Kierland Villas with friends

I got a call from a friend. They have a timeshare in Scottsdale. They have been there all week and invited us to come stay. I was not sure if I should come with 5 of my 7 children and invade her vacation. She insisted, so we came....




Kilean and Alexa were getting in some reading time!!! Kilean sure loves The Hobbit. I am sure Animal Farm is Alexa's first choice as well.




I like it when Kilean plays well with Kelsey.They spent a lot of time in the pool. Kilean was having fun "throwing her" in the air and flipping her backwards!!!




Kelsey ended up doing pretty well... but had a hard time getting a lot of air!




But... after practice one does get better!!




So Bryce decides this looks like fun. But who can he flip?




Brenlie? BRYCE!!! She is two years old. So he did it twice. Once he got yelled at, and once more to get the picture! (AM I a great mom or what?) He flipped her so high all I got was her water wings!!!



After a long day it was time for bed!!!




It is time for a new day in the pool. Brenlie really liked this large baby pool. She was able to swim around without me helping her. She had a blast.



The girls getting their relax time is really important!



This was MY VIEW most of the time. Notice my nails are polished? A good day for me.




Frank was able to make it out today. And he was able to rest his eyes as well.




Is there such thing as laying out without an ipod?





This was my bag of tricks for the last 2 days!!!




Last but not least the grackles that are EVERYWHERE in Arizona. But they did provide great entertainment. I watched them pick away at this bag for quite awhile before I grabbed the camera.

Kilean and her Kansas pics......

I have a good friend who is from KANSAS. Harvest is a very special time of year for this family and they "TRY" to make it to harvest. Kilean has gone twice so far. They got in the car and drove 15 hours and made it in one day!!!! CRAZY family!!!






The wheat is so pretty. They lost a lot of the crop due to the weather.... but a spectacular sight still!!!












Farm life is so fun. Kilean commented the food is amazing. They spent time with Breanna's family and had a great time. They had many memories to share from the long car rides!!!






I love all the shots in the wheat fields!!!








I am hoping one day I can make it with them and go see for myself hoe beautiful this part of the country is!!!!

Tombstone and the ride home!!!! Part4

Enough Family time? ON the way home we decided to go to Tombstone first!! This was a cute town. But a little cheesy. We walked up and down the street. Most everything was closed. As a family we could of toured the back of an old bar. For 15.00 a head. We passed on that. Or we could of toured an old mine. It was HOT out. OR..... JUST GO HOME!!! and that is exactly what we did!!





My kids thought it was funny that it said OK in front of everything. The OK corral. The OK bar....




Kilean likes this old fire hydrant. Do not ask me why. I do not know!!!







Kyler really liked the horses. He also wanted to know why everyone smoked in Tombstone. He wanted to know why they all had cigarettes with plastic mouthpieces. He really pays attention to detail....





The ride home.... We drove 2 cars. We took Brie'els car as well. I had Kyler with me so I gave him my camera to pass some time. These are some pictures he took along the way. We ended up getting stuck in the traffic in Tucson coming home. The freeway was shut down due to an accident, so we had to go home thru Oracle!!! My kids were a good sport but they were glad to be home in our BIG town. When we got home I watched the little ones and the rest went to see Harry Potter!!!!








Let's just say we were glad to be home. The kids like my cooking and prefer to not eat out. We all enjoyed our own beds and a good night sleep!!!!

The SHADY DELL Part 3

Frank found the Shady Dell on TV. It was listed on the travel channel as one of the most unique places to stay. Shady Dell offers a unique lodging experience. You can spend the night in a beautifully restored 1950's travel trailer or a 1947 Chris Craft Yacht. Top it off with breakfast in an origional 1957 diner!!!!






Frank read this and was SUPER EXCITED!!!!!








This was the TIKKI bus. I have to give them credit for making a bus into a neat place to sleep.








We rented 3 rv's. Frank and I in one and then one each for the boys and girls. The kids really did not know what to say. Luckily the toilets did flush and there was running water!!!






Each RV had great decorations. They had old calendars, books, records, and yearbooks in everyone. They used old dishes and cookie jars. Really brought you back to the 5o's.... If you were alive then!!!! (I was NOT) hee hee







I enjoyed going into each room and looking around. A lot of this stuff was either in my house growing up or was at Grandmas. Reminds me of the holidays or camping as a kid with the Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles!!!















Now as you look around they did have a TV. It was black and white.They did have dvd players hooked to them. Also provided a stack of old movies to watch. No video games, cable, or computers to be seen. Where is the pool? Room service? Well shucks!!!! What are we going to do?



I guess play with each other!!!!







This phone booth did not work, but it was all genuine. A blast from the past!!!




This old gas station was really neat...





Last but not least... the Diner!!!! Frank and I got up early and ate there the next day. Frank had blueberry hotcakes and I had eggs and hashbrowns and hotcakes. ( I shared with Kelsey and Brenlie) The food was great and the service was wonderful!!! This was definately different. I will never forget this experience. I am pretty sure the kids will not either!!!!