Off to the Flicker Pictures

Today at sunrise I walked to Bashas' again to pick up some breakfast fixings for Kris and to get several thousand steps. The photos from the last SNAP activity appeared in my dropbox, so I spent some time on that blog. Harry and I purchased 5 movie tickets earlier this morning and this afternoon we went to the local AMC to view Disney's Monkey Kingdom.  After the flick we let the boys play a bit in the cool wind at Hidden Meadows Park behind the Mall. Back home we made individual pizzas for supper, and when the kitchen was slicked up, we went out for custard at Freddy's, a burger and frozen custard restaurant. There are currently some video games happening before bed.

 Kris snapped Dickie doing the SNAP blog

 This lovely alley of palo-verde trees leads into the AMC Theaters

 A beautifully-filmed and extremely interesting film

 Leather recliners

 Hidden Meadow Park on a cool and blustery afternoon

 Speaking of Monkeys

 He walks the line

 Custom pizzas to meet everyone's particular taste requirements

  Harry is a saucy lad

 We have some good help: Finn's job is to load the dishwasher

 Harry wipes the table and Beck pushes in the chairs

Frozen custard on a beautiful evening

Good stuff!

This job has a learning curve and today I figured out that I simply need to decide what is going to happen and everyone can join me. It works out fine without worrying about who wants or doesn't want to do something or eat something. Happily simple and effective. I have a fun day planned for tomorrow and I am sure everyone will join me and have a splendid time. We shall see. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

A Rainy Mesa Day

First thing this morning we had breakfast of scones and hot chocolate. It rained here intermittently for most of the day, but I got some walking done here at Running Horse before we headed to Pioneer Community Park where the boys played some serious Star-Wars games and I walked several laps around the lake (ducking under a tree during a burst of rain). Around noon we headed to Mesa for lunch at In-N-Out where we were to meet Grammy and Grandmother after their Friday movie. We were driven to shelter by another fierce spate of rain. Just as it let up, the grandmas arrived. We spent a little time at Grandmother's where the Star-Wars games continued unabated. Kris needed something from Penney's, so we headed to Superstition Springs Mall where the grandmas shopped and the boys rode the carousel and entertained themselves in general. We returned home, packed up our picnics, and headed to Greenfield Park for a mini Boynton reunion.

 Scones with clotted cream and black currant jam

 Look at it pour down

Serious rain

 Pounding the pavement of Running Horse after the first storm

 Finn thinks "sanitary sewer" is an oxymoron

 Pioneer Community Park

 Brand new and fun 

 Swings and spongy ground

 These structures make wonderful settings for Star Wars

 The games raged for a couple of hours

 Lunch in Mesa before the rain drove us to shelter

 With a breeze, it was freezing -- same idea as a swamp cooler

 The grandmas arrived just as the rain subsided

 Traditional Friday lunch with the Aunties

 This is how Frank Lloyd Wright got his start

 Headed upward at the Mall

 Two-story carousel

 Pretty exciting

 Hardly an acceptable substitute for Mom

 Greenfield Park

Even these can be worked into a Star-Wars game

 

 Ryan, Brittany, Scout, and Chris

 The Marlpit-Hill Boyntons

 Young Brigham

 Ryan and his papa

 Jon, Buba, and Sandy

The close of a busy and fun day

The vision of tomorrow isn't quite clear in the crystal ball, but something will happen, even if it is nothing. That's all for now.

OXO

D.

Five-Mile Walk

This morning we sent Harry off to school alone. It was Finn's field day and he chose to stay home. Anxious to get the boys out of the house, I suggested they join me on a walk along the Skunk Creek Trail and back home along the Arizona Canal. They responded with alacrity and we were off. They began to flag about one third of the way along, but continued like troopers. We found a lovely oasis, the Thunderbird Paseo Park just before the 67th Street bridge, where all were refreshed. The canal provided lots of opportunity to throw rock into the water. When school was finished, we picked Harry up and everyone decided they would like to go swimming. The pool was icy, but the spa was nice and warm, so everyone had a good time. I made mac and cheese for supper and now everything is cleaned up and the boys are playing games on the Wii before bed.

 Harry headed to Candeo School

 Still feeling perky

 Pushing on along the Skunk Creek Trail

 A bright spot of desert color

 A welcome spot of shade with a drinking fountain at
Thunderbird Paseo Park

The pause that refreshes

Oasis triple selfie

 Filling in the Arizona Canal, one stone at a time

 He said he was a statue

 Pool time...

 Became spa time

 Martha Stewart's mac and cheese strikes again

Thumbs up

Tomorrow we will meet Grammy in Mesa. This is all for now.

OXO

D.