Halloweenie & More

Afton was able to experience his first Halloween this year. Last year we were in India, and he wasn't old enough to enjoy it anyway. He dressed up as the cutest, I mean coolest, Wolverine ever. He had fake muscles and all. We bought it at the Spirit Halloween store which is NOT a place Afton enjoyed. He wouldn't let us put him down and would start shaking if he was too close to any of the scary animitronic whatnots. Luckily there were no tears so I didn't feel so bad giggling about his fright.

Afton was scared of this skeleton Nippon bought but after he saw it a few times he thought is was "silly." His words.

Evil eyed Banyan completes the shot.

We didn't go trick or treating door to door since he really doesn't care about that part yet, but we did go to the Kiwanis Park Carnival. It was a fun place to people watch and chow down on some Navajo tacos. YUM!

They had a face painting booth where I asked the guy to paint some chops (aka sideburns) onto my cute Wolverine. I'm not sure exactly what the guy was thinking, and Afton hated every second of the ordeal. Don't ask me what's on my face either. Apparently I was kissed by a weird lipped creature.

Earlier that week we went to Mother Nature's Farm with my cousin Carianne and her daughter Kate. The kids had lots of fun running through the maze, going on a hay ride (where Afton lost his hat, but we got it back), decorating pumpkins, and jumping in the bounce house.

I love this picture of Carianne and Kate (peaking over the top).

San Diego Part 3: Jaime & the Beaches

Ok. Let's finish this up!
So the day after we went to Sea World we met up with my bestie Jaime (we've been friends since we were five) to visit Coronado Island. We played in the sand and Jaime took Afton into the waves to cool down. It was pretty hot that day, which was surprising since I thought we were leaving the heat in AZ. Apparently San Diego (and California in general) was experiencing a heat wave. At least it was still slightly cooler than Phoenix. Afton loved the beach. I'm sure he would have been happy to stay there all day. This was the second time he has been to the ocean. The first time (in India) he couldn't walk and was kind of scared of the waves. This time he was all for it, even when he was knocked over by a wave. After playing on the beach we headed over to the beautiful Hotel del Coronado. They filmed one of my all time favorite films here, Some Like It Hot. In the main entrance there is a gorgeous chandelier designed by Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss). You'd think it would be all whimsical but it's pretty traditional. We hung out with Jaime the whole day, which was fabulous because we haven't done that in a long time. She's so much fun and I miss her a lot.

We stopped at Gossip Grill for some drinks and food.

On our last day in San Diego we met up with Nippon's old boss for lunch. They talked business and Nippon learned that he has several possible job options in the area if we choose to relocate. It's definitely a possibility! After lunch we had to stop off at the beach for one last time. La Jolla Shores was packed with surfers and sun bathers. Of course Afton loved getting wet and sandy. We buried his feet and dug some holes, then headed home. We had a fabulous trip to San Diego and hope to be back soon!

San Diego Part 2: Sea World

Of course we had to go to Sea World while we were in San Diego. It was a good thing because Afton LOVED it. It was actually pretty warm that day, and Afton refused to take a nap, yet he was happy and excited the whole time.

He thought noise the seals make was funny. If you ask him "what does a seal say?" he will make a weird barking noise for ya.

Here we are watching the Shamu show. Afton clapped along and even waved his arms around in hopes of getting splashed. Luckily we were at the top of the splash zone and didn't get a drop on us. It's never fun walking around wet.

I love flowers.

The penguin exhibit was nice and cool inside. I'm always surprised at how large the Emperor Penguins are. Their waddle makes me giggle.

He really liked the Sesame Street Bay of Play area, and not just because Elmo was there, although that was well worth the wait.

Does it look like Afton is crawling through large intestines?

There was this cute lil girl that wanted Afton to play with her (you can kind of see her behind the xylophone), he would have none of it.

In the Bay of Play they had this fun tidal wave tarp thingy for kids to run around on. Afton didn't want to leave.

Chomp!

San Diego Part 1: The Hotel

At the end of September we went to San Diego for a much needed vacation. Nippon had been working a lot the past few months getting everything ready at work for the new school year, so when things finally let up we headed out to Cali for some r&r. We stayed at the beautiful Sheraton Marina where we had a breathtaking view. I think we pretty much spent all our time on the balcony at the hotel.

Here is that view!

Me chillaxing.

The boy chillaxing.

Aja

We love you Aja and will miss you. Thank you for your wisdom and strength.

Mount Graham

Another fun thing we did during the summer was an over-nighter, with my brother-in-law Tikon, at the Rath's cabin on Mount Graham. It is the mountain I grew up going to, and is just outside of Safford. Growing up we would frequent the apple orchard (the best apples evah!), go on picnics (usually with a bucket of KFC), fish at Riggs Lake (not too many fish caught but still fun), play in the snow (of course we always had to make snow ice cream), and camp (which in my dad's mind meant using my grandparents motor home). I know Nippon spent much of his youth there too. They at least had a cabin to go to. Actually, I was lucky enough to have a best friend who's grandma (Grammy) had a cabin at Turkey Flat too. It was always a treat to be invited to stay there.

Anyway....We had lots of fun on the mountain this time too. Afton found lots of bugs, I found lots of pretty flowers. Nippon and Tikon played around with their swords, knives, and axes. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of all that manly fun, shucks! Afton and I went on a short hike around the other cabins, waving to all the kids there and listening for birds. Afton got good and dirty too, which is what you're suppose to do on the mountains. He even found time for some coloring. We ate some yummy food and roasted marshmallows. I think I was the only one who enjoyed that part, even Afton didn't really care for the gooey goodness. He did enjoy the fire though. He fell asleep in my arms watching it crackle and glow. He very rarely falls asleep in my arms, so it was nice to snuggle with him next to the fire.