Yep, There's More

Seeing these photos again makes me want to be back in Flagstaff filling my days again with Lexi Lou, Arden Too, Spencer Buddy, and The Gavinator. These kids made me feel like a million bucks while I was there with all their smiles and attention. I LOVE hearing, "Aunt Carol!" all the day long! Seriously and hilariously, YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! All of these smiles were for me. Aw! Treasures!

Did I mention what Nookers they are? Does that mean they're reading the Nook? Well, not quite (at least this time - I'm sure there's plenty of that, too). Mostly they played with apps while I was there - kind of like on an iPad. Anyone for Angry Birds?

LOVE Gav's toes! Chomp!

Look at the face of concentration on Spencer in the photo below. That has nothing to do with the Nook, and everything to do with yarn and a hook! (Hey! That rhymes!)

Spencer can crochet! He makes the longest chains ever, and sometimes he turns the chain and crochets another looooooooooong row! Way to go, buddy! You're the bomb!

And More Flagstaff

Betcha thought I was all finished blogging about visiting Di and fam in Flagstaff. Fooled you! I'm not going to admit to how many pictures I actually took on my trip. But let's just say: a lot. Any why not? My dad gave me the best photography advice of all when he bought me my first digital point-and-shoot (back in about 2002 or 2003): use it with impunity. And I'm an obedient daughter.

It's Saturday evening in these photos, we're back from the fair, and we drove across the freeway to the forest and wildflowers. The sun was going down and we knew we were running out of light quickly. Where's Spencer? Well, he's out with his Dad, doing important hunting prep stuff. Dave had motion-sensor cameras set up in another forest to track his prey. Cool, huh?!

Gav really got into the fun spirit when Di and I started clicking our cams.  That little guy can turn on the charm so fast! Enjoy :).

Flagstaff Fair

Wow. We were at the Flagstaff Fair in the flower building when Arden and Alexis spotted this Hummingbird Moth. They knew exactly what it was. What a crazy little creature it is. It acts just like a hummingbird, drinking nectar from flowers. I looked it up on Google. It has a long needle-like mouthpart called a proboscis. When it's not drinking, its proboscis is curled up like a garden hose. When it finds some nectar, it uncurls its proboscis and drinks from the flower.

It wasn't afraid of the girls at all. Look how it landed on Arden's fingers for a moment and how close Alexis was able to get to it. So much fun for them!

In the bunny building, Spencer fell in love with this big fluff ball with floppy ears. He petted and petted this one bunny. I think the bunny fell in love with him, too!

What would a fair be without cotton candy? Yum.

And snow cones?

And face painting?

The kids were most excited about each buying a geode. They all came with their money and made a beeline for the rock building. There was a full box of round geodes to choose from. Once they chose their special geode, the geode man would then take the rock outside to his cutter and slice it in half to reveal the treasure inside. He told the kids to choose a geode that didn't weigh a lot - the heavy ones weren't as hollow and pretty. That was hard. They all got lucky with beautiful crystals on the inside, except Alexis. Hers was almost solid. But the nice geode man told her to go back for a second one. And she did. And was disappointed again. So he sent her back a third time, and success! It was beautiful!

Finally! Smiles and a happy girl!

Look at this gobbler!

When we got home from the fair, Artist Arden immediately got her paints out and decorated Di! Talented girl!

I had the BEST time with them! And there's still more to come!

Gavinator

Flagstaff - Climbing the Train

I ended up in Flagstaff for the Labor Day holiday and had so much fun! We found the best old train ever on the other side of the freeway, and the kids had a blast climbing all over it while Di and I shot pictures. Spencer is missing because he was doing important elk hunting preparations with his dad.

Lexi Lou and Arden's face painting from the fair earlier that day survived into the evening. The boys weren't quite as lucky, but they didn't seem to mind.

Of course, there's more to come, but you already guessed that, right?