Let's Get Wild!

Last Monday we went to the Arizona Wildlife Zoo with Grandma Allen. I can't hear the word "wild" without thinking of Marty on Madagascar, hence the title. Anyway, the wildlife zoo and aquarium is out in West Phoenix only a few miles from the Allens and we have been wanting to go there for years. So we were so excited to meet Becky out there on Monday and finally get to check it out. It was a perfect day and an awesome zoo! You see all the animals so close, it wasn't crowded at all, and our weather was perfect. Crew and Grandma ready to go see the animals.

One of my favorite things at this zoo was feeding the giraffes. You just pay 50 cents for some pellets then go up and feed them like they are goats in a petting zoo. It was so much fun! Seriously, check out that tongue!

Crew loved this too.

We totally scored going in the spring because there were babies every where. This one month old zebra may have been our favorite, although the 2 day old warthogs (sorry no picture) were pretty dang cute as well.

Graham loves zebras because they look like his favorite animal, horses. Oh that cute face!

I love this candid shot of Becky and the boys

Crew's favorite part was the sky ride.

I think Graham's favorite part was Grandma and her hat

I didn't take any pictures of the aquarium but it was really cool and a hit with the boys. Thank you Grandma for a fantastic day. We love you!

Spring...Arizona Style

I must say, there is no better time to be in Arizona than the last two weeks of March. Spring here is absolutely fantastic. Why you may ask? First, orange blossoms. My parents live in a neighborhood full of citrus trees and the smell in the orange blossoms just permeates the air. LOVE it! Second, spring showers. It is rare when it rains here so we always love it.

Third, Spring Training Baseball games. We managed to squeeze in an Angels game last Friday. So much fun.

Almost swimming, not really though, it is freezing still!

These guys still loved it.

Lastly, just being outside. It is suppose to be 98 degrees on Friday. Yuck! Summer is upon us so it was so great to spend the past couple weeks outside all the time. My dad brought home a giant Styrofoam airplane the other day and the boys had a great time flying it.

Crew pondering. I love this picture.

Now we have to get used to staying wet to stay cool and brace ourselves for summer. Goodbye spring. We love you!

El Centro and the Blue Angels

Last Friday we drove over to El Centro, California with my parents for a quick weekend trip. Most people prefer to drive right on through El Centro on their way to beautiful San Diego. But for me this little town is home to so many of my favorite childhood memories. My dad grew up here and we came back all the time to see my Grandma and Grandpa Richter and go to the ranch. Both of my grandparents have now passed on. Though their presence is definitely missed, it was still so great to be back in the fields of the Imperial Valley. Saturday morning we got up and visit my grandparents grave. Crew loved helping with the flowers. My Grandma loved the color yellow so we thought sunflowers were good fit. These two were always the sweetest of sweethearts. It was so great to start the day visiting them. We also saw my great grandparents graves. This is my grandpa's father And his mother.

Then it was time to head out to the ranch. Love this place

One bonus of the trip was seeing our good friends the Ericksens. They made the long trek across the desert to spend the day with us and we were so excited to see them again. Crew and Jake wasted no time at all getting on the quad

Tom and Abby

Matt, impressive on this motorcycle isn't he?

Graham was so happy to have Abby around again. She is so good to him

Cheetos are pretty good to him too.

The gang watching the air show. There is a naval training center about a mile away so we had great seats for the air show.

Watching the air show

Proof that Mom survived the my grandpa's homemade out-house!

Oh Stacey, my long lost friend!

This little guy was a trooper! He finally zonked out for about 30 minutes but the rest of the time he was going strong. Thank goodness for Abby and Grandpa!

I love this picture because it reminds me of the good old days in South Pas. These three have so much fun together. I still am trying to convince Stacey to just let me keep them!

Finally it was time for the Blue Angels, or Green Devils as Stacey kept calling them. Man are these guys amazing. They flew for about an hour and we loved it!

I love this picture of them circling the ranch.

After the Blue Angels few we started loading up and heading for home. But first we had to get a couple group shots. We love you Ericksens and thank you so much for coming all the way out to spend the day with us!

And of course a huge thank you to my parents for making the whole trip happen. I love this place and all these people too :)