TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA

Last year, during our Arizona visit, we took Lach to Tombstone to experience all that cowboy fun.  He loved it so much, we knew we had to take Landon there too.  I'm so glad we did.  Landon told me, "this is one of the best days of my life!"

It was super hot today, but we had so much fun we didn't mind.  Watching the wee ones soak up the atmosphere in "the town too tough to die" was absolutely delightful.  I wish I could have read their minds today.  I love it when their eyes twinkle and today was a twinkle day.

1450 MILES, 27-ISH HOURS, LOTS OF PIT STOPS AND SNACKS

and we're finally here!

The three of us,

with my dad (aka grandpa, old man, girlfriend, driver extraordinaire)

are in Arizona for a family reunion and some desert sight seeing.  We're braving the scary creatures,

and the heat - seriously, 111!

We're needing lots of chapstick because we are addicted to black pepper sunflower seeds and we've stocked up on liquids and sunscreen.
We're so excited to meet family members, catch up with family we haven't seen for a while, go out to the family homestead (this time we won't be trespassing) and be tourists for the week!

IT'S A GREAT DAY TO CELEBRATE

two more birthdays.  This awesome father and son duo, Michael and Michael, or otherwise known as Michael Squared, are celebrating their birthdays today.

These two superman loving blokes had a fun family celebration last night.  The backyard bbq was full of fun and laughter, loads of food, cards, presents and birthday wishes being made over pie and cupcakes.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL SQUARED!

WE LOVE YOU TWO!!

THE LAST OF MY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WAS TONIGHT

Some of the family came over for a delicious birthday cake Larry made.  Vanilla cake with lemon curd and vanilla icing.  All from scratch and all vegan.  It was super duper delicious.

Look at all those candles!  I'm proud of every single one of those little flames and all that smoke!

I HAD A BIRTHDAY EXCURSION

to the Valley of the Giants with my father today.  This is a 51 acre, old growth forest with trees over 400 years old.  The trees are mostly hemlock and douglas fir and the tallest is over 200 feet tall.
There is a beautiful, peaceful trail, almost a mile and a half, that meanders through the area.

This was my favorite part of the hike.

These leaves were huge!

I was so excited to find this heart shaped mushroom.

One of my best friends, my dad.

It is out in the middle of no where, with a curvy one lane you share with logging and gravel trucks (it got a bit scary at times).  Although I got a bit queasy, (I'm one of the lucky peeps that gets car sick), it was an awesome afternoon adventure with my dad and a wonderful birthday hike.

I GOT SO SPOILED YESTERDAY WITH AN EARLY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION BY MY THOUGHTFUL AND GENEROUS FRIENDS

Last night was Yaya night and we were celebrating my birthday and Kathy's.  Adrienne planned a fun bbq with a sweet 16 flashback, complete with pink tiaras for the us birthday girls and 80's music.

Kathy and I have celebrated together for 13 years and counting.

We had an assortment of yummy cupcakes from Twinsies - they sell vegan cupcakes - yay me!

We were trying to get a photo with all the sweet 16 candles lit and a fake blow - didn't work out so well, candles melted super fast and we couldn't stop giggling.  It was hilarious.

We all brought a picture of us in the 80's.  This is me in the 80's with my bestie Kristen.

Want to see my presents?  I got a super cool succulent pot from Brenda.  I'm ecstatic about it! It's gorgeous and has some starts of chicks and hens from her pot.  And, I got cool new shades from A that won't fall off my face running or paddling.  They're rad and I absolutely LOVE them.

I am super delicious to mosquitoes, so Kathy got me some citrus body butter and spray.  I'm putting it to the test when I'm in Arizona next week.  Cindy got me two sets of monogrammed dessert plates.  I'm so excited to eat my birthday cake on them tomorrow.

To make the day EVEN BETTER, earlier I had lunch with my Soul Sisters at Marco Polo.  I received a very generous gift certificate to Amazon and spent the afternoon purchasing things from my Amazon wishlist to help with my urban farming dreams.

All these lasses did some serious spoiling yesterday.  I'm so thankful that I have known them for so long and have them in my life.  These women are amazing and we've been through a lot over the years.  They teach me how to be a better woman, friend, wife and mother.  I love their guts.

BECAUSE OF MY GRANDMA BETTY, I LOVE PEONIES

and have I have some of her bushes in my garden.  Beautiful white peonies.
Recently I discovered a little gem, Adelman Peony Gardens.  They have a gorgeous little display garden with  methodically placed benches.  Admiring the beautiful flowers and peaceful landscape makes my soul and senses happy.  

They have many bushes you can purchase during bloom time and also blooms by the stem.
One of the most impressive parts is in the nursery - hundreds (I believe something like 350) varieties of gorgeous blooms on display.  Absolutely stunning.
Adelman Garden will definitely be an annual outing to admire and also continue learning how to care for my grandmother's bushes so that I can enjoy them for many years to come.