Sedona Getaway

Last week Diane and I enjoyed a little getaway to Sedona as kind of a double anniversary/40th birthday present. If you're ever in Arizona and have a chance to spend a day or two here, you won't be disappointed. Sedona is nestled within the majestic red rocks of Oak Creek Canyon, roughly two hours north of Phoenix on I-17, and there's a little something there for everyone: miles of trails for hikers and bikers, jeep tours of the canyon, hot air balloon tours, and several national parks/monuments within a short driving distance. Sedona is also well known for its artistic community and is filled with shops and galleries displaying a variety of artwork. We went with the low-key vacation, browsing the shops and galleries of Uptown Sedona and Tlaquepaque Village, and eating our way through town. Not a bad way to go!

Now I don't particularly enjoy shopping, but I do find it refreshing to peruse galleries with interesting artwork, and we spent a whole day doing just that. I may have mentioned once or twice (in my only postings in July) that work has been stressful, and viewing good art is a great release for me. Of course what everyone considers "good art" is going to differ, but I wasn't disappointed on this particular trip. One of the highlights for me was stumbling across an extensive display of Salvador Dali etchings...that dude was seriously whacked (and talented)! And my favorite art piece came in at a measly $4000. I need a new career.

Diane and I did pick up a couple of more "affordable" pieces of pottery that are prominently displayed on top of our kitchen cabinets. It was a great trip. Next time we'll probably plan a more kid-friendly adventuresome trip, but for now, it was just what the doctor ordered.

Perfect

We're back from what I believe to be the perfect vacation...lots of laying around, playing in the surf, drinking cervezas and margaritas, and eating ourselves silly. Here are some pics from the trip.


The view from our back patio...not too shabby, eh?


Our not-too-humble abode...six bedrooms,
five bathrooms, an elevator, and a hot tub
built for about 10.


Cousins...my girls hamming it up with my nieces. They
never made it to sleep before 11 pm the whole vacation.


Looks like a scene from Jaws...


Takin' a break, mugging for the camera...


Kyra, practicing her "surfing"...


Kailey, building castles with her cousins...


The fam...yeah, I'm the pasty white guy in the back...

It All Starts Here

Kyra's trek toward stardom commenced Wednesday afternoon at her school talent show. I don't know how she felt, but I was ready to puke for the both of us. I wanted to ask her if she was nervous before we went on, but thought twice about it because I didn't want to make her nervous. This is the same girl who was shy about performing in front of ten people at her birthday party. Now she was performing in the school multipurpose room in front of the entire school. The place was packed from wall to wall to wall with kids, teachers, and parents. I just wanted her to have a great experience and I tried in vain to push all the negative imagery out of my head.

Please don't let her freeze up.

Please don't let me forget the chords.

Please let me quit worrying about whether or not my fly is down.

We performed third (thank God), so my worrying was short-lived. They announced Kyra and we took the stage to generous applause. As soon as I came out from behind the curtain with guitar in hand, the applause died. Holy crap! What does that mean? Kyra grabbed her microphone and waited patiently until I got situated. Then we went for it.



I could just be a proud papa talking smack, but she nailed it. She was poised, confident, and sang out strong...and with hand motions, too! Hell, I wish I would have had her confidence when I was seven. I'd like to say that I can take some of the credit, but I can't. The only thing I really did was practice with her and let her do what she wanted to do. We're all so proud of you, Kyra!

I guess this means that I'll at least have one yearly gig from here on out, possibly two if we can get Kailey up on the stage. Now my only struggle will be to wean them off of Hannah Montana and onto Death Cab for Cutie. I don't see that happening any time soon.

Saddlesore Surprise

Yesterday was Kailey's 9th birthday (last year of single digits, Kiddo), and Diane came up with a great idea. She made some reservations and told the girls to get ready for a surprise. Their only hint she gave them was the clothing they had to wear, which should have been an obvious tip-off: jeans, their cowgirl boots, and cowgirl hats. Let's just say that the girls aren't very good guessers.

Kyra's contribution: "Where are we going? Jeans-R-Us?"

