Fairy Wonderland

Aaron left yesterday morning for a week in France and Germany.  Elayna and I miss him terribly already but so far we’re doing well with just us girls.

To celebrate the beginning of this single-parenting week, I decided to take Elayna to the Renaissance Festival.  Arizona actually puts on a fairly good show:  a huge Disneyland-ish medieval theme park, lots of turkey legs to eat, and princesses and fairies and knights galore.  The people watching alone makes it worth the admission.  However, its been years since we’ve been out there since its just so stinking far away! 

And the drive really was the worst part, made 10 times worse by the fact that everyone in Phoenix apparently headed out there at the same time that we did.  But as I expected, Elayna was overwhelmed by the live music and the costumes.  She was very upset when the fake-knight was hurt in the fake-joust.  She’s been practicing her belly-dancing and she liked finding the fake-princesses.  She even made a necklace pendant full of colored sand that has been her favorite souvenir. 

Unfortunately, the drive put me in a foul mood and was worsened by the hot sun.  The temperature was not bad but I still developed a sunburn and could not consume enough water.  We only fought the crowd at the Festival for a few hours before we made the trek back home.

And in a few more years I’m sure we’ll head out there again…

  

My Birthday Weekend

I am spoiled indeed.  So spoiled that when my birthday weekend came around, I had not 1 but 4 days of excitement.  So spoiled that its taken me a good week to recover. 

On Friday, Alicia and I played hooky and spent the afternoon at the botanical gardens.  This really only worked because I kept Elayna home from school sick on Thursday and suddenly found myself with a childless afternoon.  The weather was a little too warm but the gardens were beautiful and we especially loved the butterfly exhibit.

{OK, maybe I’m getting a bit carried away with photoshop on these first 2.  But I like ‘em!}

 

Friday evening was particularly special!  Alicia babysat for us and Aaron took me to the Four Seasons for dinner!  We had never tried their delicious restaurant and the views from their North Scottsdale patio were incredible!!

My big birthday present came on Sunday though with a great spa day!  I had a pedicure and massage and was basically spoiled rotten.  AMAZING!  Only topped by a delicious dinner that Aaron prepared and cake made by Alicia and Elayna!  Love it!

So thank you to all for such a great weekend celebration. 

The Photo Shoot

Aaron just got home from a long-weekend guys’ trip to Mesquite, Nevada.  Located about an hour north of Vegas, there’s not a lot to do there except play golf and spend time with good friends – and I think that’s exactly what they did.

While he was gone, I decided to attempt a little girls’-photo-shoot for E’s 4-year pictures.  After all, I have a camera~!  I should be able to accomplish this task all on my own without hiring a photographer, right?

Because we had some time to kill, I decided to drive out to an awesome spot in Litchfield Park – a good hour drive away but incredibly beautiful.  This was the same spot as E’s 2-year photos.  I just loved the green of this area, the perfect shade, the un-Arizona-ness of the spot.

   

So… we drove out there.  And drove and drove and drove.  Only to discover that the owners had gated up their private driveway and this oasis was no longer available for public use.  Heartbreaking.

Instead, we found ourselves at a random neighborhood park in the middle of nowhere, deflated and exhausted (well, at least I was) but determined to still take some pictures.  And for some reason, E has decided that modeling requires sticking her tongue out and giggling uproariously. 

    

     

But who can deny joy like this….        Or the blue of her eyes….

   

I do love you, goofy girl.  Thanks for hanging in there and teaching me AGAIN that life isn’t about where you are but who you’re with.