Delicious Apple Pies

I had a great chuckle today as I was checking Abby's homework. She was supposed to fill in the blanks, but also felt compelled to edit one of the sentences...

In case you are wondering, the list word for the blank was "homemade." And yes, Abby's grandma does make delicious homemade apple pies and Abby's mother does not.

Who Knew?

Who knew an hour long BBC Documentary about the renovation of a British Airways 747 could be so darn fascinating?

Daniel and I watched a bit the other night and finished it tonight. It really was quite interesting!

Did you know that on average, every airplane gets struck by lightning once a year?

Snow Day

Abby and Daniel were delighted to wake up this morning to a snow day and closed schools! But snow means work and Abby and Daniel proved to be an excellent snow crew!

"This Was a Terrible Place"

We next decided to drive south to Tombstone, Arizona -- site of the infamous gunfight at the OK Corral.

We road a stagecoach.

Had a drink at the historic Big Nose Kate's Saloon.

And we went to a gunfight at the OK Corral.

As Abby learned more and more about the town's history, she kept saying, "This was a terrible place!!"

As we drove out of town, we stopped at the beautiful Boothill Graveyard where many of those killed in the 1800s are buried.

Abby fusses at me for laughing every time I recite this epitaph, but I can't help it! It is funny! She thinks I'm being disrespectful to the dead.

This one makes me laugh too, but it is pretty sad! George Johnson bought a horse, but did not know it was a stolen horse!

I did find an epitaph in the graveyard that I could live with (or die with is, as it were)...

Pima Air and Space Museum

Our next stop was planned mainly for Daniel, but we all really loved our visit to the Pima Air and Space Museum -- one of the largest air and space museums in the world.

We decided to take the docent led tour and ended up staying with him for two full hours! He was a volunteer at the museum and a former Navy pilot in Vietnam and later a pilot for Delta. We saw some fascinating, historic aircraft and learned a great deal about World War II, in particular.

Will channeled his inner Tom Cruise right into the danger zone.

And I was so excited to see a Super Guppy! How cool is this plane!?!? There are only four others in the world -- NASA still uses one and the other three are mothballed.

Mission San Xavier del Bac

On Sunday, the non-tennis part of our vacation began. We started out south of Tucson on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation at Mission San Xavier del Bac. This mission was so beautiful and so different from the missions we have seen in California.

Abby captured Daniel's first photo bomb!

We watched women making Indian fry bread and bought one to sample. Daniel wasn't interested in it, but Abby LOVED it!

Riding in the Desert

Abby and I went on a BEAUTIFUL two-hour ride in the desert below the Santa Catalina Mountains. We road Rocky Mountain Horses. We saw so many different kinds of cactus and we even spotted a gorgeous red-tailed hawk perched in a tree.

Abby rode Preston and I rode Smoke.

Will's teammate Sarah also joined us for the ride.

Daniel Visits an Athletic Trainer

Daniel took a spill as we were walking to the tennis courts one morning. He scraped his wrist, but bravely visited the athletic trainer who was on hand to tend to the tennis players. 

Daniel was very brave and was rewarded with a special band aid that the trainer had in his wallet for his own children!

Abby's Super Powers

We've long known that Abby is immune to cold weather when water is involved. (We first learned this in Carmel as Abby played in the cold Pacific Ocean.) She proved this super power again in Arizona by refusing to stay out of the pool despite the cool weather.

A super power that we were unaware of, but learned about while at a traditional Tucson Mexican restaurant with Will's teammates, is that Abby seems impervious to the heat of jalepeno peppers. These peppers actually brought two of Will's teammates to tears, but Abby insisted on trying one. We all warned her, but she INSISTED. So, we all watched in awe as she took not one, but TWO bites. She chewed thoughtfully and then said nonchalantly, "I like them. They're not that hot!"

What did Abby and Daniel do at Will's Tennis Tournament?

Abby logged lots of time playing games on my iPhone.

Daniel pretended to be a line judge.

Abby taught Daniel some mean tree climbing skills!

