I had the privilege to go and watch my oldest sister Mary and her husband Paul's 4 cute kids for 10 days in Arizona while they were on Fall Break from school.

These first pictures are from Schnepf Farms, a big Wheeler-sorta-Farm thing south of where Mary and Paul live. It's a real working farm, but they had a merry-go-round, roller coaster, mini train ride, petting zoo, miniature golf, and a fun pig race.
Junior climbing the difficult level wall. He got about 2/3ds the way up. Jewel climbed too, but I didn't think to pull my phone out to take a picture of her until too late.


Face paint! I thought I'd gotten pictures of all the kids, but nope--just Jewel and Junior. Jasmine got a pumpkin like Jewel's, while Justice had a ghost.
Potbellied pigs!
This goat liked the taste of my pants. That reminds me...I still need to wash them...
Jasmine riding the airplanes that Justice wanted to go on. He got all buckled in and it was too much for the poor little fellow, so Jasmine braved it alone. Justice was happy to not be whirling about.


Jasmine got some mud on her shoes, but Mary's resourceful and got her cleaned up in no time.
Sitting at the pig race. The host was very entertaining, and even got Mary to come to the front and help do a special "pig" race. You should ask her about it sometime.
The ladies having to please the crowd with their "soooooeeeee."


Playing on the playground at the farm. The kids loved the wooden train and the hay bale maze with John Deere trikes.









At the Phoenix Zoo. Holy crap, a lion!









Justice sporting what we thought was a fake Pirates of the Caribbean tattoo. It wouldn't wash off, though...fishy.
Dancing in the mist by the orangutan exhibit.
I'm hopped up on sugary pumpkin bars...
Younger 3 waiting for Junior (he's indisposed at the moment...)


At the playground. The kids played here for a good 2 hours, having a blast making tunnels in the sand and playing tag. They brought balls along to play with, but I'm not sure how much they got used.














Me at a Mediterranean cafe in the downtown Phoenix area. I asked to use the car for a night out, drove around and got gloriously lost...I ended up by the zoo, which is in Tempe I think! I passed a Haiku Grill and thought about stopping there--but grills aren't great places for vegetarians, and by the time my friend suggested I go into the restaurant and order in haiku I was way past being able to find it again. Stadiums, warehouses, auto dealerships...there was a lot of random but normal city stuff I passed trying to find my way to the big buildings.

Finally I got downtown by heading in the direction I thought it might be on side streets instead of sticking to the freeway. It's easier to text message people while you're at a stoplight, and my situation was funny enough to merit texting a few people about...anyway, I passed the art museum and saw a bit of downtown before I decided to try and find a mall to shop and eat at.

Then, seeing a sign for gelato, I immediately pulled the car into the nearest parking lot and ventured to the restaurant next door for some real food before I indulged. The cafe was...small...and I was the only customer with the owner and his helper hovering over me. The food was delicious, and I had a pleasant time despite the arrogance of the owner (He told me, "Everything I make is good, you're going to love it!" and I heard him talking to his worker, saying "I really am the best!! Wow, taste this!" That's confidence.)
After the delicious falafel wrap and tabbouleh were safely in my belly, I got myself a huge serving of pistachio gelato. It was easily 3 scoops worth at Belllisimo in Bountiful, but it only cost me $2.50 in Phoenix instead of the whopping $8 Bellisimo would have charged for that serving.

I want to go back and get more...

Anyway, that was my last night in Phoenix. The next day, Mary went to work while Paul and the kids drove me 2 hours to the Tucson airport. It was a delightful trip. ^_^