Details

Details...It's why I haven't blogged about Disneyland. Details are overwhelming. I want details. I want lots of good, gooey, meaty details. Disney is really good at details. Fresh flowers on the lamp posts. Fast Passes. Themed Gift Shops. They have 20,000 employees in the park itself (I just looked it up) to make sure I'm happy. INSANE...yet wonderful. The ride workers have theme costume uniforms. Those that clean the bathrooms are dressed all in white...to not stand out I am assuming. The street sweepers blend in with the crowd to make it a mess free stay. Really is it bad that I spent a considerable time just marveling at how they managed to make it all work so seamlessly together. They really have it down. Me...not so much there is some definite Disney let down going on over here. Real life...sometimes just sucks. Disney...rocks!

To sum up our trip...it was like the commercials. Skipping down mainstreet to Zippidee Do Dah and all that. A bit sickening huh?

Ok so I 'might' have forgotten, the little 'standing too close to the guy in front of you episode' in the line for Woody's 3-D interactive ride. Or few elbows in my space comments on the trip to and from. Or maybe the 300 are we there yet questions. But really...how much better can a relaxing vacation get then wearing your feet out nearly to the bone in the pursuit of thrills and smiles. It was good.

Some favorite moments:

*Ethan with his hands up for the camera going down splash mountain.
*Getting to ride through splash mountain 3 times in a row with out having to get out of the log!
*Savanna's response to Mike's question after the California Screamin' roller coaster. How was it? SCARY, I hated it....Let's go AGAIN! And she did.
*Emily's conquering of her wild ride fears.
*Tim's pure enjoyment of making funny faces for every ride camera.
*Sierra's pure...Just try to tell me I don't want to go on that ride because you'd be wrong attitude.
*The motion sickness pills that my friend Paula gave that REALLY work.
*Dragging Savanna's Kindergarten class Bear around the park so we could journal about his adventures over the weekend...then sending him back UPS for the next kid.
*Not having to ride the teacups!
*Having awesome friends that made the trip THAT much more fun.
*The lady at the entrance gate bundled up in a coat during the mid-60 weather asking us if we had checked the weather forecast and are we not cold as we walked in with shorts and t-shirts.
*Actually getting Beach silhouettes!
* The happiness we had being together as a family.

Thanks to Christine...

My dear sweet niece braved my 5 sweet, demanding, loving, exhausting children for 3 days last week. As she put Savanna to bed the first night they had a conversation that went something like this:

Savanna: I know why my Mommy left.
Christine: Oh yeah? Why?
Savanna: I drive her crazy.
Christine: What? Your Mommy loves you.
Savanna: Oh I know she loves me, she's nice to me. But I drive her crazy.

That probably should have been a warning...but I think they had a fabulous time doing things like:

*Riding the bucking bronco at the Treehouse
*Climbing the Rock Wall at Roy Days
*Catching Candy at the Parade
*And in general wearing poor Christine out.

Me on the other hand? I had a fabulous time with my good 'ole husband of 15 years.

Some highlights:

*Attending a session at the Salt Lake Temple
*Laughing till I cried at a Voice Male Concert (check out their new kids album...or favorite is the "Song with No Words"
*Mountain Biking until we almost died. (No it was great...really.) 6 miles--no popped lungs. That's good right?
*Good food, Good Company
*Relaxing
*Coming Home

Yes My Savanna...sometimes I am driven crazy...but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Petroglyphs Rock!

That title is pretty self explanatory. After all, without rocks there would be nothing to glyph on. We visited the V-Bar-V Heritage site in Central Arizona and I found it fascinating to experience this incredible rock art up close.






The V-Bar-V Ranch was first settled in 1900. It transferred ownership many times and because the site was a ranch this incredible find of over 1030 petroglyphs was kept intact and safe from intruders. In 1994, the current owner, The University of Arizona, did a land trade with the federal government and the site became a protected area. It was opened to the public in 1996.





Most of the petroglyphs are located on one wall. They are believed to be carved by the Sinagua sometime between 1125 and 1400. The Sinagua were dry farmers and lived in pueblos. The rock art at this site is distinctive and unique to the area. One major distinction is the heron type bird that is quite common throughout the wall. While there is other rock art in the area, the heron is only found in the Beaver Creek (V-Bar-V) area. In the following the picture. The number 1 bird is thought to be a heron from a frontal view rather than the side view of the others. Interestingly, there are still herons around there today.




Another unique item to this rock art is that there are no overlapping elements. This is not common in other rock art areas. While there is no overlapping there is a great deal of connectivity. Archaeologists suggest that the lines indicate a history of events, clan migrations or the pathways of life. The frequency of connectivity is also unique in the rock art of the area.




One can pick out many different types of symbols. There are people, animals, and geometric shapes. Often in the Beaver Creek style of rock art these elements are paired, especially the animals and people.




The archaeologists studied the site daily for several years and after taking pictures every day they determined that it was quite likely that the site also acted as a solar calendar. It was shown that on the March 20, the first day of Spring that the sun shown directly from a crack above on the first of three spiral shapes. The third shape had the sun shining on it on the first day of Summer.