I looked up at Diane and shrugged, "Well now what are we gonna do? She guessed it!"

Kailey's guess, as Diane slathered her in sunscreen, was "We're going over to Grammy and Papa's house and hanging out in their backyard." She clearly doesn't have a firm grasp of the concept of "surprise", which made the surprise all the more special.

There is a horse stable a couple of miles up the road on the way to my in-law's house. We've driven by it roughly a hundred thousand times in the four years we've lived in Tucson. Yesterday, we pulled in. And the girls freaked.



Now THAT'S a SURPRISE. Diane's folks met us there, though her mom didn't stay to ride. We signed the release forms, fitted the girls with riding helmets, and mounted up for the trail ride. Kailey was up first and was matched with a horse named Rooster, though he should have been named Turtle (he was slow), or Turkey (that's what he acted like, giving Kailey some problems on the trail).



Kyra was next and her horse was Sardine. He too gave her problems. I think both of the horses knew they had inexperienced riders and just dared the girls to take control of them. One of the wranglers eventually gave Kyra a stick to use as a switch to keep Sardine from stopping too much.



Papa climbed aboard Big Boy, Diane was matched with Geronimo, and I was destined to wander through the desert on a horse with no name. Kidding. My horse was named Major...or "Major Pain" as the wranglers called him while I threw my leg across the saddle. They weren't kidding. As soon as they led him into the line for the ride, he began nipping at the butts of the other horses, which would make him a "Major Pain in the Butt". I think he was testing me and eventually behaved as I continually pulled back on his reigns.



It was a beautiful Spring day for a ride; sunny, but not too hot with temps in the low 80's. We were out for about an hour, which was just about right. Any longer and I probably wouldn't be able to sit today.




The girls had a great time despite their cantankerous mounts, and Kailey proclaimed the experience as "the best birthday ever!" I'm glad, Sweetie.

I, Chaperone

Today, I was the coolest dad in the world. OK, I was one of about five of the coolest dads in the world as a chaperone to Kailey's 3rd grade field trip to the University of Arizona Museum of Art and Center for Creative Photography. I was surprised (and relieved) by how many dads there were on the trip. I think there were more dad chaperones than mom chaperones. To art exhibits. Go figure.

I was actually looking forward to this field trip. I'm no connoisseur of art and photography, but I do enjoy browsing the galleries, amazed by some artists' works, bored by others'. The real question today was would these galleries hold the attention of a bunch of 8 year-olds? And my challenge was understanding that I wasn't going for my personal gratification and fulfillment, but to supervise a group of 8 year-olds and then, hopefully, to experience some of that fulfillment on the side.

The kids did surprisingly well. And the museum curators have done this enough to know the quicker, the better. The tours went faster than I would have liked, but today wasn't about me. I had four chargees to look after, including Kailey, and they were all fun and well-behaved. Our group started in the Center for Creative Photography. They directed us upstairs where they had pulled a series of prints from their vault, four of which were original Ansel Adams' (the only name I recognized). We were then herded downstairs to the gallery where the kids were given a guided tour and were asked several questions about the works and photography in general.

The phrase "there's always one in every group" definitely rang true today. One kid had all of the adults shooting glances and snickering at each other. He was the "know-it-all", the kid who constantly had his hand up, the kid who had the answer to every question, the kid who threw in a little historical context for extra flavor, the kid who made everyone else in the room feel like morons. At one point I turned to Kailey's teacher and said, "I'll bet this one keeps you on your toes."

She smiled and informed me that Captain Know-It-All was a fifth grader who was a part of the art club also on the field trip. "I had him in my class, though," she added with a smirk. "And the memories are now rushing back."

We finished the tour and waited out in the lobby for a few minutes before going to eat our sack lunches. There was a gift area in the lobby and the kids in my group asked if they could go look at the postcards. I agreed. Postcards at a photography gallery? Big mistake. It's probably the guy in me, but I saw it first, rotating around the corner as Kailey turned the display rack. A nude. A nasty, little too lifelike nude. All of a sudden, life down-shifted into slow motion.

