Memorial Day Weekened

It was the last weekend of cool temperatures here in AZ--and the weather was perfect at the cabin.

70s during the day, 50s at night--open window sleeping weather.

Napping on the swing weather.

Lily left for EFY on Sunday and the boys had their cast party for James and the Giant Peach, so Brad took them all back to the valley Saturday afternoon while Eve and I stayed put. We had a great time just the two of us. I woke up that morning pretty sick, but after a quick nap, we were able to head to town for a quick mint chip ice cream.

And while Eve used the bathroom at the local thrift store, I found this treasure in the display case. Does anyone know who this is?

Mrs. Beasley was the first doll I remember--I was three or four years old, and I loved her. I had to snap a picture of her and send it to the only other person I knew who would appreciate my sighting--my mom. We both had the same first reaction: Where are her glasses?

Eve and I also took a walk by the stream, and Eve noticed this little guy. Do you see him?

This squirrel had scampered down to the stream to get a drink when we startled him. He scurried under these rocks, but he misjudged how big the opening was, and he couldn't completely hide himself. It was fun to watch him as he tried to make himself smaller and smaller, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his tail and one of his paws under cover. He was shaking and scared, and I wondered how long he would hide there before he tried to escape, so we watched him for a few minutes. He was much more patient than Eve, because before I could find out how long he'd hide, Eve was beckoning me down the stream again.

Sunday afternoon Brad came back up with the boys. I really love this about our cabin--it's only 90 minutes from our house, so we can go up for the day or the afternoon or take multiple trips back and forth and it's completely doable. And he brought a couple of surprises back with him . . .

. . . this little monkey girl and her mama. Tucker had to work first thing Monday morning, but we were thrilled to get the Denton girls for the night. This little one loves to be outside. She loves rocks and dirt and sticks and lizards and bugs and being with her family.

Brad got a new axe and splitting maul while he was in the valley Saturday, and when he got back up on Sunday, he took them over to the wood pile to see how they work. The boys love to split wood (only because they don't have to do it every day all winter, I'm sure), and Eve thought she would investigate.

A few minutes later she was screaming and running up the hill. She had backed into the brand new axe blade and cut open her leg. While it wasn't very deep (and shockingly pretty bloodless), Brad and I exchanged that look over her head. You know the one. "It's a holiday weekend in the mountains and she needs stitches."

I loaded her hysterical little self into the Suburban, turned my iPad to Tangled, and we drove 20 minutes south to Payson and the Urgent Care.

She handled the whole situation well, only getting loud as the doctor injected the novocaine before slipping four stitches into her leg.

And before long, the movie was over, and we were back in the car.

Aside from one violent bout with the flu and one visit to Urgent Care, it was the perfect weekend, and we all hope we can escape up there many more times this summer.