the view from here

the view from our front door isn't usually very exciting, but this particular afternoon, right after the monsoon rain, it was fabulous.

hiking west fork

 the first hike we did when we moved here was on my favorite trail of all time - the weatherford trail.  we didn't get to see the super dense aspen forest because of a recent fire there, but the day was beautiful and we were rewarded at the end by running into some wild (maybe not, but it is a local legend) horses drinking at a spring in the mountains.  we didn't have our camera that day.

the next week we woke up to a cloudy day which put luke and i in the mood to hike west fork.  it is the most popular trail in sedona (30 minutes away) but it was a weekday so we hoped for not too many people.  it was the perfect hike for us.

the trail follows the creek, so you have to cross over it on rocks and logs several times.  i was nervous mateo would be scared of the water but he was all about it.  

hiking at least once every week is one of our goals here, and so far the babies have both been into it.  ruby sleeps most of the way and mateo (surprisingly) hikes most of the way by himself.  

i think the key to our hiking success is not having any expectations of distance or time.  we go knowing we won't be out for miles or hours and knowing we won't reach the end and we savor the slow pace with the little ones.

 

 there is something really magical about west fork.  we are looking forward to going back in a month or so when the leaves will be changing and falling and floating down the river.

mother's day (just a few months late)

my ever-breaking computer has reached it's limit so i am getting things organized before we say goodbye.  i found these photos from mother's day that i had completely forgotten about.  ruby was just a few weeks old, mateo had turned 2 the day before, and luke's mama was visiting for his graduation.  we took a stroll around the msu gardens, the same place we went when mateo was just born, and tried to recreate some of the photos. 

lansing city market

i just found these photos on our computer and they made me a little homesick.  we'd go to the lansing city market for our weekly shopping every saturday morning.  i can't remember if we'd been "regulars" where the shopkeepers knew our names anywhere before this?  one even called mateo her boyfriend.    :)  

other than the groceries, we'd get brunch there at aggie mae's every saturday.  i ran in the morning we left michigan for one last visit to stock up on yummy things for our road trip and they slipped me one of their secret recipes so i could recreate it in arizona.  the best.

also: luke's summer beard.

gc or bust

we have been so, so busy every since moving to arizona!  i never seem to have time to be in this space.  luke is working on prepping for the semester and will begin having meetings and orientations next week.  the babies and i have been walking to the city square every weekday morning for a free kids program - storytimes, puppet shows, singing and dancing - it has been so great.  luke and mateo joined a special friday playtime at the library.  we've had visitors each weekend that we've lived here so far.  and we've kept up our goal of taking (at least) one hike a week.  we've been hitting up our local used bookstore every few days or so.  and picnicking in the park as often as we can.  and luke is frisbee golfing it up with anyone that will go with him.  oh, and did i mention we have a really sweet and brand new nephew just down the street?

we wanted to get out of here and relax this weekend before luke gets even busier.  i've been checking the ever-always-booked north rim campground website every 5 minutes until finally there was a cancellation!  so we leave tomorrow.  the north rim is 4 hours out of the way (since you have to drive around the entire grand canyon to get there) but it is higher in elevation so there is forest and cool air and free roaming buffalo, elk, turkey and way less people.  

see you next week!  (and maybe then i can catch up some more.)

(pictured above: mateo's new thing is to carefully watch luke and ruby playing, and when ruby gets lifted into the air he dives right in between them.)

bathtime

he insists on every bath toy in the tub every time.

we had the best friday

 

 we had the best friday.   we woke up and walked to macy's, a local coffee shop.  we had yummy treats and pretty coffees (mine said "love" in chocolatey foam) on a giftcard (thank you b & a!).  luke and mateo left for a library playgroup where they made some friends and i stayed with sleeping ruby and read an entire chapter of a new book in peace.  while there, i also ran into the current mayor who we went to school with and the local hiking book author which made me appreciate small town life.  i walked with ruby downtown where we went into all of the little shops i never go into with a (grabby-touchy) two year old.  one was a bead shop where i recognized the owner who had been one of the first people i met when i moved here for college 11 years ago and we reconnected.  then ruby and i met up with luke and mateo on the city square where they have a free activity for kids every weekday at 10am.  this one was about healthy eating and mateo seriously chowed down on some melons and cucumbers.  white chatting with the woman who put it on, i realized i knew her from emailing but we hadn't met in person.  she also runs a local "hip mama" group which i am hoping i am hip enough for.  after that, we walked into babbit's, a camping-ish local store downtown and tried on sunglasses.  luke and i tried on the same silly pair and ended up in one of those can't-stop-laughing moments which inspired us to buy them.  we walked around downtown some more and i said i had a craving to visit the grand canyon.  so we did!

so we got a lunch to go on another giftcard (thank you lauren!) and took the 90 minute drive and it was a beautiful day and the canyon was as grand as ever. 

mateo didn't nap in the car which led to a slightly grouchy boy during parts of our visit.  so grouchy that he refused to hold our hands sometimes which is not a possibility when you are on the rim of the grand canyon.  can you picture luke walking the rim with mateo wailing "stuck!  down!" on his back?

these are the inspired matching sunglasses.

we made it to hopi point just before sunset.

.

 i keep these mental lists of the best views i've ever had while feeding my babies.  with mateo it was niagara falls, high up in the shenandoah mountains and sitting on a lakeside bench overlooking the monuments of dc.  with ruby so far it is gazing out at arches national park and now, absolutely, this view of the sun setting over the canyon.

after it set we took 3 different shuttle buses back to our car (the buses were by far mateo's favorite part of the canyon) and then fed our hungry selves at a super touristy and not too tasty mexican restaurant outside the park.  and then we drove home and saw herds of elk on the side of the road under a full-ish moon.  it was a beautiful day.

one last party

 we had a going away party at our house the week before we left.  it was perfect - we got to see almost everyone that we had hoped to see, and hang out in our backyard with them one last time before our move.  we made it pot-luck style and i could not believe all the yummy foods our friends can make.    we were so busy hugging and laughing and later, trying not to cry as we said goodbye, that we didn't take many photos.  but here are a few (mostly before) from that beautiful day.  some more photos here, taken by our multi-talented midwife.