"Oh my gyosh! Hey guys! Look at THIS!" she exclaimed.

"Nooooooooo!" I cried in my head as I launched my body toward the kiosk. But my body couldn't seem to move quick enough. I could see it now, forever banned from field trips as the chaperone who allowed his kids to view gallery porn. Thankfully the boys weren't old enough to "appreciate" that kind of art. They scrunched up their noses, critiqued the work with an "EWWWW", and moved on to better things. I finally got there after shaking the cement blocks off my feet and quietly spun the display away from young eyes while redirecting them out the door to lunch. Disaster averted. For now.

The Art Museum was very cool and I was surprised by how many quality pieces were on display there. The kids seemed to enjoy it too. The experience would have been perfect had it not been for the Museum Nazi roaming the second floor and randomly barking reminders to "STAY BEHIND THE BLUE LINE". This woman was seriously pissing me off. Now I realize that some of these works are priceless pieces of art. But the kids had been given guidelines and there were plenty of parents around to enforce them. And we did. I had to remind a couple of the kids to get back, but they weren't being disobedient. They were legitimately interested in the artwork, the color, the detail of the pieces and just wanted a closer look. I just politely asked them to stay behind the line, and they did. That's all it took. This woman is prowling around with a scowl on her face and scaring the crap out of the kids. It was completely unnecessary.

At one point, I was keeping an eye on a couple of kids who had wandered away from the rest of the group to look at paintings on the other side of the room. They weren't goofing off or hurting anything, just looking. So I let them. Museum Nazi suddenly appeared in the room, scowl in place, looking for trouble. She saw the stray kids, then saw me. Our eyes met and I shot her a defiant look that said, yeah, I know they're not with the group...so what? Or at least that's what I meant it to say. I don't know whether she got that message, but she did turn and leave the room without a tantrum. Chalk up a moral victory for me.

Everyone had a good time despite the nasty nude and the Museum Nazi, and I'm glad that I had a chance to finally accompany Kailey on a field trip. It's something that I've wanted to do for a while, and I think she appreciated it. She's growing up so fast and I know that I need to take full advantage of those opportunities as long as she still wants me around, as long as it's still cool to hang out with your friends and your dad. Those days are numbered and rapidly counting down. Hopefully no one will find out about the nude and I'll be invited to chaperone again.

Post Concert Wrap Up

Concert posters were made, paraphernalia was purchased in mass quantities, hearing was lost, voices were screamed and sung hoarse, and a good time was had by all at the Jonas Brothers/Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert at Jobing.com arena in Glendale. I knew the girls would love it, but was genuinely surprised when Diane reported that it was a really good concert. Who knew? A pictorial review:



Hannah did indeed rock. Both of the girls made posters to display during the concert. I forgot to ask them if they were able to take them into the arena.



As official Hannah Montana fan club members, Kailey & Kyra had an opportunity to win raffle tickets for an official tour of Miley's party bus. They arrived too late to participate.



The Jonas Brothers were the opening act. I didn't hear too much about these guys...



...but this is a shot of Kailey during their set. Look at her eyes, all glossed over and dreamy-looking. I was surprised she didn't come home with a Jonas Brothers poster for the wall of her room. She did, however, choose the hot pink Jonas Brothers T-shirt over Hannah Montana.

The girls called me at work during the intermission, and they were hyped. It made me sad to miss that experience with them. Kailey kept going on about how loud it was in the arena. "The Jonas Brothers came out, and all the girls were screaming at the top of their lungs," she gushed. "I had to cover my ears!" OK, now I was less sad to miss the experience of ten thousand girls screaming at the top of their lungs.

"I could feel my heart beating in my chest!" Kyra reported, trying to explain the feeling of bass pulses reverberating inside her chest. I laughed, knowing exactly what she was talking about, and then felt sad again.



(Revision: I thought I'd better add a little more about The Jonas Brothers since I've been receiving about a million hits from a JB fan site. I polled the girls and they said that the Jonas Brothers were "awesome". Cool? Oh, and here's another JB pic for your enjoyment.)



Hannah/Miley's stage set up.



