Swimming worked... it took longer than I thought it would, but it's gone and we are happy!

Grand Canyon

Watching a rain storm with lightning bolts over the North Rim Photo taken from Yaki Point... looking west towards the people at Mather Point
These pictures just can't do the canyon the full justice it deserves


Sunset at Yavapai Point

This picture is my favoriteI really liked this treeView of the Colorado River from the Desert View Station
It's hard to believe the Canyon runs for over 200 miles... If you live within a reasonable distance and have never visited this amazing place, you should definately make an effort to do so soon! As Americans we were in the minority there.... most of the visitors were foreign. Perhaps we take for granted such an amazing place! Eric and I want to take our family back in a couple years, when they are all old enough to do some serious hiking!

Camping

Two weeks ago we finally committed to a camping trip. Eric's company took a week off this week for "shutdown" and so we had a mandatory vacation on our hands. What to do with the time.... home projects... yuck... especially when it's 110 outside. Lake Powell... way too expensive for gas. We'd been waffling about going camping for weeks, but I finally got online to see what kind of spot I could get and I was shocked to see that there were still a few spots open at Mather Campground in Grand Canyon National Park. We booked for 4 nights... one of the longest camping trips we've taken by ourselves in a few years. We prefer camping with extended family or friends, but we were going solo on this one. I was worried that we'd have a hard time keeping our kids entertained for so many days at a place like the Grand Canyon. It's beautiful and all, but kids get bored with this kind of thing so quickly!

Monday was our pack up and travel day. We didn't get on the road until 11:30 a.m. By the time we stopped for lunch and sat through a 15-20 minute delay for roadwork, we didn't arrive until 4:45ish. Luckily, we still had 3 hours of daylight to set up camp and cook dinner.

Tuesday was our first day to explore. We've been to Grand Canyon only once before. It was with Jeff and Molly's family and we had less than a full day to see the sights. It was also in October and FREEZING! We ended up going straight to the "general store" and buying beanie hats and mittens for people who didn't have any... it was that cold. This was the opposite. It was near 90 degrees every day and normally we would find that "cool", but at 7000 feet, that feels warmer than it should! On Tuesday, we explored the Eastern Half of the South Rim Area, spending most of the day riding around on free shuttles or walking.

Of course, Brayden figured out that it was easier to ride on Dad's shoulders... which he did most of the week. This kid knows how to work the system....

Wednesday: We were going to take the kids on a short hike down the Bright Angel Trail, but with Brayden refusing to walk and Ian less than enthused about it, we decided to pass. Instead we rode shuttles out to the Western portion of the South Rim and took millions of photos. Then we went to Tusayan and watched the IMAX movie about the Grand Canyon and had dinner at Wendy's. When we got back to camp, we hopped another shuttle and went out to Yavapai Point to watch the Sunset. It was incredible!

Cute couple posing for a photo, but check out those teenage boys out on the rock outcropping... not sure how they made it out there, but it's definately prime real estate for watching the sun set.

Thursday: We took a car ride out to the Eastern Entrance of the Grand Canyon. It's a 25 mile drive. At the Desert View Visitor Center there is a stone watch tower that you can climb to the top of and look out over the canyon.

After several stops at different view points... this is how everyone felt... tired and grumpy!This squirrel had no fear of us and even tried to nibble off the end of Taylor's shoe. For the record, we were NOT trying to feed him.

Friday: Home!!! We had the most cooperative kids this morning packing up camp. Usually, they play or sit in the car and wait while we work by ourselves to clean up and take down camp. This trip they finally understood that the more they helped, the sooner we'd be off. We had breakfast at 7:30 this morning and were on the road by 9:30. One quick stop for gas, soda and the potty and we were home at 1:55. We had a contest to see who could guess our arrival time the best... my guess was 2:00. Ian guessed 1:57. He won!

Last but not least, I'm wearing myself out trying to get all the laundry done after coming home. The joys of coming home from camping... laundry, laundry and MORE laundry!Stay tuned... tomorrow I'll post the best of the best "scenery" shots from our trip!