Willie Robertson

It all started when Dad got the idea for the boys to not shave during our summer vacation in North Carolina. Of course no one had to ask Parker twice since hes never been an easy one to get to shave and I think it was actually really nice for my Mom and Dad to not have to spend a 15 minuet "group discussion" every week in an attempt to get him to shave. So a week of no shaving went by and Parker being the one who ALWAYS has Halloween on his mind came to the conclusion (in July I might add) that he was going to be Willie Robertson for Halloween. So everyone just went along with it and after the vacation Parker continued to grow out his beard and made sure EVERYONE knew what his Halloween costume was going to be. By the time Halloween showed up Parker had a pretty impressive beard going on (the longest he has ever had) and we were able to complete his custom with a camo outfit, a duck call and a red white and blue bandana. He was ecstatic and came over to my house to do some trick-or-treating and also stopped by Mom and Dads neighbor Fred's house who gave Parker some candy as well. Parker always comes up with the best Halloween costumes with full dedication :)

Phoenix State Fair

This year was the first year since I have lived in AZ that I went to the State Fair. I was so impressed with how much they had to see and do there that I didn't just go once, I didn't just go twice, but I went three times! Yes, three times in a matter of 4 weeks! It was so much fun.


The first night that I went was because I heard Weezer was playing. They released a new album this year and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see this band live, heck their CD was practically permanently fixated into the red trucks CD player when we were growing up. They were legends to us California kids and their concert didn't disappoint. We go super close seats and being the shrimp that I am we were able to be in the stands towards the side of the stage so I could actually see them :) They closed the show with Buddy Holy and I was able to get a t-shirt to memorialize the occasion. I love Weezer!

The second trip to the fair was with my friends. We broke off into groups and were able to ride some rides and indulge in the food there. We also saw a bit of a Colby Caillat concert that was going on.

The third trip I took to the fair was with Mom, Dad and Parker. We all got to try some of the funky and outrageous food there. My favorite was the deep fried pickles, but we also tried a deep fried twinkie, navajo tacos, a 12 inch long huge corn dog, deep fried watermelon, and bacon wrapped turkey legs. Me and Parker also road on the zipper together and he screamed the entire time.

Going back to California

Back in October of last year, we got an invite from the Tryons to go to San Diego with them and of course we had to take them up on it. Kids are free at sea world, lego land and a few other attractions around there and it seemed like a fun short vacation to take. Dad, Tanner, Parker and I flew in the airplane while Mom, Torey and the boys drove out the day before. 

 

We spent a day at Sea World and got to see all of the attractions including Pets Rule (a dog, cat and small animal show) the river rapid ride (which totally soaked everyone), an awesome roller coaster which had no line and Mom even road on, the polar bear exhibit which was super cold inside, walrus's that were right next to the windows, dolphins, and of course we can't forget the killer whale show. The show is not like I remember at Marine World, the whales still jump up and splash you but the trainers don't ride them anymore and they dont let anyone pet them. I wasn't able to take a whole lot of pics while we were there but got these few ones.

 

And you cant do San Diego without having a day solely devoted to beach worshiping and that is exactly what we did. The boys built several sand castles, we buried Oliver, Parley and Tanner up to their necks in the sand, collected huge piles of seaweed, and Henry took a nice nap in the sand. Nothing beats California beaches!  

I got to see for the first time the infamous glider port in San Diego. I had heard my Dad and Torey talk about it before but never got to see it until this trip. When I had heard them talk about the glider port, I always thought they were talking about remote control airplanes but oh how I was wrong. Its actually for paragliders! We drove up to what looked like a cliff overlooking the beach with a shack on top, but when you walked around to the other side it opened up to a grassy hill and you could see all the paragliders with their gear getting ready to run off the hill/cliff and over the ocean. They were very cool to watch. Next time me and Mom promised we would get a ride on one but this trip we both chickened out. 

