Rainbow Trout Farm - Sedona, AZ

For Erik's birthday we decided a low key family day was a perfect choice for fun.  Woody researched and proposed driving up to Sedona for the day followed by a family party at home with the grandparents on Skype/Yahoo messenger.  Erik still had a bit of a cough and his friends were sick also, so a kid party was out of the question.

We left at 6:30 AM to head up to Sedona which is a two hour drive.  After a quick breakfast we were on the road.  Erik spent the drive looking out the window and pointing out scenery.  He effectively commented on the numerous cacti and hills.  He pointed out the other drivers and signage.  It was fun listening to him and reflecting on how advanced his speech has progressed in the last four to six months.

The trout farm is north of Sedona in Oak Creek canyon.  We found it with little trouble.  The concept is simple.  You must use their bamboo pole, bait and net.  $1 per fisherman/fisherwoman or basically per pole.  We got two poles which was perfect as the kids readily switched off with each other.  You must pay for what you catch and there's a 50 cent per fish cleaning fee.

All four kids had a great time and the fish were easy to spot in the clear water.  We were searching for the bigger rainbow trout but the kids were excited with any fish.  Annika does have the fish story with "the-big-one-that-got-away".  It was huge.  Bummer.

I got a chance to work with my 50 mm lens in outdoor daylight setting.  It was tricky to get a good white balance, but the shots turned out great.

Three of the four kids slept for the drive back to Phoenix.  Perfectly refreshed for birthday party part II.

Saguaro Lake Fun

After Woody, Annika and Ingrid scoped out the Saguaro Lake tributary yesterday, it was decided to make a family day there today.  We packed towels and water bottles and new water shoes for the entire family.  Side note: it was ~insane~ finding six pair of water shoes at Walmart for our family.  The kids were not on the best Chung behavior.  Ugh.

By ten AM we were in the car on our way to the lake.  First stop to the sporting good store to get a day pass for the State park.  $6.00 spent.  Go without and it's a $200 fine, I've heard.   Anyway, it ended up costing us one dollar for the pass.  More on that later.  We also picked up two little nets at the dollar store next door.  Great investment.

Water shoes, swimsuits, hats, sunscreen, a couple of towels, butterfly nets and a big umbrella and we made our way to the rock beach.

We had a fabulous day at the site.  The current is strong in the middle - this is where the Salt River tubers go floating down the river.  It's a big, big party money maker.  Busses take tubers to the start of the river with rented tube.  They tie the tubes together making gigantic floats and add coolers, etc, to the mix.  Some have waterproof sound systems.  They float by at a good pace and make their way down the tributary.

Anyway, we found a nice spot, set up the umbrella and built a tadpole pond using rocks.  Then the four kids were off looking for all signs of aquatic life.  So much fun.  It's so shallow that 20 feet out from the umbrella is still only thigh high.  We sat down on the rocks and felt the current flow through our hands. Erik was not afraid but certainly enjoyed the tadpoles, polliwogs and minnows best.

A family of four tubers came by and "invaded" our space.  Annoying at first, they were just taking a break to eat their lunch as a family.  They weren't the typical party group.  We found out their son was named Erik also, with the same spelling.  Other son was Anders.  Quite unique for Arizona.

After a few hours, the number of tubers increased as did the party atmosphere - not so quiet for tadpole viewing.  We packed up and walked the long way back to the car, cleaning off the sand from the shoes.  At 104 degrees by 1 PM, it was hot by the car.

After a stop at Subway for sandwiches, the kiddos settled into the hour ride home - with the addition of one polliwog and three minnows in the car.

Breakfast With the Animals

Another (nearly) spontaneously planned event for the Chung kiddos this morning.  Last night we were reading our zoo membership renewal when we realized (again) that members can get into the zoo one hour before opening time.  For the summer that means 6 AM.

On a whim we decided to go to the zoo for breakfast in order to be back by 9 AM to pick up Annika from her sleepover.  We tried to wake the kids at 4:50 AM to get ready.  Morgan was already in the shower ????!!  Ingrid got up a little more casually and Erik wanted nothing to do with the morning thing.

Finally, we got them in the car and picked up some McDonald's breakfast (I know, not the greatest, but it was the event that counted rather than the nutritional value).  At the zoo at 6:15 we found nearly every enclosure had a zoo keeper preparing for the day - either by raking, cleaning or putting out breakfast before the animals came out from the night enclosure or housing unit.  Erik and Ingrid found it hysterical to go up to the enclosure and "talk" to the "animal".  Finally, they got to see what we came for - the animals being directed out to their day, wide awake and chipper, as they roam their day surroundings.  The lions were awake rather than sleeping.  The giraffes went straight for the leaves of the trees for breakfast.  The zoo keeper walked out slow and backwards after placing food for the zebras and storks so as not to spook the storks that were wandering around.

