Quick Cabin Trip

We went up to the cabin to clean and prep it for vacation rentals. After much deliberation, Bobbins' dad decided to put it on VRBO and Airbnb. We did a deep cleaning and also organized the garage so it could be used to park a vehicle. JoJo also got to shoot for the first time.

    

Williams for the Day

The older 4 got a ride on the Polar Express from Grandma & Grandpa for Christmas, so we made a day trip to Williams out of it. Lunch at Bun Huggers in Flag, a check-in at the cabin, a visit to Bearizona (which was packed), dinner at an Italian restaurant, then a stop to see Fr. Peter in Flag on our way home. It was quite a fun (and warm) day.

 

Cols Day Weekend at the Cabin

We didn't make it out camping this year on Columbus Day weekend. It started out with the Maggie's Run at Tempe Town Lake. It was just Kevin and I, no families, which wasn't as fun. I had forgot to pre-register us, so I missed out on an adult shirt but got a female for Bobbins. I ran the 10K in 53:14 to finish 18th out of 117.

From Tempe we picked up our families and headed north. He and I took some of the kids shooting, then had our annual wood chopping and fire by the garage.

We also packed everyone into one vehicle for a Bearizona visit. We had dinner in Williams and stayed the one night.

Home from the Cabin, Snow

One of the main points of the trip was to play in the snow, and thankfully, Flag got some. We took it easy in the morning, mostly because no one got a good sleep, then headed out about 1130, again stopping for lunch in Flag, this time at a Mediterranean wrap shop. We pulled into a park south of the airport that had sufficient snow, with the added bonus of being free. Yes, we looked like total Phoenicians up to play in the white stuff, but who cares.

MM and Owen LOVED it. They had been talking about a snowball fight all weekend, and now that the opportunity presented itself, they took it with full gusto. It was great to watch them and play myself. JoJo and Moose, not so much. JoJo cried a fair amount, walking off by herself for a while, and Moose whined a lot. In his defense, he got picked on a fair amount by Booch and I. MM got me real good with a snowball in my back pocket.

 

 

 

 
 

We made it home at a reasonable hour and immediately washed everything in nice hot water, including The Dog, which felt great.

To the Cabin, Bearizona

Since our weekend at the cabin was cancelled before, we took advantage of the MLK 3-dayer to try it again, although only for one night and without any friends or family, just the seven of us. We stopped for lunch in Flag, where The Dog stood watch in the Sequoia. After checking in at the cabin, we headed over to Bearizona to use our membership. It was cold and rainy, but the bears and wolves were out, which was neat. That place never disappoints. We made it to 5pm Mass, then home to take it easy before the fire and a gourmet chicken dinner from Safeway. It was a long day that involved a lot of chopping of wood and setting the kids up. Baby E also had a blow-out that necessitated a new outfit right before church. We hoped for snow in Williams, but alas, it was only really cold rain.

 

Cabin and Bearizona

Bobbins really wanted to go to Slide Rock this summer, so I took a Friday in early August off so we could venture up, the Schaefers joining us. That night and morning a huge storm rolled in, dumping tons of rain and flooding much of the state. We almost couldn't get to the Schaefers house. We decided to just hit the cabin and Bearizona instead. Thankfully, I-17 and -40 were passable.

 

Labor Day Wkend at the Cabin

The plan was for us and our friends to haul the families up to the cabin for Labor Day wkend, but the women didn't feel like roughing it, and I didn't feel like having all the kids for two nights, so we just went up for one. Karin, JoJo, Booch, and I left Sun. morning after Mass at St. Joe's. We unloaded at the cabin, then headed out to the shooting spot. Zach drove up too, with Margaret riding with him. I tried to talk Karin into shooting, but she refused. Kevin eventually joined us with his boys and Sienna. I got to shoot my new Glock, which was fun, and shooting that .22 Ruger rifle is always a good time. After a couple hours, we returned to the cabin and the fire pit next to the garage. We chopped wood, built a fire, and grilled some meat for dinner.

 

 

 I was a little worried about the sleeping arrangements, but it worked out fine. Jip started out on the floor next to her sister, but eventually she joined Booch and I in the bed. We had a quick breakfast and a nice long walk "around the block" before driving back to Phx. The traffic was ok. We ended up stopping at McD's on the way home, like we did in Flag on the way up. Karin didn't seem to be as scared of the mice as Julia was, and said she had a good time. I'll get her to shoot a gun yet...