A few other things that we did on trip are:

- eat at STACKED (one of the coolest and most delicious resturants ever! You order off an IPad and get to cutomize anything on the menu. I was certainly worth the 1 hour wait time and I am lobbying for one to open in AZ)
- watch the boys play at the lego store in the coolest outdoor mall (so San Diego :)
- go hot tubbing at the hotel pool
- Mom and the Tyrons went to  Lego Land
- walk around Old Town San Diego and ate at a Mexican resturant
- have a mariachi band sing La Bamba to us while we ate our Mexican food (so authentic!)
- drove past the San Diego Temple



And it wouldn't be a trip flying out of California without having to wait for the fog to clear. Me, Dad and Parker flew home together and wow did this bring back memories. Waking up early to try and get a head start flying only to get to the airport and see a thick blanket of fog encompassing the sky. Then you have to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait until finally you see a break in the fog. And after at least an hour to two of waiting, in a matter of minuets the fog disappears and opens up to blue sky's and we are off to fly home to AZ.

As were coming into land, I noticed we were flying right over my house and snapped a few pictures. Can you pick out which one is mine??

"If you give a mouse a cookie..

...he'll ask for a glass of milk. If you give him a glass of milk, he'll probably ask for a straw. And once you give him a straw he'll ask you for a napkin...then a mirror, nail trimmers, a broom etc.. etc.. etc.."

We all remember this book right? It reads on telling you about one item after the other, that this little mouse asks for until finally disaster strikes. Clearly this never happens in real life? Its the domino effect that all gets started by one simple request. I think this author nailed it when writing this book, it applies to life so simply and follows the basic rule of thumb that if you give someone an inch they will take a mile. I think everyone has a mouse and cookie story, or if you're me, you have hundreds of mouse and cookie stories. My most recent mouse and cookie story doesn't start with mouse....but a cat, a cat named Stickers.

Stickers showed up at my house as a scared, hurt and extremely emaciated cat. She needed medical care, food, and water, and being the animal sucker that I am, I couldn't possibly turn that down. So I spent all night cleaning up her "stickers" and giving her the much needed food and water. I thought that was the end of it but morning and nights passed with this poor kitty not leaving my back porch. So when it got hot out I figured I'd let her into my house to stay cool. Subsequently the kitty didn't want to sleep alone and after hearing her meow and claw outside my  bedroom door I soon found myself with a new feline bed warmer. Finally I thought that was all she needed. Life was good, Stickers was happy, and I left for a week long vacation to Myrtle Beach. But to my surprise this mouse and cookie story wasn't over, and a few days into my trip I got a call from Ashley that Stickers was in heat and to make a long story short I cam home to a pregnant cat. OH no! So 9 weeks later my little mouse and cookie turned into a Stickers with 5 kittens..eeekk! I mean I knew what I was getting into with the one cat but I had no idea it'd turn into 6!

This was right after Stickers had all her kittens and we had cleaned them up :)

It doesn't look like much but this was all 5 kittens in birth order from left to right, first born on the far left (kinda on top of the other ones lol) The last one was less than a hour old.

So the kittens needed food, water and a warm place to stay, so that is what they got. As they grew bigger they needed more space to run and explore so I opened up their territory to include my entire bedroom, yet one more thing that they needed. Soon I found myself living in a kitten kingdom, complete with cat toys and kitty litter getting into every inch of the house. It wasn't uncommon for me to be woken up in the night by a little tiger kitten biting my toes or running across my stomach as they chased and played all over the room. Did you know cats are nocturnal?!? Lets not forget the sound of kitten claws ripping through my new comforter and pillows! It was a mad house for a bit but I have to admit even though those kittens were a lot of work, they were super, super cute.

 Finally after 6 weeks the kittens were weaned and ready to find new homes. I myself was also ready to start whittling down my pride of felines and, with some help, was able to find every kitten a new and loving home. One even went to a friend of mine who still brings her kitten back over for visits with his Stickers.

 So long story short if you give a Stickers a home, shes going to get pregnant, and if she get pregnant your going to have a lot more trouble on your hands!. And that my friends is my mouse and cookie story :)


Here are a bunch of pictures of my feline friends...