By 8:30 AM the temperature was over 90 degrees and we had spent the last thirty minutes enjoying a drink and chatting with some church friends we ran into in line.  So much fun to catch up and take time to simply enjoy the morning.

By 9 AM we were in front of Kami Padilla's house, picking up Annika.  Kami and her second grade sister will be spending three weeks in Minnesota at her grandparents home for the first time.  Guess where they got the idea from?

Father Daughter Date

Ingrid has a sharp memory.  So sharp, she remembered a three month old promise to take her to an Asian buffet in Gilbert alone with her dad.  Tonight was the perfect night to fulfill that promise.

We picked up Ingrid from a birthday party at Bounce U at 3:30 and while driving south on Gilbert Road, Ingrid pointed to the area of Yummy Buffet and said to her dad that the promise remained.

Woody pulled into the driveway and we got out.  Ingrid was already dressed for fun.  After 30 minutes of watching the kids play on the Wii, Woody declared it father-daughter date night.  Ingrid's eyes lit up with excitement and she ran off to get ready.  She came back down looking the same as she did when she went up to her room.

Annika was dropped off for a sleepover at a friends house at the start of the date.  Erik, Morgan and I had dinner together and then Erik played with his cars while I started a stakeout in the laundry room.

I received a text about thirty minutes later - Yummy Buffet was closed for good.  So sad for Miss Ingrid.  A quick change to Mongolian grill and ice cream desert and the evening was still a big hit.

Mid Week Whatnots

It's Wednesday night and the week is half over.  Crazy.  My mind is full of things to do, things that should have been done, and things that must have been done, but I can't remember if they were done.  Yeah, it's like that around here.

The summer thing is starting.  Morgan has summer school, Ingrid and Annika have math tutor and Ingrid has a reading coach coming to the house.  Erik has his summer preschool program, "The Olympics".  Next two weeks is vacation bible school.  There are birthday parties to go to and birthday parties to plan for.  There are summer activities to sign up for and reading programs to fulfill.  Yeah, we're busy.  To heck with the heat.

Tuesday is library day.  We've switched and started going to the satellite library near our house.  Smaller, cleaner, easier.  We're setting a weekly visit day during the summer.

Tonight we grabbed the kids and went out for Chinese food after running errands are Target during tutoring time at Mathnasium.  I had no desire to turn the oven on in the house.  Monday and Tuesday were both grocery shopping days.  After coming home I spent the next hour prepping the food we bought - cutting up fruit for the kids, repackaging and storing meat, mixing trail mix and storing in 75 gram bags, and putting bins of drinks in the fridge.  By Wednesday, I was ready to be away from the kitchen.

The under-the-steps project is coming along nicely.  The shelves are in place with supports, dry fitted.  I want to pain the whole thing and add labels to the bins before I show off a picture.  It's nice to see more and more organization in the house.

As we arrived for Chinese food, we heard Wang Chung on the radio.  Nice to hear all four kids sing along.

Yes, that's our mid week whatnots.

By the way, our boy LOOOOOVES watermelon.  A Lot.  Almost as much as he loves his new Optimus Prime.  Almost.

Oh So Early

Morgan has elective summer school - Honors Math - this summer.  It starts every day at 7:25 and ends at 12:15 for four weeks.  Yikes, that's a lot of math.  Fortunately, there's bus availability from the junior high which is a stone's throw from our house.  And every morning I walk Morgan to the bus stop and wait with her at 6:45 AM.

Swim Lessons - Part II

This afternoon was our second swim lesson at the Althoff Swim Academy (sounds fancy, doesn't it?).  Janet and Michael have been so gracious teaching our kids how to swim and dive.  Today was no exception.  We packed two small boxes of peaches from our stash and grabbed our clothes and gear.

Woody stayed behind to work on some shelves under our steps.  I'm super excited and will be writing about the room under the stairs in a future post.  Smell the sweet smell of freshly cut MDF and organized bins!

So the four kiddos piled into my car and we were on our way.  Without dad in the car, we cranked the tunes (not too much), and sang to the popular songs.  It made me smile hearing that all four of my kids can belt out the words to Bruno Mars.  The mood was grand.

In the course of two weeks, Janet has worked little miracles with my Ingrid who is now swimming underwater for the length of the pool (short side).  Last week she went from not putting her head in to ducking underwater like a, well, like a duck.

Annika and Morgan worked some on their diving with Michael giving instructions this time from the side of the pool.

After an hour we peeled the kids away from the pool, changed their clothes, and left with a delicious pan of lasagna for the oven.  Oh yum.

The Chung kids worked on a secret art project while the lasagna cooked.  Our overgrowing garden provided us with swiss chard and some previously washed bing cherries completed our yummy dinner. Baths and cleaning the kitchen were the remaining tasks.  Kids in bed by eight.  Yeah for summer!