Miley did a couple of different sets, first as Hannah Montana followed by a set as herself. After all, she's going to need to establish her own identity as an artist. She can't be Hannah Montana when she's 30. Right?



She also had about 350 costume changes, because you just simply can't wear the same outfit for two hours.



Kyra singing along and having the time of her life. And who's freaky stalker-looking dude in the background? Mind yer own BEESwax, dude! I'll have to edit him out of the picture.



Here Miley's doing what I think is a solo acoustic set, if I remember the report correctly, which further impressed Diane. The concert wasn't a simply choreographed lip-synch show. Miley is a very talented young lady.



Here the girls are pulling Grammy away from the Beer, Wine & Spirits stand...again! Kidding. I just think this is a hilarious backdrop for a "family" photo.



They spent the night in Chandler and finished off their trip with, what else, a little shopping! They made it home safe and sound Saturday night, and I'm glad to have them back. By the way, I had the house to myself on Friday night and didn't do ONE load of laundry.

Obligatory Halloween Wrap-Up

Halloween has come and gone for another year, and for the most part, the girls came through it unscathed. Both came home with a butt-load of candy. What exact measurement a "butt-load" is, I'm not sure, but suffice it to say, it's a lot.

First of all, I have some clearing up to do. No, Kyra did not go trick-or-treating as a hooker. She was Hannah Montana, and for the second straight year, no one knew who the hell she was supposed to be. Last year Kyra dressed up as Princess Leia, minus the most important part of the costume, the cinnamon-roll side-bun wig. As a result, everyone thought she was an angel. This year we insisted she wear the Hannah Montana wig, primarily because she conned us into ponying up an extra $15 with the promise she would wear the cockamamie thing. She tried to back out of her promise an hour before showtime, but relented when we told her she needed to reimburse us $15 for the wig. Greed sometimes IS good.

Wig or no wig seemed to produce the same stymieing results. Each door that opened to her found the occupant asking the question, "Oh my, and who are YOU supposed to be?" I SO wanted to prompt Kyra to reply, "I'm a hooker," just to see their reaction, but I restrained myself. Instead, we tried to get her to say "Britney Spears", but she wouldn't bite. She just patiently replied, "I'm Hannah Montana," as she received her treats. One elderly woman asked her where she lived, to which Kyra promptly recited her address by rote: "I live at 123 N. Calle Street." Yeah. We need to tell her NOT to do that. But since this time it was only a little old lady, we got a nice chuckle out of it.

Kailey was a hooker for Halloween this year. Kidding. She finally conceded to being a "Vampiress" when she tired of correcting people by identifying herself as a "Vampire", a role, as you can see,that she took VERY seriously. She had fangs to go along with the costume, but she didn't want to mess up her lipstick. Her logic was a little more reasonable than the "I hate wigs" crap that Kyra was trying to pull, so we let it go.

Kailey spent the first half of the night running from house to house, like she was afraid they'd run out of candy or something. "What's the hurry?" I asked her.

"No hurry. I just like to run!" By the end of the night she was dragging her butt up people's driveways looking like she'd collapse at a moment's notice.

The girls made it home with quite the load, but they clearly need some instruction in the way of their post trick-or-treating routine. When we were kids, all the candy was promptly dumped on the living room floor and sorted into the "score" pile and the "suck" pile, which included candy corn and that horrible "taffy" candy that comes in the black and orange wrappers. Then we would gorge ourselves on the "score" candy until we puked. Ah, the good ol' days. In contrast, the girls set their pumpkins on the kitchen table then asked for a piece of the pumpkin pie that their Grammy brought over for dessert. No knock against Grammy's pumpkin pie, but this is frickin' Halloween! At least make an attempt to feign a little interest in the haul you just made! That explains why we'll still have leftover Halloween candy next October.

Surf's Up

We're back from Newport Beach. Our trip was restful and enjoyable, but way too short. The best part, hands down, was time spent at the beach with the girls. This was their first time seeing the ocean and they had a blast playing in the surf. I must have taken a hundred pictures and an hour of video. Here are some of my favs.