Spring has sprung and gone.

It's been a busy spring and looks to be an even busier summer. We did some traveling this spring, taking the children to San Antonio in March and Phoenix in May. Found a terrific discount for Sea World San Antonio so we did that. The children loved the shows and the fact that some rides (including rollercoasters) were sprinkled throughout the park.

We also visited the Alamo and 4 other missions, the Japanese Tea Garden (do NOT miss this if in San Antonio; it's not 10 minutes from the Alamo), Fort Sam Houston (wouldn't miss this either; just 5 minutes from the Alamo and your children will love the wild deer, peacocks and turkeys that roam the property), and the sand dunes at Corpus Christi. Drove by the USS Lexington and snapped a few pics while in Corpus Christi, but the museum (on board) was sadly closed at that time.

IN Phoenix, we of course drove to the Grand Canyon. Let me tell you, there is not a photo in the world that does it justice. ONLY the eye can take in such depth of beauty (isn't it amazing that the greatest lens ever created was given to YOU for personal use from the Creator, God the Father, himself!) We saw wild elk while there and learned about the most remote "post office" operation in the USA. There's a town, Supai, that is located 8 miles down in the canyon. It is home to 200+ native Amnerican Indians and the mail is still brought in/out by mule. You *can* visit Supai, but it takes HOURS to get there (even by mule) and you do need permission and a permit.

We also enjoyed a fun-filled day of rafting and water slides at Big Surf waterpark. Olivia spent the entire 6 hours on her raft, becoming quite the "surfer", while the younger children preferred the water slides. This park is part of my childhood and I hadn't been back in 33 years. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it has been maintained and how much it's grown. We were blessed to get a very sizable discount by providing three food donation items (each) when we bought our tickets. Win-win.

We also spent a day driving the Apache Trail, where we ate lunch at the quaint town of Tortilla Flat (population 6), took in the amazing canyon scenery as we navigated hairpin turn roads along the cliffs, and stopped at the Roosevelt dam and bridge toward the end of the trail. Just to give you an idea of the "remoteness" of the drive, there is a survival training camp located back in them thar hills.

We also ate at one of my favorite restaurants, located in Scottsdale, Pinnacle Peak Patio. You can eat outside under the stars with the mountains and Seguaro as your backdrop, listening to country-western music, while you have your western style dinner. Their gimick is to cut off the tie of anyone who dares to arrive "so stuffy" and the children got to see this in action, which was cause for lots of giggles. Olivia loved that they keep 3 Rattlesnakes in an aquarium inside the restaurant (our reptile lover). They all enjoyed the place so much that they requested to go again. So we ate their twice while in Phoenix. ;) That's a glimpse of the busy part of our spring, not including swim meets, swim clinics, a dance recital, preschool graduation, a visit from my parents, a couponing class taught by me, heavy school days right up to the end, and lots of dental appointments and expenses (teeth pulled, braces process begun, etc.) I'll venture into our summer plans in a future post.

Live wise in Him!

~Toni~