Oliver was the first of the nephews to come over that afternoon and hold one of the baby kittens.

 Stickers kept trying to hide the kittens from me and one day I found them all snuggled down in this itty bitty hamper in my closet lol.

 They were getting bigger in this picture, Stickers was such a good mommy.

I think Stickers face is so funny here, she was so patient with her kittens.

 Of course Parker got to hold the kittens.

It was so funny because one minute they were playing like crazy and the next moment they'd just stop and fall asleep wherever they were.  (we named this one Ginger)

Case in point....here is Cinnabun, passing out right in the middle of playing with him

They loved my bed!

This was by far my favorite kitty. He was the runt but had so much personality. We called him Afro Man because of his long black hair and laid back attitude. He was the only one in the litter with long hair.

 Ginger again on top of their play cube.

 I think this one was Parkour, named after his awesome Parkour skills. (Just google it)

 Stickers loved her babies.

These were the two last kittens that found homes, Cinnabun and Parkour. They were both boys and are 10 weeks old here.

They were super cute!

We did a photo shoot and got all 5 of them looking at the camera, it was adorable!

Cats and Dogs

It was September 8th 2014, morning time, about 7 AM and as I looked around my dim room I could tell something wasn't quite right. Usually the sun in beaming through my windows at this time but this morning my room was dark. As I began to wake up more I could hear that unmistakable noise. "Spitter, spatter, spitter, spatter, spitter, spatter." I threw off my sheets and rubbing my eyes, did a zombie like walk to the window. I gazed out to find streams of water cascading down the pane and puddles rapidly accumulating on the lawn. Today it rains, yes! This is what every Arizonian dreams of and what makes it even better is the fact that today I had the day off.

So naturally I did what anyone else would do and went right back to bed. Did you really think I was going to wake up at 7 AM on my day off?! I laid there listening and hopefully wishing I could gain a few more hours of sleep all while being serenaded to the sound of rain. What more could anyone ask for? While laying there looking forward to sleeping in and relaxing my phone rang. Huh that's strange? Nobody calls me this early in the morning. I looked and saw that it was my mom and answered the phone and the first thing she says is, "turn the TV on to channel 5." Now she had my attention! I quickly grabbed the remote and turned on the TV to find this going on...

It was the flash flood of the century! In the 5 years that I have lived in Arizona I haven't seen anything close to this. It closed down the entire interstate and several other roads right around the barn and mom and dads house. People were stranded, houses were being swept away and rescues were being made to help all those who failed to obey the stupid idiot law. It was quite the spectacle to watch and as I sat there thankful I didn't have to fight my way to work in this horrible weather, I realized my plans to go ride Sparky that day were completely abolished. So was my day off ruined? Heavens no! This northern Californian girl knows exactly what to do when it rains and suddenly, like instinct, my inner storm chaser awakened. I need to go check this baby out! I finished talking to my mom and then got ready to head out and face this storm (just like a leaf race mom.) I love storm chasing!

 This was the cactus farm right by the wash behind mom and dads house. A lot of the plants were actually swept away.

 This is the skunk creek aka the wash behind mom and dads house. By the time I got up there the waters had subsided a lot but it was still way too high to get across and/or even close.

 This is the same wash/creek but clear down by my house. Thats pinnacle peak road that goes across it.

 And this was taken at the same spot in the picture above but looking to the right, there was a ton of water coming through!

This is the reservoir in my neighborhood that is normally bone dry. People were taking kayaks out and letting their dogs swim in it since it was so full!

This was another flooded street on the way out to the barn, that sign actually ready "do not cross when flooded."


And here are a few more pics taken from the news. Below is the carefree high just east of the I-17 they had to close it down the water was coming up so high.







                                                                             

The last two pics are of the I-17 and skunk creek again. After I had done my storm chasing and documenting I headed back home. It made for a very exciting and unusual day for us desert folks.