Father's Day in Flagstaff

This year for Father's Day I decided it would be fun to take Hank and Henry on a mini-road trip up to Flagstaff, to enjoy some of our favorite foods and a change of scenery. Flag will always hold a super special place in my heart, as I went to all four years of college there (and graduate school too!), so no matter when we go, it's always a great experience. Some of the best times of my life were spent in that little town, and every time I find myself making my way up that way on the I-17 my stomach flips a little, in the most excited way. Flagstaff is definitely my happy place, and I love that Hank adores it just as much as I do.

We got up bright and early this morning and arrived in Flagstaff around 9:30am. Our first stop was Hank's favorite coffee shop, Macy's. He got a coffee and we split a "birdseed" treat, which is really just a whole lot of nuts and seeds pressed into a peanut butter base. Delicious. We spent the rest of the day walking around, enjoying the crisp mountain air that is so similar to ours but yet somehow so different, and eating lots of yummy food. Our favorite Thai restaurant Dara Thai was closed today so we decided to eat at an old favorite, Pita Jungle. Henry loves hummus so we knew it was pretty foolproof, and we had a great meal.  We arrived home later in the evening, exhausted but so, so happy to have spent such a fun day together as a family.

Here are some photos, mainly from my regular camera and a couple little collages from my iPhone. And on a side/related note- it's only been two days of taking my camera out more places with us and I couldn't be happier. Nothing's better than pretty photos to capture such special memories!

Happy Father's Day!

Flagstaff day trip

This weekend was great and exactly what I needed to feel a little more in the groove of our regular life after being gone for so long.  Saturday morning we headed up to Flagstaff to the Cardinals Training Camp (yes, I married a sports fanatic), and although football isn't typically my thing, it was a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful.  I attended college in Flag at NAU, so whenever I'm up there I'm flooded with nostalgia as I look around at all the places I used to go during some of my most favorite years ever. This time Hank and I went to Crystal Creek for sandwiches to bring on the field, then headed up and parked by the dome. We watched the new quarterback and just enjoyed being in the fresh air and shady pines. It was beyond crowded though, so that was the only drawback.  After camp we headed downtown and explored for awhile; ate some gelato, visited some shops, and ended our afternoon at Dara Thai.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of football I also have to mention that this season I am actually going to attempt to get into it and partake in our tradition of Sunday football parties.  I grew up playing sports very competitively and really enjoyed watching too, but after I tore my ACL at the end of HS and didn't end up playing collegiate soccer, I think I avoided sports related things because at the time I felt too upset that my "future" didn't end up as I had pictured it all those years. (Funny how now I am SO thankful for how it did work out!).  But after staying away from sports for so long my avoidance turned into total disinterest.  Even now though if I'm in the right mood, I'll catch myself getting totally engrossed in games if I happen to sneak a peek while Hank is watching. I can't deny that I love it!  So this football season I'm all in - I'm even playing in a fantasy league with Hank. Those who know me will find this VERY laughable and I'm laughing too, but I'm attempting to have fun with it so we'll see how it goes!

Today was a good day too. We did a lot of grocery shopping to prepare for our cooking this week. Before vacation we were getting into such a food rut- we'd been eating and cooking the same things week after week.  We'd maybe tweak a recipe here and there, but ultimately we found ourselves eating the same thing over and over. Yesterday while wandering through the cutest culinary store ever we decided to just put our love for food to good use and branch out a bit. So last night we planned out recipes for each night and today got the fresh ingredients for the next few days.  I'm really excited!

Here are just a few photos from yesterday- have a great start to your week.