Summertime Birthday

This August my mom turned the big 6-oh. We had decided early this year to celebrate with a girl's weekend and after mulling over a few options, decided on San Diego. Who doesn't like San Diego?! The water, the awesome weather, the fun atmosphere... We had dinner with the fam the night before we left and then celebrated on her big day at Benihana's. The next day we spent with my aunt (who lives out there) and an old family friend, Janelle. We hung out at Seaport Village and they took us out to an awesome seafood deli/restaurant. Our last day we visited Point Loma lighthouse and then took a bay cruise. Afterwards, we spent some time at La Jolla beach and then ate at the best Japanese hole-in-the-way diner. It went by way too fast, but we had a great time with each other. Love my beautiful mom!!

Heading out on the town...

Yumm...Benihana!!

Seaport Village with Janelle

Soaking in the rays with Aunt Nancy

Point Loma Lighthouse

Isn't this a cool painting on a sailboat?...clever!

View of downtown San Diego

Relaxing at La Jolla beach

60 years young!!

Summertime Camping

What does any common-sense Arizonan do in the middle of the summer? Answer: Get out of dodge!! One of the best places to escape in the thick of the heat is northern Arizona. One of our favorite places to camp is on the Mogollon Rim. We spent a short weekend up there in July and even enjoyed some afternoon showers.

Here's one of the funniest stories I will ever be able to tell about Jason:
He decides the morning that we're leaving that he needs to answer the call of nature and takes a roll of toilet paper with him. He doesn't come back for a looong time. I see him approaching and notice he's got something on his hands. I ask him what took so long and he answered "Well, that was a colossal disaster!" My imagination starts to soar... He had apparently grabbed hold of a tree for 'balance' and didn't realize it was covered in sap!! It gets all over his hands, the toilet paper and his butt!! He actually had a rash for a few days because of the sap. Poor guy... The first couple of times I told this story I was crying because it was so funny in my memory. Ahhh, my husband keeps the humor alive in our life :)

Mastering the art of hot-dog roasting

A storm building during our morning hike

Eying the valley down below

Summertime & Friends

I'm not even going to make excuses...the blog is just not my thing anymore. I'll try and bring us up to speed. Life gets so busy!!!

So this summer was actually busy for us, which was new. Usually it's more low-key as we try and stay indoors to escape melting. Jason traveled to Nashville in June for a very close friend's wedding. All the 'guys' went and they had an awesome time together. In July, I spent a weekend with girlfriends relaxing at a local resort. This was our second annual 'girls weekend.' Thankfully, Phoenix resorts have awesome deals in the summer because -let's face it - who's going to come and vacation in the desert in the middle of the summer?!

Evening out at a hotel that provided a free flamenco show
Becca, Lenka & Erin

Becca & Erin devouring...I mean, enjoying...the lemon souffle waffles

Only so much sun can be taken in the middle of July

Reliving their glory days...

The happy couple - Ben & Kristin

Someone's having a little too much fun

Ben & the gang in Nashville

Just for the record, Jason is not short. Ben is just really tall :)