Daniel talked Dangerous Steve (Daniel's name for one of Will's teammates) into drawing Jack and the Beanstalk.

They read.

Daniel ran around pretending to be the Amazing Spider Man.

And, yes, they actually did watch some of the tennis!

Tennis in the Desert

Will's USTA mixed-doubles tennis team made it to Nationals this year. The tournament was held at a beautiful resort in Tucson.

Do You Remember These Faces?

Well, that was quite a blog hiatus! My apologies to those of you who kept checking in over the last several months.

Much has happened since my last post in July, but most recently we've just returned from a great vacation (November 8 - 15) in Arizona! The picture below is of Daniel and Abby outside our hotel room in Tucson.

Saki, Saki, Saki, Saki or Fun Things to Do on Your Fourth Birthday

Grandma and Grandpa Engelhardt and Tonto helped us celebrate Daniel's fourth birthday on June 12. We went to a Japanese hibachi restaurant because Daniel loves watching the chef's EGG antics and he LOVES singing "saki, saki, saki..." as the chef squirts saki into the mouths of willing adult diners.

Will and Daniel (and Abby) enjoyed the EGG show...

We all laughed and laughed when they brought out this mask and put it on Daniel as the restaurant sang Happy Birthday to Daniel. I later asked Daniel if it scared him and he said, "No, I was giggling underneath it!"

After dinner we went home and ate a delicious birthday cake made by Will (he makes each birthday cake for Daniel and Abby).

And then it was time to open presents! Daniel was so excited to get the book Amazing Eggs from Tonto. We had checked it out from the library recently and Daniel did NOT want to return it. The book is a non-fiction book about the many different animals that lay eggs, including sharks, duck-billed platypus, sea turtles and various birds.

And even though it has nothing to do with eggs, Daniel was so excited to unwrap a new garbage truck!

It was Daniel's birthday, but he gave Abby a gift too -- a Webkinz chicken.

An Egg-Themed Fourth Birthday Party

It's hard to explain, but Daniel loves EGGS! (We think Noni is responsible for this. She gave him his first egg carton and a taped together cracked egg when he was very little.)

So, his fourth birthday theme was EGGS, EGGS, EGGS!

I sent out the invitations, suggesting the invitees Get Eggcited

The party was held at Grandma and Grandpa Engelhardt's house the weekend before Daniel's birthday.

Will, Abby, and Daniel all had cool EGG t-shirts. Will does not like EGGS, so his shirt was less EGG, more bacon). I couldn't find an EGG t-shirt, but I did make myself an EGG pin. Daniel looked at my dress and said, "Mom, you have dinosaur EGGS on your dress! Not all EGGS are oval, some are round!"

I'd originally planned to make EGG pins for everyone, but didn't quite get around to making that happen. Grandma Engelhardt did get an EGG pin, though!

Daniel enjoyed seeing his Great-Great Aunt Vivian again. She gave him an EGG carton filled with quarters and candies and a few chickens.

Lunch was delicious! Grandma Engelhardt made EGG salad and potato salad with EGGS. Aunt Lisa (Tonto) made deviled EGGS and several different kinds of EGG desserts.

Uncle Pete, Aunt Lori and Cousin Jacob came all the way from Wisconsin to celebrate with Daniel. Daniel looked at this picture and said, "Aunt Lori is nice!"

Daniel had a great time opening gifts -- many of which included EGG cartons!

For dessert, we had a variety of egg-themed treats to choose from. As the guests (led by the under ten crowd) sang a rousing version of Happy Birthday, Daniel blew out four candles on an EGG cupcake and a bird's nest with EGGS. He also got a fried EGG gummy candy, which the children all thought were great and the adults all thought were gross.

 Everyone was sent home with their very own EGG carton (filled with a dozen donut holes). Daniel didn't like that I was giving the EGG cartons away. He wanted to keep them all for himself!

And because I am who I am, I took A LOT of photos of the festivities, including the EGG hunt and the EGG joke telling.