Additionally the sun shown on the three tall corn like stalks. The first the third week of April, the time when an early crop of corn should be planted. The second, the third week of may, for the main planting of corn and the third the third week of June for the late planting.



I think its just amazing all that they know about these really cool rock carvings, but just think what they don't know yet! You can check out more information on this subject at http://www.sinaguasunwatchers.com/

10 Things I learned on the way to {and from} A{e}r{o}zona...

1. That big hole in the ground is something magnificent! Even if I didn't have photographers luck.
The first time we saw it, most of it was in shadow (photoshop really DOES help!), The second day was entirely cloudy...no contrasting sky color. And the third time we 'just' missed sunset by 10 minutes. :( Better luck next time?

2. A{e}r{o}zona is where Aero lives...according to Ethan. (For those of you out of the 3 year old little boy loop, Aero is a Fisher Price Geo Trax train/Engineer and hero for all those train aficionados under 5) We searched and searched and finally found him....SHE was named Wendy and drove the The Grand Canyon Shuttle Bus.

3. When you visit Sedona...DON'T Drive an R.V. to visit this place. Yes, yes, it is something ugly backing up a 25 foot R.V. in front of an audience of compassionate tourists and gruntled locals. (At least they weren't disgruntled.)

4. Don't expect HEAT in the second or third driest state of the Union in April...or even dryness for that matter. Do expect snow and buckets of rain. :)

5. Driving a R.V. will make your husband a bit reckless or fearless. :) Even so far as parking in the opposing turn lane to support his wife's photography hobby.

6. You will get a bit nutty from being in the same vehicle with 5 kids for that period of time.

7. People might look at you strange for getting gussied up in a campground...but at least they will take your picture. (However, just as at home there is no need for EVERYONE to smile and look at the camera at the same time.)

8. Petroglyphs Rock! (Look for another post on this soon)

9. It is ALWAYS awesome to spend time with your dear cousin whom your kids adore (pictured) and her kid friendly husband (not pictured--imagine someone intensely studying the bones in the forearm.) for a weekend.

10. Blow holes that indicate the rise and fall of barometric pressure (And blow your hair nearly off your head) at ancient Indian pueblos are totally cool!

And a bonus...

11. Making memories is priceless!

To-Do Lists

So when you are going on vacation and are not ready and you still have shopping, packing, cleaning, laundry to do before departure and meanwhile you have to still create purchase orders, call 3 vendors, finalize a TV spot, confirm a convention demo, and a hundred other little things for work, and your life feels like a run-on sentence so you tend to write that way too.

Do you write to-do lists?

And when you do, does it make you feel more in control or does the vast quantity of individual lines of things that MUST get done in the next 48 hours seem overwhelming so you head to the Internet and waste time blogging about it?

Yeah me too.


AAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!

Trippin with the Goblins...

So in my blog journeys I happened across an invitation to a virtual field trip at the blog Yarns of My Heart. The author Jena doesn't know me from Adam...but since she invited 'everyone' I thought I'd join in. You can too if you like.

So buckle up tight we are off...

DESTINATION: Goblin Valley (Central Utah)

Goblin valley is a Utah State Park. It is a hands on playground of sandstone formations that look very much like goblins. The great part of this park is rather than just 'viewing' the incredible red rock of Utah at this place you can experience it your self by climbing, hiking, hiding and exploring. Here is a quick video showing the park. It is located on just over 3 1/2 acres and includes a campground.

HISTORY: Goblin Valley was first discovered (by non-natives) in 1920 by ranchers looking for lost cattle. Can you imagine having to search for cattle in there!?! Later the name 'Mushroom Valley' was coined and in 1964 it was made a State Park with the name of Goblin Valley.

LOCATION: It is located in Central Utah in Emery County. It is 30-40 miles from the nearest town of Green River. YES it IS out in the middle of nowhere.

WEATHER: HOT--in summer anyway. There is no getting around the heat in this area. The most comfortable times to visit are Spring and Fall. We were there at the very beginning of June and the heat was definitely on.

OPPORTUNITIES: It is an awesome place to learn about geology, rocks, erosion and more. These rocks have been eroded by wind and if you are there for very long you will get to experience that for yourself. One time when Mike and I were there we were camping and the wind was so strong that it kept deflating our pop-up tent then letting it out like a firecracker. After being brutally jarred out of sleep 2 or 3 times we chose to pack up and sleep in the car. The rocks themselves are like a giant Nature-Made Playground. This newsletter highlights some of the fun to be had there. When we were there last there was a Scout Troop with HUGE semi-automatic type water guns. They were having a blast jumping from Goblin to Goblin trying to avoid the splatter. We were there during the State of Utah's 100 year anniversary. During that year at all the state parks they held Geo-Cache Treasure Hunts--complete with GPS coordinates and clues. You can find your own geo-hunt here. We had a blast and ACTUALLY found our treasure this time.

Ethan wants to touch the rocks too.

Savanna leads the way.

Looking for the treasure.

FOUND IT!