sniff, sniff

A week ago Tuesday, Zach and I headed home from Sedona early. He had to go to work that day. I did too, but not until the afternoon. He was irritated with me - after he dropped me off I took a 2 hour nap before getting ready. Little Nathan had a rough night the night before - up crying from 2 to 3am.

Jen and Dave and the kids left Sedona and headed to Prescott early afternoon. By the time I made it back from school they were all settled in.

Tuesday was a day of rest. We just hung out at the house that night and ran out to get our favorite fast food for dinner. It's dangerously close to our house.

On Wednesday, we just lounged at the house in the morning, allowing for plenty of Dora time. After lunch we drove up to Watson Lake Park so the kids could have some fun at the playground. We made time for a parents only picture and then I left from there for work. It was a lovely day.

That night we made huevos rancheros, drank some beers, and went to bed fairly early. Thursday morning Dave went to golf at Stoneridge. Jen and I...kind of last minute...decided to go for a little hike. I thought we'd walk up to the Lynx Creek Ruins. We didn't make it all the way up; instead we stopped mid-way and had our picnic on a bench near a downed tree. It made for good entertainment for Amanda. Lunch definitely tastes better on the side of a trail with my sisto and the kiddies. It was the first full cloudy day we've had in a while. A great fall day.

Dinner that night....I'm a little embarrassed....was Papa Johns. Coming from Chicago, we don't expect much from pizza joints in the places we travel to, so we certainly don't expect to find great pizza in Prescott. We've tried Streets of New York - it was decent and we've heard Adam's Pizza and Ribs is good too. When we were talking about places to order from last week, Dave decided that sometimes a known evil is better than an unknown evil. So we decided on Papa Johns. Although it's not top quality pizza by any stretch, there is something satisfying about it. I love the cheese sauce.

Zach had to work Friday morning, Dave stayed home with the kids, and Jen and I drove up Walker Rd to the 297 trailhead. The red ground cover that was there when Amy, Stacy and I had hiked it was now a yellowish/orange. Another great day and fun hike.

As we drove towards our street we were greeted by the minivan (which Dave looked right at home in). Dave and the kids were headed out somewhere, so he followed us back to the house. We decided to go the the Heritage Park Zoological Sanctuary. It was as much for me as it was for the kids. I have been dying to check it out.

It was awesome. A very small zoo where you can get very close to the animals. They have Gray Mexican Wolves, a javelina, jaguar, bobcat, desert turtle, pronghorn, gray fox, lemurs, porcupine, badger, tarantulas, black bear, bengel tiger, and many other interesting animals. The funniest guy was the badger. He was on the ground, laying on his back, with all four appendages spread out in every direction. He looked so relaxed. Every now and then he'd reach in and scratch his belly. Loved the Mexican Wolves. The bobcat and jaguar were both really cool. The javelina has to be the ugliest creature I've ever seen. My personal favorite was the bengel tiger. The black bear was resting the whole time we were there so I'll have to go back to try and catch him at an active time. Nathan didn't know what was going on. Dave and Jen liked the zoo too, but Amanda - she could have cared less. The tiger, no interest. Bobcat - big deal. It wasn't until we were all the way around the whole place that she got excited. We walked past the macaw and heard him say "hello". So Amanda spent the next 15 minutes laughing hysterically at the bird. He'd say "hello" and "WHAAATT?". On the way home she was doing a great impression.

That night we hit the BrewPub for a quick meal (Nathan puked up all of the carrots he was fed while we were there) We cruised home and Jen and Dave began the packing process.

What can I say, from here it was a downward spiral. They left Saturday around 8 and luckily had a great trip home. No lost luggage this time. It was so great to have them here, but it is so hard to say goodbye. At least I know they will be back in January. That makes it a little easier.